S. Africa's ruling party supports Political Party Funding Bill
Xinhua,March 28, 2018 Adjust font size:
CAPE TOWN, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Tuesday voiced support for the Political Party Funding Bill approved by the National Assembly.
The ANC in Parliament "is elated about the adoption of the Political Party Funding Bill by the National Assembly today," said Nonceba Mhlauli, ANC spokesperson in Parliament.
The Bill is designed to strengthen the country's constitutional democracy and improve transparency, accountability and fairness in political party funding.
The Bill proposes, among others, regulating and making transparent private donations to political parties represented in Parliament and the Provincial Legislatures.
The Bill also limits the amount individuals or entities can donate to any one political party to 15 million rand (about 1.3 million U.S. dollars) in a calendar year.
"In safeguarding our hard-fought sovereignty, this Bill outlaws all donations from foreign governments and their agencies," Mhlauli said.
Furthermore, political parties are explicitly prohibited from accepting donations from any organ of state, state-owned entities, government departments or from the proceeds of crime in order to prevent corruption and state capture, said Mhlauli.
The Bill will now go to the National Council of Provinces, the Upper House of Parliament, for consideration.
The Bill will replace the Public Funding of Represented Political Parties Act of 1997 and its regulations, seen as inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid as it does not allow for disclosure of private funding information.
Mhlauli said that the ANC champions the introduction of a comprehensive system of public funding of political parties in the different spheres of government and civil society organizations.
"This should include putting in place an effective regulatory architecture for private funding of political parties and civil society groups to enhance accountability and transparency to the citizenry," said the spokesperson. Enditem