POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Renewed Calls to Tighten Private Party Funding

By Farah Khan Reprint | | Print |

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 24 2003 (IPS) - Another corruption scandal involving company donations to political parties in South Africa has led to renewed calls for the regulation of the private funding of parties.

The New National Party (NNP), which is in a coalition government with the ruling African National Congress (ANC), suspended the South African Deputy Minister for Social Development, David Malatsi, from the party, on Friday.

They also called for South African President, Thabo Mbeki, to remove him from his cabinet post.

In a nutshell, Malatsi is alleged to have approved the development of a multi-million rand golf course estate in an environmentally sensitive area in return for a R300,000 (33,334 U.S. dollars) donation to the NNP from the developing company.

At the time of the deal, in Apr 2003, Malatsi was the Member of the Executive Council in the Western Cape province, in charge of the environment and planning. The matter has been referred to the public protector’s office, which is considering widening its investigation into to see if NNP leader and Premier of South Africa’s Western Cape province, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, knew about the donation. Van Schalkwyk has said he will not comment on the issue as an investigation is underway.

Malatsi has defied his party’s call to stand-down from his post and has denied any wrongdoing. He insists the allegations are ‘’unproven”.

The appointment and removal of ministers from the national cabinet is the sole prerogative of the South African President. Mbeki is expected to meet Malatsi as soon as possible to hear his side of the story and will then make a decision, says a spokesperson for the president. Mbeki is expected to make a decision quite fast, as he leaves South Africa on Friday for talks to end the conflict in Cote d’Ivoire, in France. He is only expected back in South Africa, next week.

This is only the latest in a series of scandals, involving donations from companies and individuals that have plagued South African political parties, over the past year.

Last year, the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance had to deal with allegations that it received donations from a German fugitive, Jurgen Harksen, in return for some of their officials supporting his efforts to avoid extradition from South Africa.

Harksen, who was wanted for fraud in Germany, was finally extradited to face the charges in his homeland after a legal battle lasting years.

And, the South African Deputy President, Jacob Zuma, recently faced reports in the local press alleging that he was being investigated for trying to secure a bribe from a company selling weapons to South Africa. Zuma has denied the charges.

The Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) says the latest scandal underlines the need for the regulation of private funding to political parties, in the country. Governance Analyst at Idasa, Judith February, says: ‘’Secrecy encourages this sort of corrupt behaviour. Private donations to political parties must be regulated. Full disclosure must become the norm. Transparency will protect the political process from further contamination.”

She points out that while South Africa has an array of impressive anti-corruption legislation – including the Prevention of Corruption Bill, which is soon to be passed by Parliament – there is no law to regulate private funding of political parties. This not only leaves political parties and their members vulnerable to corruption, but also more importantly it allows the wealthy in society to exert undue influence over the political process, says February.

The world-wide trend has been to regulate private funding to political parties through legislation and this may help to prevent yet another South African political party falling prey to the receipt of secret donations, she argues.

South African political parties have been reluctant to tackle the issue of private funding of political parties. The major parties have refused to take the lead, saying they will only open their books once other parties do so.

Traditionally, South African companies have also been reluctant to reveal which parties they have funded, although a couple of corporations have been forced to reveal what donations they have made, after non-governmental organisations requested details under South Africa’s access to information act.

The South African government also provides some funding for political parties based on their level of popular support.

However, the sources of the largest part of the funding for most South African political parties remains under wraps, for now.