Africa, Headlines

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Campaign Financing in the Spotlight

Moyiga Nduru

JOHANNESBURG, Apr 10 2004 (IPS) - Mention disputes over party funding, and the image that might first come to mind is that of Republicans and Democrats in the United States, trading allegations about reliance on special interest groups. However, the matter has also sparked controversy in South Africa recently, as the country prepares for its third democratic election.

In fact, eyebrows were raised last month when former apartheid-era foes Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk teamed up with hats in hand to seek campaign funds for their respective parties.

Mandela, who ruled South Africa between 1994 and 1999, is a revered figure in the ruling African National Congress (ANC). De Klerk, the country’s last president under apartheid, headed the National Party – the predecessor of the New National Party.

The two statesmen made their joint appearance in the commercial hub of Johannesburg, where they targeted – amongst others – black business tycoon Tokyo Sexwale.

The former premier of Gauteng province, where Johannesburg is located, made a donation to both parties – a gesture that may have struck some as ironic. Sexwale is also a former anti-apartheid activist who was jailed by de Klerk’s party and sent to Robben Island along with Mandela. Both were later released by de Klerk ahead of South Africa’s first democratic poll in 1994.

“How do we campaign if we don’t have money? We need money for campaign material like posters and for putting out advertisements on radio and television,” de Klerk told a Foreign Correspondents Association (FCA) briefing in Johannesburg on Mar. 15, just a day before joining Mandela on the fundraising trail.

South Africa’s government began funding political parties in 1998 by way of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). But state resources have proved inadequate, prompting the parties to solicit additional money from corporate and private sources.

“Public funding for political parties requires enormous amounts of financing from the national treasury,” says Khabele Matlosa of the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Johannesburg.

An authority on electoral issues, Matlosa has edited a new book, ‘The Politics of State Resources: Party Funding in South Africa’, which was launched in Johannesburg on Thursday (Apr. 8). It was funded by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, from Germany.

In the first year of state funding for parties (1998/1999), the IEC dispensed about 8.2 million dollars. By 2002/2003 that figure had risen to 10.6 million dollars.

But, the ANC reportedly spent almost 16 million dollars on its 1999 campaign, while the main opposition group – the Democratic Alliance – dished out around 3.2 million dollars (according to figures compiled by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, Idasa – an NGO).

All in all, an estimated 78.2 million dollars was spent by the 20 political parties represented in parliament, in 1999.

“The vast disparity between state funding and campaign expenses indicates that all parties will be wooing the corporate community and citizens to raise funds for multi-million-rand media campaigns, leaving ample space for influence peddling,” says Idasa.

Both Idasa and EISA are lobbying for legislation to regulate private funding of political parties in South Africa.

In the 14-member Southern African Development Community, which is trying to harmonise the region’s electoral laws, only Zambia and Mauritius have no constitutional obligation to provide financial support to parties.

“Some governments in the region provide funding for all political parties including the opposition. Others don’t care at all,” EISA researcher Claude Kabemba told IPS on Thursday.

In Angola, the opposition is handicapped by inflation and a shortfall in state financing.

“We get 13 million euro (15.7 million dollars) at the end of the year and change it into kwanza. Unfortunately the Kwanza loses its value every day. At the end of the day our quota is wiped out by inflation,” Isaias Samakuva, President of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) told IPS while on a visit to South Africa last month.

UNITA estimates that it needs almost 230 million dollars to run a proper campaign. “We need money for transport, posters. People complain that they don’t even have the photograph of the UNITA president,” Samakuva observed, smiling.

According to EISA, no dates have yet been set for presidential, parliamentary or local elections in Angola, which emerged from 26 years of civil war in 2002.

“It’s in the interest of every government to have a strong opposition. The government needs a vibrant opposition to strengthen democracy,” Matlosa said.

He also believes that concerns about private funding of parties should not be allowed to overshadow the matter of how public money can be manipulated by ruling parties.

“Experiences show that the line between the ruling party and the government is blurred. The ruling party has the edge over opposition parties in accessing public funding, thereby furthering the interests of the party and not of the government,” said Matlosa.

“Hence, the playing field becomes uneven when the ruling party manipulates public funding to its own advantage.”