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The ANC national executive committee (NEC) has mandated the top six to review the Through the Eye of the Needle document and to begin writing regulations that will guide the use of money in internal campaigns.
NEC member Dakota Legoete led a delegation from the party to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) public hearings for the regulations of the Political Party Funding Act on Friday.
Legoete told the panel of IEC commissioners that the governing party had resolved to discuss ways in which to regulate funding for internal campaigns.
Through the Eye of the Needle is a 2001 document that outlines the character and attributes of model ANC behaviour and leadership.
Speaking to City Press on the sidelines of the public hearings, Legoete said the ANC was being destroyed by the use of money.
“Even though we are a movement that was built out of the blood and sweat of our forebears, today we are destroying this movement with money and patronage. So these regulations, including our own internal regulations, in terms of who must ascend to leadership in our movement, are going to be important. We can’t afford to have anyone ascending to the highest office through blood money or through the influence of money,” he said.
While the discussion on the use of money in internal party contestations has been ongoing for some time, the conversation has been resuscitated in recent months, with President Cyril Ramaphosa being put in the hot seat by the Public Protector.
The chapter 9 institution recently found that he violated his oath of office by misleading Parliament regarding a donation given to him by Bosasa for his campaign to lead the ANC.
Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane called on prosecuting authorities to investigate the possibility of money laundering in that campaign, saying that millions had been moved around.
“In future we will look at the management of funding for internal campaigns as a movement because we have learnt and realised that it can have unintended catastrophic [consequences]. As a result of that, since the 2000 [national general council] we have been speaking about the undue influence of money in our internal democracy.
“Up until now we have not done anything about it. Now the NEC has mandated the top six to go and review our Through the Eye of the Needle document and also to try to regulate how individuals are going to do their campaigns going forward so that we don’t have so many millions in internal campaigns which may later mean another recapture of the state,” Legoete said without naming Ramaphosa.
He said next year’s national general council had the powers to adopt the new regulations for funding of internal campaigns, meaning that they would be implemented before the next national elective conference in 2022.
Asked whether Ramaphosa and others who campaigned in the run-up to the 2017 elective conference at Nasrec would have to account for money used in those campaigns, Legoete said the conversation had been shelved for now.
“So far we don’t know. Matters related to Nasrec and how monies were raised are sub judice. Some of them are with chapter 9 institutions and some within the courts so for now. As the ANC we would not want to enter into that particular space. We will allow our administrators of law and justice to guide us and where possible we will listen to what orders they will make in that regard.”
In its presentation to the IEC, the ANC delegation urged the commission to be cautious of overregulation as it embarks on the watershed legislation.
The ANC was particularly concerned with the regulation around donation in kind, including small-scale donations from volunteers such as lifts to branch meetings or occasional lunches during party work; the capacity of the IEC to facilitate the elements of the act; and the complication of processes which would be off-putting for donors.
ANC general manager Febe Potgieter, who formed part of the delegation, said that donors already had concerns about the act and that fundraising for this year’s May 8 polls had been extremely difficult for all political parties.
Legoete said the party welcomed the act, but felt strongly that certain parts of the regulations needed amending.
“We are not bashing or boycotting the regulations, but if they can be phased in to allow us as parties, donors and the public to put through public awareness to understand the intentions of the act. If potential donors do not know the purpose of the act and what is required of them they may find themselves in unnecessary trouble.
“The other thing we have said is that the act must be juxtaposed with other acts that exist because the disclosure also has to do with the revenues act or the tax act, which is clear that client and tax man relations are confidential. How will it affect that regulation?”
The regulations call for consolidated bank accounts of political parties to be audited by professionals.
The ANC delegation emphasised that it would need time – six months to a year – to be in a position to be compliant with the regulation.
The delegation said that the party had more than 4 700 branches – each with at least one bank account, most have more than one – and that a system of centralising all of the bank accounts would have to be created.
The act stipulates that any donation above the threshold of R100 000 be disclosed to the IEC. Donors wanting to contribute to the multiparty fund – distributed to all political parties holding seats in legislatures according to electoral support – may request the IEC not to disclose the identity of the donor.
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