With the deadline edging closer for ANC candidates vying for top leadership positions to declare and reveal their source of donations for political campaigns, KwaZulu-Natal has become the latest province to support the move.
Bheki Mtolo, ANC provincial secretary, said the decision is long overdue.
“Some of them are holding very big events and they bus people [around]. The elections committee is starting to be very strict. Society wants to know who is funding you and what their interest is. In business, there’s no free lunch. In essence, this is a call for transparency and as KwaZulu-Natal we support it,” said Mtolo.
In a communique by Kgalema Motlanthe, chairperson of the ANC elections committee, which was sent to national executive committee (NEC) members, branch members and provinces including regional structures, candidates are instructed to keep records of monetary donations spent on their campaigns.
“In accordance with the rules approved by the NEC, all comrades who are campaigning for various NEC positions during the 55th national conference are instructed to submit the details to the elections committee,” reads Motlanthe’s letter in part.
These include among others, the name of the campaign manager and fundraiser, budget for the campaign with expenditure, source of donations and a full statement of all income and expenditure. The deadline for submitting the disclosure is set for Friday, November 11.
Mtolo said the tide is turning against party members who want to fraudulently win elections by buying delegates.
He explained: “Great lessons have been learnt in the few conferences we have had. Delegates will vote for people that they think are capable of leading the party. They would take your money under the pretext that you will get their vote, but they choose a different candidate.”
In July 2021, the EFF failed in its legal bid to have the bank statements of Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2017 presidential campaign made public. Despite public pressure, the source of income and funders who footed the bill, which ran into millions of rands, remain undisclosed.
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