PHUTI MOSOMANE
THE Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has reported that out of the 15 political parties represented, 11 have successfully submitted audited financial statements.
This represents a submission compliance rate of 73%, as required by the Act.
However, the IEC has identified four political parties that did not fulfil this requirement.
These parties include the African Independent Congress (AIC), Congress of the People (COPE), National Freedom Party (NFP), and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC).
In addition to the failure to submit financial statements, both the African National Congress (ANC) and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) have also not provided financial statements concerning direct funding.
“Two represented political parties, the African National Congress (ANC) and the African Transformation Party (ATM) made incomplete submissions, i.e., they submitted only one set of financial statements relating to the funds and nothing relating to direct funding. As indicated above, the ANC has since rectified this omission,” the commission said.
Kate Bapela, the spokesperson for the Electoral Commission, announced a significant achievement for the entity following the enactment and implementation of the Political Party Funding Act.
She said that on 27th January 2023, the Commission officially presented the report and financial statements for political party funding to the National Assembly.
The report included the findings of the Auditor-General and covered the financial year 2021-2022.
Out of the total number of political parties, nine managed to meet the submission deadline of 30th September 2022, while two parties did not comply.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Minority Front (MF) submitted their financial statements after the prescribed date.
Regarding the 30 unrepresented parties that submitted statements, the IEC reported that 15 of them had their financial statements audited, while the remaining 15 submitted unaudited statements.
“Political parties who failed to submit by the deadline were issued with letters in terms of section 15(1)(a) of the Act, requiring them to make representations as to why they had not complied with their obligations under the Act,” Bapela said.
The majority of represented political parties have demonstrated compliance with the Act and regulations regarding the Audited Financial Statements (AFS) relating to the Represented Political Party Fund (RPPF) and Multiparty Democracy Fund (MPDF). However, four represented political parties failed to prepare their AFS in accordance with the generally recognized accounting practices (GRAP) prescribed by the Act.
“The parties concerned are the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), the African Transformation Movement (ATM), the Democratic Alliance (DA), and GOOD,” the commission said.
The majority of represented political parties received unqualified audit opinions on their AFS relating to the funds.
However, the IEC said for the ACDP and GOOD, the independent auditors’ opinion was qualified.
In respect of the ANC, the independent auditor’s opinion was a disclaimer.
“The independent auditor’s opinion indicated that this was with regard to statements relating to direct funding,” Bapela added.
For the ANC, the auditor stated that the party was unable to obtain financial information to enable them to express an opinion on donations, hence a disclaimer.
A total of 15 of the parties are represented in the various legislative bodies, namely, the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures.
The other approximately 500 parties have no representation in legislative assemblies, but are on the register of parties.
Forty-one (41) parties submitted their financial statements.
A total of twenty-four (24) parties submitted on or before the deadline of 30 September 2022 and seventeen (17) submitted after the deadline.
The IEC said it will approach the Electoral Court in terms of s18 of the Act to request the Court to impose administrative fines on the non-compliant parties.
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