Advocacy group My Vote Counts has applied for leave to appeal a Western Cape High Court ruling. The court dismissed its challenge to the constitutionality of the Political Party Funding Act. The organisation has now approached both the Constitutional Court and the High Court to continue its legal battle for greater transparency in political funding.
My Vote Counts is also urging President Cyril Ramaphosa to explain, by 20 October, why he raised the donation thresholds, and to share any documents that supported his decision to increase the minimum disclosure limit to R200,000 and the annual donation cap to R30 million.
The group argues that these amendments weaken accountability and make it more difficult to track the flow of private money into politics.
“Being able to analyse and understand how and where a party gets its private funding from is key to ensuring that everything is above board and that there is no undue influence,” said Joel Bregman, a representative of the organisation.
He added that My Vote Counts will “continue advocating for and litigating when necessary to ensure that our party funding legislation is constitutional and upholds the principles of transparency and accountability.”
VOC News
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