The Leriba Statement: Private Money and Political Parties in South Africa

The Leriba Statement, issued by a Civil Society Campaign Group following a conference organized by the Institute for Security Studies, calls for the regulation of private political party funding in South Africa to combat corruption and ensure political equality.

• The Civil Society Campaign Group asserts that there is an emerging consensus on the necessity of a transparent approach to private party funding, arguing that the current lack of regulation risks undermining efforts to promote accountability and defeat corruption.
• The statement advocates for a broad definition of donations to be covered by regulation to prevent loopholes, specifically including cash, loans, special discounts, and payments-in-kind, while suggesting that the voluntary donation of professional services also be considered.
• The group proposes that corporate accounting and reporting laws be expanded to mandate that both multi-national and domestic corporations explicitly disclose all political party donations to a central regulating body.
• Regarding the threshold for disclosure, the statement suggests a potential differential threshold where the amount triggering disclosure would be lower for foreign or multi-national donations and higher for domestic ones.
• The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is identified as the appropriate body for regulation and enforcement, provided it receives increased resources and capacity. Proposed sanctions for non-compliance include fines equal to the private donation amount or the withholding of public funding.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2002). The Leriba Statement: Private Money and Political Parties in South Africa. https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/conference-reports/01-nov-2002-the-leriba-statement-private-money-and-political-parties-in-south-africa-pretoria-31-october-01-november-2002

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. The Leriba Statement: Private Money and Political Parties in South Africa. 2002. https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/conference-reports/01-nov-2002-the-leriba-statement-private-money-and-political-parties-in-south-africa-pretoria-31-october-01-november-2002.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=The Leriba Statement: Private Money and Political Parties in South Africa |date=1 November 2002 |url=https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/conference-reports/01-nov-2002-the-leriba-statement-private-money-and-political-parties-in-south-africa-pretoria-31-october-01-november-2002 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforsecuritystudies2002leriba, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{The Leriba Statement: Private Money and Political Parties in South Africa}}, publisher = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2002}, month = nov, url = {https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/conference-reports/01-nov-2002-the-leriba-statement-private-money-and-political-parties-in-south-africa-pretoria-31-october-01-november-2002}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }