Party Political Funding and the South African State

This report is a submission by the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) to the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee into the Funding of Political Parties. It examines how the lack of regulation in private political funding and the abuse of state resources in South Africa undermine institutional capacity, foster political corruption, and enable 'state capture'.

• South Africa's political party funding system is characterized by a stark divide between regulated public funding and almost entirely unregulated private contributions. While public funding is allocated by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) based on proportionality (90%) and equity (10%), there are no requirements for parties to disclose private donors, no limits on cash or anonymous donations, and no restrictions on overseas contributions.
• The absence of funding regulation has enabled a business model where political parties leverage state power to secure finance. This often manifests as an exchange of funding for favorable procurement or regulatory decisions, which can either involve powerful business actors exploiting the state or parties exploiting emerging entrepreneurs through the solicitation of resources under threat of being denied government contracts.
• State resources are frequently used to provide electoral advantages to ruling parties, despite codes of conduct prohibiting partisan behavior by public servants. Examples include the distribution of food parcels and gifts by government departments and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) during campaign visits, as well as the denial of public venues to opposition parties in the Free State province.
• The drive to bring the state under party political control has led to a 'hollowing out' of institutional capacity. This process has replaced meritocratic bureaucracy with a system valuing party loyalty, resulting in the emergence of a 'contract state' that outsources core functions to generate party finance and private accumulation, which in turn erodes the state's ability to manage contractors.
• Internal party dynamics, particularly within the ANC, are heavily influenced by factional battles for power and state resources. These contests often involve 'vote buying' and the use of private funds to secure loyalty through the provision of resources like petrol money and catering, making internal politics transactional rather than ideological.
• PARI recommends a comprehensive reform package to increase transparency and reduce the influence of private money. Key proposals include requiring parties and members to report all funding to the IEC, capping individual donations, prohibiting overseas funding, increasing public funding, and amending the Electoral Act to explicitly prohibit the use of state resources for political campaigning.

APA

Olver, C., Buthelezi, M., & Brunette, R. (2017). Party Political Funding and the South African State. Public Affairs Research Institute. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Party-political-funding-and-the-SA-state-.pdf

Chicago

Olver, Crispian, Mbongiseni Buthelezi, and Ryan Brunette. Party Political Funding and the South African State. Public Affairs Research Institute, 2017. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Party-political-funding-and-the-SA-state-.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Olver |first1=Crispian |last2=Buthelezi |first2=Mbongiseni |last3=Brunette |first3=Ryan |title=Party Political Funding and the South African State |publisher=Public Affairs Research Institute |date=July 2017 |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Party-political-funding-and-the-SA-state-.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{olver2017party, author = {Olver, Crispian and Buthelezi, Mbongiseni and Brunette, Ryan}, title = {{Party Political Funding and the South African State}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2017}, month = jul, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Party-political-funding-and-the-SA-state-.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }