Legal team set to review court verdict on political party funding

CASE DISMISSED

- MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA [e-mail]

THE Western Cape High Court has dismissed an application from advocacy group My Vote Counts (MVC), which sought to have the Political Party Funding Act declared unconstitutional.

This comes as ActionSA, which opposed the application, welcomed the court’s judgment, saying the application was “misguided”.

The judgment, handed down on Thursday, has prompted My Vote Counts to engage with its legal team to study the court’s decision.

My Vote Counts initiated legal proceedings earlier this year, wanting the donation limitation and disclosure threshold declared unconstitutional on various grounds. The group contended that all donations should be made public to enhance transparency and accountability.

In his judgment, Judge Nathan Erasmus determined that the challenge became moot due to the recent amendments made by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who set the annual donation limit at R30 million - up from R15m —and a new disclosure threshold of R200000, increased from R100000.