Political parties declared more than R230m in private funding, IEC report shows

South African political parties declared just over R230 million in private donations during the 2024/25 financial year, according to the Electoral Commission's latest political-funding report.

The report shows that the Democratic Alliance received the largest total among the parties, with about R68 million in declared donations. That included R15 million each from two related investment companies, Fynbos Ekwitiet and Fynbos Kapitaal.

The African National Congress declared about R53 million, including R25 million from the Batho Batho Trust.

Members of the Oppenheimer family donated a combined R60 million across the DA, Inkatha Freedom Party and Rise Mzansi, the figures show. Gambling entrepreneur Martin Moshal donated more than R26 million across ActionSA, Build One South Africa and the IFP.

Companies also contributed to the Multiparty Democracy Fund, which is administered separately from direct party donations. Mining company Exxaro contributed R25 million, while Standard Bank and Discovery contributed a combined R3 million.

The Political Funding Act requires parties and donors to disclose qualifying donations. The system is intended to make major sources of political funding visible to voters while setting limits and reporting duties for parties.

The IEC said disclosure compliance remained uneven and warned that its enforcement powers would be strengthened ahead of the next election cycle.

The latest figures provide a full-year view of declared private support and show that a relatively small group of wealthy individuals, trusts and companies accounted for a large share of the money disclosed by parties.