Political parties in South Africa are now required to disclose their sources of funding following a court ruling on Wednesday to that effect.
The ruling which was made by the Western Cape High Court has now ordered the South African parliament to also amend access-to-information laws.
Some political parties have been against the public disclosure of their sources of funding fearing it could jeopardize funding for their activities.
The court said in its ruling that disclosure of the private funding of political parties and independent candidates will be useful in the effective exercise of the right to vote in elections and to make political choices.
The group that filed the case, My Vote Counts (MVC) welcomed the ruling saying in a statement that “This means that there must be a legislative mechanism that allows access to this information,”
Meanwhile the South African parliament has signaled that it has already initiated moves to review laws to regulate the public and private funding of political parties.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the South African parliament, Moloto Mothapo said the new regulations would prohibit certain donations made directly to political parties and regulate disclosure of donations.
The Ad Hoc Committee on the Funding of Political Parties has until November 30 to submit a report to the National Assembly detailing the funding law review process.
Source: Africafeeds.com
