IEC flags R15.27m in ANC donations for disclosure failures ahead of local elections

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has flagged R15.27 million in donations to the African National Congress (ANC) for failing to meet political funding disclosure requirements, the commission said as parties step up fundraising ahead of the November local government elections.

Which donations were flagged

The IEC said the R15.27 million included R15 million from the Batho Batho Trust and R270,000 from Captrust Investment (Pty) Ltd. These amounts were not included in the R116.78 million of donations the commission recorded as compliant during the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year.

Compliance failures identified

The commission said it had identified “many compliance matters” relating to donations to the ANC. It listed deficiencies including failures to submit required dual disclosure, failure by donor and/or recipient to submit the required declaration, failure to provide proof of the underlying transaction, missing supporting documentation and late reporting.

The IEC said it had decided to publish the ANC-related information while regulatory processes were pursued, but cautioned against treating the publication as a determination of illegality.

“The Electoral Commission emphasises that the publication of these matters should not be construed as a finding that the underlying donations are unlawful,”

the commission said.

Regulatory steps and possible sanctions

The IEC has issued the ANC with a section 15 direction to address the identified compliance deficiencies. The commission warned that failure to comply could lead to further regulatory action, including the withholding of future allocations from the Political Representatives Fund and the Multi-Party Democracy Fund, and possible referral to the Electoral Court for sanctions.

Other ANC donations reported late

The IEC separately flagged a number of ANC donations relating to the 2025/26 financial year that were reported after prescribed reporting periods. These included an in-kind donation of R501,230.29 from Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a R10 million donation from Botho Botho Commercial Enterprises (Pty) Ltd, R500,000 from Valumax Projects and two R15 million donations from the Batho Batho Trust. The commission said these declarations failed compliance tests including late reporting, lack of proof of transaction and missing dual disclosure and were excluded from the tabulated total of compliant donations.

Quarterly funding picture: DA dominates

The IEC reported that four political parties declared R116.78 million in donations between April 1 and June 30. The Democratic Alliance (DA) accounted for approximately 89% of that total, declaring R104.03 million. ActionSA declared R5.5 million, the Labour Party of South Africa R5 million, and RISE Mzansi R2.25 million.

The commission said the quarter’s total comprised R111.5 million in monetary donations and R5.28 million in in-kind donations. It listed several of the DA’s largest monetary contributions and noted substantial in-kind support for the party, including advertising, staffing, legal services and campaign-related assets.

Other compliance matters and expectations

The IEC highlighted a compliance matter involving an ActionSA donation from Siyaya Free To Air TV (Pty) Ltd, where the party’s declaration had been submitted but the donor’s corresponding declaration was outstanding. RISE Mzansi’s two declared donations were confirmed fully compliant, and the Labour Party’s R5 million donation from AMCU was recorded.

The commission said the formal proclamation of the November 4 election date had been expected to increase political fundraising and campaign expenditure, and that it would pay particular attention to high-value donations, late declarations, discrepancies between donor and party disclosures, third-party expenditure, in-kind contributions, proof and verification of transactions, foreign funding and compliance with disclosure thresholds and annual donation limits.

The reporting cycle was conducted under a revised disclosure framework that raised the disclosure threshold from R100,000 to R200,000 and increased the annual upper donation limit from R15 million to R30 million, the IEC said.