New Election Officer to Preside over Disclosure of Funding in South African Polls

As allegations continue about whether President Cyril Ramaphosa knew that a R500,000 contribution to his 2017 presidential campaign came from the scandal-plagued company Bosasa, the Independent Electoral Commission has appointed a chief of party funding to oversee that political parties in future disclose contributions above a certain amount.

The IEC named George Mahlangu as the CEO of party funding in a statement today, and said he would begin immediately. Mahlangu previously worked in finance in the public and private sectors.

The secrecy of party funding has long been an issue in South African politics. As the disclosures of Bosasa were made earlier this year, prior to the general election, The New York Times wrote: “Now as South Africans prepare to vote in a pivotal general election on May 8, the public does not know where the A.N.C. and the opposition parties raised the tens of millions of dollars needed to run rallies, print posters, buy television ads and perform myriad other tasks as part of their campaigns across a vast land of 57 million people.”

“Under pressure in the courts and from anti-corruption groups, the A.N.C. pushed through legislation mandating more transparency in election financing. But President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has been running on a campaign against corruption, delayed signing the bill by a few months — just enough time to ensure that the law would not be implemented in time for this election.”

Mahlangu is a seasoned financial expert having served as a Chief Financial Officer in the private and public sectors for many years, said the elections agency.

The IEC said the appointment was a critical step in its on-going preparations to implement the Political Party Funding Act of 2018 as soon as possible.

Mahlangu will oversee the implementation of a disclosure framework through which political parties and donors must disclose donations above a threshold to the IEC, among other things, the IEC said.

Mahlangu said in a statement, “This legislation has been a long time coming and fills a crucial gap in the electoral democracy process by shedding light on the sources and uses of funding by political parties.”