Inclusive Society Institute participates in National Symposium on Political Funding: 18-19 June 2025, Durban

The Inclusive Society Institute participated in the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s Symposium on Political Funding, which was held in Durban on 18 and 19 June 2025. The symposium brought together a diverse array of stakeholders, including political parties, researchers, regulators, civil society organisations and representatives of the media, to interrogate and reflect on the current state and future trajectory of party political funding in South Africa.

Representing the Institute was its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Daryl Swanepoel, who contributed to the robust discussions on funding transparency, equity and the sustainability of South Africa’s multiparty democracy.

A multi-sectoral engagement on the Future of political funding

The symposium was convened by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and structured over two days, with a series of high-level thematic sessions, which included:

• A public session in which the objectives of the symposium were set out, focusing on strengthening transparency, fairness and institutional integrity within the South African political funding regime.

• A deep dive into the architecture of political funding in South Africa, which featured a keynote address by IEC Deputy CEO Mr George Mahlangu, who offered insights into the Commission’s work in monitoring political finance and enforcing the Political Party Funding Act.

• A presentation of key findings from new research conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), examining the legal and policy framework regulating political finance in South Africa, as well as public perceptions around compliance and enforcement.

• A global comparative perspective on political funding, with inputs from international experts exploring best practices and emerging challenges in other electoral democracies.

• A focused session on cross-jurisdictional research, drawing from comparative experiences around the world to identify policy lessons for South Africa’s regulatory environment.

On the second day, the symposium resumed with a keynote address by the Minister of Finance, who highlighted the critical intersection between public finance management and democratic integrity.

Subsequent sessions included:

• Reimagining the Purpose, Role and Mandate of Political Funding, which interrogated whether South Africa’s current funding model adequately supports a vibrant and inclusive democratic order.

• Transparency in Political Funding, featuring new research on the capacity and commitment of key stakeholders, political parties, oversight institutions and civil society, to uphold the principles of openness and accountability.

• A closing session that examined Transparency in Public and Private Political Funding, addressing the persistent challenges of disclosure, enforcement and public trust, and proposing forward-looking reforms.

The institute’s contribution

Mr Swanepoel’s contribution on day one of the symposium highlighted several pressing concerns around the funding framework. In his remarks, he noted the apparent mismatch between the financial disclosures reported by political parties to the IEC and the scale of expenditure observed during election campaigns.

He cautioned that South Africa had adopted a high-disclosure of private funding of political parties' regime without adequately increasing public funding for political parties, a mismatch that risks undermining the objectives of the Political Party Funding Act, particularly in preventing corruption. Citing research conducted by the Inclusive Society Institute, he pointed out that South Africa spent approximately R20 per eligible voter per year on public funding in 2021, well below international norms for proportional representation systems. While funding has increased since that time, it remains inadequate to support a healthy democratic system.

Swanepoel further warned that if political parties remain underfunded and unable to meet their obligations. They may feel compelled to circumvent the law to secure sufficient campaign resources, thereby weakening the very transparency and integrity the Act seeks to protect.

In response to concerns raised by delegates at the symposium around the revised formula for distributing public funding, now based on a 10% equal share and 90% proportional allocation, he proposed a more inclusive three-tiered approach. This would begin with a small basic allocation to all represented parties to ensure operational viability, followed by the current 10-90 split, because such a model, he argued, would strike a better and more acceptable balance between the need for fairness and electoral performance, while enhancing the sustainability of South Africa’s multi-party democracy.

Conclusion

The ISI welcomed the opportunity to contribute to this important dialogues, since it the Institute was of the view that it helped advance the consolidation of South Africa’s democracy. The Institute remains committed to promoting policy reform that enhances transparency, fairness, and inclusivity within the political landscape.