Wednesday, 27 September 2017 – Parliament takes note of the Western Cape High Court judgement in favour of the “My Vote Counts” campaign, which challenged the constitutionality of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) insofar as it did not allow for the disclosure of information on private funding to political parties.
The court has ruled that Parliament has 18 months within which to remedy the defect in PAIA to allow for disclosure of private funding for political parties.
Parliament has begun a process of developing a law to regulate the public and private funding of political parties, including prohibiting certain donations made directly to political parties and regulating disclosure of donations. The Draft Political Party Funding Bill (2017), which is currently available on the Parliament website and has been gazetted for public comment, is scheduled for public hearings at Parliament on 7th and 8th November 2017.
The Ad Hoc Committee on the Funding of Political Parties has until 30 November to submit a report to the National Assembly.
In view of the ongoing parliamentary process, Parliament will study today’s judgment and its implication on the Bill and the work of the ad hoc committee.
The draft Bill can be accessed by following the link below:
http://tinyurl.com/ybw6a8vd
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Enquiries: Moloto Mothapo 082 370 6930
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