News24.com | Party funding disclosures: ANC declares R30 million to pay for tax debt, national conference

Supporters at the ANC's 55th national elective conference in Johannesburg in December 2022.

• The ANC declared its donations for the third quarter of the political funding disclosure period.
• The second highest disclosure was from ActionSA of R4 680 000.
• The DA, EFF and PA made significant disclosures for donations received. 

The ANC received a financial boost to settle part of its multimillion-rand tax debt and to fund its national conference when it paid R15 million each to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the Johannesburg Expo Centre.  

On Tuesday, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) released the latest political funding disclosure report for the 2022/2023 financial year. 

The latest report shows the ANC declared a total of R32 million in the third quarter, with the bulk of it declared as donations in-kind. 

Donations in-kind are considered indirect contributions to a political party. 

The first donation of R15 million was paid to SARS from Batho Batho Trust, a company which donated heavily towards the party in previous financial years.

Batho Batho previously donated R15 million to the ANC in 2021. 

It was reported in 2022 that the ANC owed SARS over R80 million. 

Former ANC treasurer-general, now ANC deputy president, Paul Mashatile, told News24 the party was paying its tax debt. 

READ | Mashatile: ANC is paying SARS arrears of over R80m

The second donation of R15 million declared by the ANC was from United Manganese of Kalahari (UMK), a company in which the ANC's investment arm – Chancellor House – is a shareholder. 

The UMK has links to a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

The R15 million from UMK was paid to the Johannesburg Expo Centre, the venue which hosted the ANC's national conference in December. 

The ANC also declared a late donation of R10 million for the second quarter, as well as a R2 million donation from Naspers. 

The disclosures show that Naspers donated the same amount, R2 million, to the DA. 

The DA declared R2 921 325.524.

An amount of R271 000 was donated to the party by Fynbos Trust, a company linked to Capitec founder Michiel le Roux. 

READ | Party funding: DA scores big in first quarter, ANC and PA submit declarations late

The DA received donations from Karen Cramer (R250 0000) and R400 325.54 from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, a German-linked company, which donated in-kind to the party through skills training forums. 

The EFF made in-kind declarations this quarter, with the party receiving R202 600 from Car Junction, which also funded the party's branded T-shirts. 

The IEC observed that ActionSA and the Patriotic Alliance (PA) continuously declared donations, despite being unrepresented in the country's provincial legislatures and Parliament. 

The PA received R247 000 from the party's co-founder and City of Johannesburg MMC for Roads and Transport, Kenny Kunene. The PA also declared a late donation of R310 000 for the previous quarter. 

ActionSA declared R4 680 000, with R180 000 donated in-kind from the German political foundation, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

The party also received a R3.5 million donation from Martin Moshal and R1 million from African Equity Corporation.