IEC Reveals R97 Million Political Party Donations Ahead of 2026 Elections
South Africa’s 2026 local government election season is already heating up, with political parties declaring more than R97 million in donations in just three months.
The Electoral Commission has published its political party funding declaration report for the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, covering donations received between 1 January and 31 March 2026. The report comes as the country prepares for the 2026 Local Government Elections, scheduled for 4 November 2026.
According to the Commission, five political parties made declarations during the reporting period, with total declared donations amounting to R97 227 735.55. This included R94 778 903.05 in monetary donations and R2 448 832.50 in in-kind donations.
The Democratic Alliance emerged as the biggest declared beneficiary, reporting donations of more than R57.3 million, almost 60% of all declared donations for the quarter. The party’s declarations included R54.8 million in monetary donations and R2.4 million in in-kind donations.
RISE Mzansi declared the second-largest amount, with a single R30 million donation from an entity called “We Are The People”. However, the Electoral Commission said the declaration arose from the conversion of a previous loan into a donation. The Commission will still engage the party to clarify the terms and determine compliance with the Political Funding Act.
ActionSA declared R9.9 million in monetary donations. Its major declarations included R5 million from businessman Martin Moshal, R1 million each from Siyaya Free to Air TV and African Equity Corporation, and about R2.9 million in cumulative donations from party leader Herman Mashaba.
The Alliance of Citizens for Change declared R440 500, while Build One South Africa declared an in-kind donation valued at R113 794.60.
The Electoral Commission also flagged donations linked to the ANC which had not yet been acknowledged or declared by the party at the time of publication. These include R500 000 from Valumax Projects to the ANC’s Ekurhuleni branch and R270 000 from Captrust Investments to the Veterans League.
The Commission further noted that the ANC made two late declarations amounting to more than R10.5 million, including R10 million from Botho Botho Commercial Enterprises and R501 230.21 from Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. The IEC has issued the party with a directive to submit representations regarding the late declarations.
Meanwhile, the Multi-Party Democracy Fund received R4.5 million, made up of R3 million from Vodacom South Africa and R1.5 million from Standard Bank.
The latest declarations come under a revised political funding framework, which increased the disclosure threshold from R100 000 to R200 000 and raised the annual upper donation limit from R15 million to R30 million.
The Electoral Commission said the size of the latest declarations shows that the election season is firmly under way. It expects both the value and volume of political donations to increase as campaigning intensifies ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
