The IEC’s latest report on disclosed party funding reveals that several parties received their biggest donations in the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 period. (Photo: Darren Stewart / Gallo Images) The coffers of several political parties saw a significant surge at the start of the year, with tens of millions in donor funding channelled into their accounts.
According to the latest report on disclosed party funding by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), several parties received their biggest donations in the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 period.
The quarter, which spanned from 1 January to 31 March 2026, saw parties declare upwards of R97.8-million in donor funding.
“This report is published against the backdrop of the recent announcement of the forthcoming 2026 local government elections (LGE), scheduled to take place on 4 November 2026. The declarations provide an early indication of intensified political fundraising and mobilisation associated with the commencement of an election period,” said the IEC.
“This reporting cycle continues under the revised disclosure framework approved by the National Assembly, which increased the disclosure threshold from R100,000 to R200,000, and the annual upper donation limit from R15-million to R30-million.”
DA’s R122m
According to the amounts disclosed in the report, the DA saw the biggest surge in funding, with close to half of its annual donations coming in the final quarter.
The party declared R32.2-million, R1.1-million and R31.2-million in the first three quarters, respectively.
In the fourth quarter, it received a whopping R57.3-million, bringing its annual donations to just shy of R122-million.
Over the 12-month period, the DA’s most notable donations were R58-million through companies linked to Capitec Bank co-founder Michiel le Roux, and R11.4-million from Main Street 1564, owned by the online gambling entrepreneur Martin Moshal.
Moshal also donated R5-million to ActionSA in the fourth quarter, nearly half of the party’s R11.6-million annual donations. The majority of the party’s remaining donations came from its president, Herman Mashaba.
/file/attachments/orphans/ED_597089_814376.jpg "ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba. (Photo: Fani Mahuntsi / Gallo Images)")
The second biggest surge in donations in the fourth quarter, R30-million, was declared by Rise Mzansi.
“The R30-million declaration made by Rise Mzansi represents a conversion of a previous loan into [a] donation. The terms of this conversion are still to be clarified by the commission. Consequently, the Electoral Commission will further engage with the party on this loan-donation conversion to ascertain compliance with the requirements of the Act,” said the IEC.
ANC lagging
In comparison to the DA, across the previous three quarters, the ANC declared a total of R10-million, although that’s not the full picture.
In the first and third quarters, the party received R7.6-million and R2-million, respectively, from its investment arm, the Chancellor House Trust, and R358,000 from the Education and Training Unit in the second quarter.
The fourth quarter report reflected no declaration by the ANC. However, in its statement, the IEC said two donors declared contributions to the party.
Valumax Projects declared a R500,000 donation to the ANC’s Ekurhuleni branch, while Captrust Investments donated R270,000 to the party’s Veterans League.
“These donations totalling R770,000 have not been acknowledged or declared by the party at the time of publication.”
The ANC also made late declarations with regard to R10.5-million in donations from previous quarters, and the IEC has issued the party with a directive to submit representations to explain why the declarations were late.
These funds comprise R501,230 from the German political foundation Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and R10-million from Patrice Motsepe’s Botho-Botho Commercial Enterprises.
Effectively, this means the ANC received at least R21-million in donations that the IEC is aware of for the 2025/26 year.
/file/attachments/2992/South_African_Political_Funding_Surge11_766070.jpg "The fourth quarter political party donations at a glance. (Photo: NotebookLM)")
Compared to the IEC’s report for the fourth quarter last year, the total declared donations are almost seven times higher, with R97.8-million for the fourth quarter in 2025/26, as opposed to R14.1-million in 2024/25.
However, the annual declared donations paint a different picture, with the total for 2025/26 dropping to R175.7-million from the R229.2-million in 2024/25.
In 2024/25, the ANC and DA declared the highest annual accumulative donations, with the former declaring R53.2-million, and the latter R68.1-million
The rest?
Other parties to appear on the IEC’s reports for 2025/26 include the IFP, which declared R186,726 from the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and R158,329 from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, both in-kind.
Build One South Africa (Bosa) also reported receiving R134,794 in in-kind donations from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung during 2025/26.
The little-known Alliance of Citizens for Change, led by Masizole Mnqasela, reported receiving R440,500 from Mnqasela himself.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Outside-budget-17.jpg "ACC leader Masizole Mnqasela leads a protest in Cape Town before the 2024 Budget speech on 21 February 2024. (Photo: Shelley Christians)")
Other prominent parties, including the EFF, PA, Good and MK, did not appear on the IEC’s quarterly report and did not make any donation declarations throughout the whole year.
The IEC also noted donations to the Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF) — which is split between various parties — including from Vodacom SA and Standard Bank, which donated R3-million and R1.5-million, respectively.
“Both entities are regular contributors to the fund, demonstrating continued commitment to strengthening South Africa’s multiparty system as envisaged in our constitution,” said the IEC. DM