The ANC has been flagged by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) over R15.27 million in political donations requiring further compliance action, with the party warned that continued failure to address the deficiencies could result in further regulatory action.
The donations, comprising R270 000 from Captrust Investment (Pty) Ltd and R15 million from Batho Batho Trust, were excluded from the IEC’s total of compliant political donations for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year after failing to satisfy the applicable disclosure requirements.
The IEC has also issued the ANC with a Section 15 direction requiring it to address the identified compliance deficiencies.
The commission’s latest disclosure comes as political parties ramp up fundraising ahead of the 4 November local government elections, with the IEC reporting that parties declared a combined R116.78 million in donations between 1 April and 30 June 2026.
However, the ANC’s R15.27 million in donations did not form part of that compliant total.
The IEC said it had received submissions relating to the ANC donations from both the party and donors, but that the submissions had not met the requirements of the Political Funding Act and the applicable disclosure framework.
The deficiencies identified included a failure to submit the required dual disclosure, failures by donors and the recipient to submit the required declarations, a failure to provide proof of the underlying transactions, missing supporting documentation and the late reporting of donations.
The commission said the donations had therefore not been included in the published total of compliant donations.
It nevertheless decided to disclose the information publicly while the relevant regulatory processes continue.
The IEC stressed that the publication should not be interpreted as a finding that the underlying donations were unlawful.
“Rather, the issue at this stage concerns compliance with the statutory disclosure and verification requirements applicable to political funding,” the commission said.
The ANC also faces scrutiny over several donations relating to the 2025/26 financial year which it reported after the prescribed reporting periods.
These include an in-kind donation of R501 230 from Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, made on 31 July 2025; a R10 million donation from Botho Botho Commercial Enterprises, made on 15 December 2025; and a R500 000 donation from Valumax Projects, made on 20 March 2026.
The party also reported a R15 million in-kind donation from Batho Batho Trust, made on 1 April 2025, and a further R15 million monetary donation from the trust, made on 29 December 2025.
The IEC said these declarations had failed compliance tests in several respects, including late reporting, failure to provide proof of the transaction by the donor and/or recipient and failure to ensure dual disclosure.
These donations were also excluded from the tabulated total of compliant donations.
The commission said it had again disclosed the information in the interests of transparency while regulatory processes were being pursued.
Pertinently, the IEC has warned that failure by the ANC to comply with the Section 15 direction could have consequences beyond the current disclosures.
“Failure to comply with the issued direction may result in further regulatory action, including withholding future allocations from the Political Representatives Fund (PRF) and the Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF),” the commission said.
“Continued non-compliance may also result in referral to the Electoral Court for appropriate sanctions in terms of the Act.”
The compliance concerns come as political parties enter an increasingly intensive campaign period ahead of the local government elections.
The IEC said the formal proclamation of 4 November as the election date was expected to drive increased political fundraising and campaign expenditure as parties intensify voter mobilisation.
During the first quarter, four political parties made compliant donation declarations totalling R116,784,185.25.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) accounted for the overwhelming majority, declaring R104,034,185.25, or approximately 89% of the total.
Its declarations comprised R98,750,004 in monetary donations and R5,284,181.25 in in-kind contributions.
The DA’s major monetary donors included R30 million from Fynbos Ekwiteit (Pty) Ltd, R25 million from Fynbos Kapitaal (Pty) Ltd and R10 million from D Barnes.
Other significant contributions included R5 million each from R Slack Diamond, J Slack Jell, M Moshal and Lombard Consolidated Pty Ltd, as well as R2.5 million from Kerry Road Trust and R2 million from Predator Securities (Pty) Ltd.
The DA also reported millions of rands in in-kind contributions, including expenditure incurred on its behalf for advertising, staffing, legal services and campaign-related assets.
ActionSA declared R5.5 million, including R5 million from M Moshal and R500 000 from Siyaya Free To Air TV (Pty) Ltd.
However, the IEC also identified a compliance issue involving the Siyaya donation because the corresponding declaration by the donor remained outstanding.
The commission said it had issued the necessary direction to address the matter.
The Labour Party of South Africa declared R5 million from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), while Rise Mzansi declared R2.25 million, comprising R1.25 million from Ungani Investments (Pty) Ltd and R1 million from Captrust Investments (Pty) Ltd.
The IEC said the Rise Mzansi donations were fully compliant.
The latest disclosures provide an early indication of the scale of political funding ahead of the November elections, with the commission expecting the volume and value of donations to increase as parties intensify their campaigns.
The commission warned that the election period would also bring heightened compliance risks, particularly around high-value donations, late declarations, discrepancies between donor and party disclosures, third-party expenditure and in-kind contributions, proof and verification of transactions, foreign funding and compliance with disclosure thresholds and annual donation limits.
The disclosure framework currently requires greater scrutiny of political funding, with the reporting cycle operating under revised thresholds that increased the disclosure threshold from R100 000 to R200 000 and the annual upper donation limit from R15 million to R30 million.
The IEC said transparency in political funding depended not only on disclosure but on information being accurate, complete, timely and verifiable.
As parties prepare for the 4 November elections, the commission said it would continue publishing donation declarations, monitoring compliance, issuing directions where deficiencies were identified and pursuing regulatory and enforcement measures where required.
The ANC’s R15.27 million in donations currently subject to further compliance action therefore places additional focus on the party’s political funding disclosures as it heads into one of the country’s most closely watched local government elections.