Oppenheimer’s cheque gives Rise Mzansi the lion’s share of R59 million donations declared to the IEC by political parties

Oppenheimer’s cheque gives Rise Mzansi the lion’s share of R59 million donations declared to the IEC by political parties

The Electoral Commission of South Africa has revealed donations to parties for the third quarter with Rebecca Oppenheimer, Martin Moshal and Victoria Freudenheim being the largest donors to the newer parties, Rise Mzansi, ActionSA and Build One South Africa (Bosa).

Chancellor House donated R10 million to the African National Congress (ANC) during the third quarter, while Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie and deputy leader Kenny Kunene donated R2.7 and R1 million to the party respectively.

The IEC said on Thursday Rise Mzansi received the largest funding of R16.7m during the period under review followed by ActionSA, which received R13.9m from donors and the ANC got R10m from Chancellor House.

Bosa received R8.5m while the PA got R7m, the DA received R2m and the Inkatha Freedom Party received R191,000.

Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi had already declared the donations they received a few weeks ago. The IEC confirmed that Oppenheimer gave Rise Mzansi R15 million.

However, the IEC said Oppenheimer has previously gave funds to the DA and ActionSA.

With ActionSA the largest donation came from Freudenheim who gave the party R7.4 million. Moshal gave ActionSA R5 million.

Bosa also received large sums from other donors.

“Build One South Africa (BOSA) declared the fourth highest donation received valued at R8,500,000.00, which was all monetary in nature. The party’s highest donation was received from Jessica Bridget Slack Jell, valued at R6,000,000.00, followed by Martin Moshal with a donation of R2,000,000.00, and lastly, an entity named RTH Investments (Pty) Ltd with a donation of R500,000.00.

“All these donors are regular donors to various political parties in South Africa, inclusive of the DA and ActionSA,” said the IEC.

Out of the R7 million that was donated to the PA, R2.7 million came from McKenzie and R1 million from Kunene.

It is not the first time that McKenzie has donated to his party. ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has also in the past gave funds to his party.

The ANC got funding from Chancellor House during the third quarter. .

“The ANC made the third highest donation declaration valued at a combined R10,000,000.00. All of the ANC’s declared donations were of monetary nature and were received from Chancellor House Trust. The donations were of R5,000,000.00 each, both received during the month of December 2023,” said the IEC.

The DA got R2 million from the funders.

The parties are already campaigning for the elections following the announcement by the President, Cyril Ramaphosa, that the elections will be on May 29.

The IEC said a total of R59 million was donated to the seven political parties in the third quarter.

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