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The Democratic Alliance (DA) accounted for approximately 89% of all compliant private political donations declared during the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, raising more than R104 million as parties built their war chests for November’s local government elections.

The Electoral Commission (IEC) said political parties declared almost R117 million in compliant donations during the quarter, with the DA overwhelmingly dominating the fundraising figures.

The DA declared just over R104 million in total donations, consisting of R98.8 million in monetary contributions and R5.3 million in in-kind support.

Its largest donors include Fynbos Ekwiteit, which contributed R30 million, and Fynbos Kapitaal, which contributed another R25 million. Both entities are linked to Capitec billionaire Michiel le Roux. The Oppenheimer family and gambling tycoon Martin Moshal contributed large amounts too.

The IEC said the concentration of funding behind the DA was particularly “notable given the proximity of the local government elections. The Commission anticipates that the volume and value of political donations is likely to increase further as parties intensify fundraising for purposes of campaigning and voter mobilisation.”

Smaller parties recorded very little by way of funding.

ActionSA recorded just R5.5 million, with R5 million of that coming from Moshal.

The Labour Party of South Africa declared R5 million from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which founded the party in early 2024.

RISE Mzansi, once the darling of South Africa's richest philanthropists, recorded just R2.25 million.

The data are set out on the chart below.

The Economic Freedom Fighters and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party did not record any private donations.

The African National Congress (ANC) did not feature in the IEC’s total of compliant donations for the quarter, although the regulator disclosed sums in contributions that remain subject to further compliance action. According to the IEC, submissions relating to the ANC’s donations had failed to satisfy several requirements under the Political Funding Act.

“The deficiencies identified include, among others, failure to submit the required dual disclosure, failure by the donor and/or recipient to submit the required declaration, failure to provide proof of the underlying transaction, failure to provide required supporting documentation, and late reporting of donations,” the IEC said.

The IEC stressed that the donations had not been declared unlawful. Instead, they had been excluded from the compliant total because the required disclosure and verification processes had not yet been satisfied.

“The Electoral Commission emphasises that the publication of these matters should not be construed as a finding that the underlying donations are unlawful. Rather, the issue at this stage concerns compliance with the statutory disclosure and verification requirements applicable to political funding,” the IEC said.

Outside of the IEC’s net there are also thought to be considerable sums in illicit political financing that evade the IEC entirely.

Private funding, both compliant and illicit, is, however, only part of the story of how South Africa’s parties are funded. By far the largest source of political funding is the public purse and the taxpayer, although this is not widely known, and is a fact the parties themselves prefer not to advertise.

There is a whole series of streams of taxpayer funding for parties. One of those is the Political Representatives Fund, formerly known as the Represented Political Parties Fund. It distributes taxpayer money via the IEC to parties represented in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. Funding is allocated through a combination of equal and proportional components, meaning parties receive money partly for being represented and partly according to the number of seats they hold.

According to the IEC’s 2024/25 annual report, the Political Representatives Fund distributed R566.9 million to parties.

A second stream comes directly through Parliament. Parliament’s budget includes political party allowances intended to fund party leadership, administration, and constituency work. Its 2025/26 annual performance plan allocates R627.8 million in funding to parties.

Then there are the provincial legislatures. Each legislature maintains its own arrangements for supporting represented parties. Depending on the province, this spending may appear under headings such as political party funding, constituency allowances, caucus allowances, research support, or secretarial assistance.

The Gauteng Provincial Legislature alone recorded R184.5 million in payments to political parties through political party funding and constituency allowances in 2024/25.

The total figure that parties vote for themselves from taxpayers is therefore well north of R1.5 billion per year – far eclipsing what private donors provide.