Chairperson, this proposal presented to the committee by the hon Greyling seeks to regulate the private funding of political parties. We had to consult with stakeholders in this. It seems my focus may have been distracted by the declarations! [Laughter.]
When dealing with proposals such as this, we always try by all means to arrive at a consensus. To date, as a result of these efforts, the work of the committee has been running smoothly. Of course it is disturbing and worrying when allegations are raised that the committee is not doing its work in accordance with the requirements. This may not necessarily be the correct picture, but it is a worry.
While dealing with this particular piece of legislation proposed by the hon Greyling, we went out and met with the Presidency, the ethics committee and portfolio committees responsible for the work that was before us. As I said earlier when I presented the other report, we also looked at the principles and guidelines that had been agreed upon by all of us in this House to see if this proposal had any elements of unconstitutionality. We went even further and got legal advice from Parliament. [Interjections.]
I'm not sure whether Parliament's legal advisers are weaker than those you may provide, but I thought we were given legal advice. [Interjections.] No, no, let's respect the institution. It is led by people. We must give them that ... [Interjections.] Come again?
Order, hon member. [Laughter.]
We were made to understand that if it were considered and given the opportunity to go ahead, this proposal had an element that might have a negative impact on the promotion of constitutional values that underlie the multiparty system of this South African democratic government. This was also reflected in section 1(d) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. This particular area refers to "bigger parties". I am sure "bigger parties" may be defined as those that manage some part of governance.
People who choose to give money to the ANC are not frightened to do so because it is the ruling party. They will do so openly and frankly. People who are making donations in this part of the country may be willing to give money to the DA because it is the ruling party in this part of the country. But when it comes to parties that do not own or run any part of government - including Cope, hon Swart - it will be difficult for donors to give them money openly and honestly. Therefore this would be killing smaller parties indirectly. We then said that this needed to be looked at.
We were again made to look at section 8 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. It calls for the status of a political party to be that of a juristic person. This means they have the right of confidentiality and privacy when they run their business.
We also looked at section 14 of the Constitution, which speaks about privacy, freedom of expression, freedom of association, political rights and so on. Again we said we could not violate the rights and freedom of political parties to be funded by private individuals out there. Trying to look at that, we then said it was not necessary to have legislation that would compel political parties to disclose their dealings with private donors. Therefore we recommend that hon Greyling's proposal should not be given the opportunity to proceed.
I think the entire committee reached consensus in this regard. We unanimously agreed that there was no need to have this kind of legislation governing our democracy in South Africa. Chair, we hope you will allow the House space to adopt this report. [Applause.]
Chairpeson, I move:
That the report be adopted.
Agreed to.
Report accordingly adopted.