This Amendment Bill comes as a result of the Constitutional Court, confirming Western Cape High Court order that Promotion of Access to Information Act, as it stands, is unconstitutional in that. It did not provide for the disclosure by political parties of the funds they receive.
This Amendment Bill, in accordance with the ruling of the Constitutional Court, seeks to amend Promotion of Access to Information Act to regulate to the recordal, preservation and availability of information in respect of private funding to political parties and independent candidates, receives the full support of the IFP.
While the Bill is adequate in respect of accounting records that must be kept in respect of contributions made to party, as well as disbursements made by the party, it does not deal with funding received by individual party members when they are contesting leadership positions within a particular party. This Bill
may have been a missed opportunity in respect of the above.
But we do agree that the threshold of R100 000, in respect of which accounting officers are required to now comply with, in respect of making financial information available to the public, is reasonable as was determined by the court. We compliment the committee for their speed and efficiency in complying with the Amendment Bill within the Constitutional Court order timeframes. I thank you.