POLITICAL PARTY FUNDING: DA’s funding surge outpaces rivals ahead of local government elections

Political party donor declarations to the IEC show the deep pockets behind sudden funding surges, with the DA the clear leader.

The coffers of several political parties saw a significant surge at the start of the year, with tens of millions in donor funding channelled into their accounts.

According to the latest report on disclosed party funding by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), several parties received their biggest donations in the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 period.

The quarter, which spanned from 1 January to 31 March 2026, saw parties declare upwards of R97.8-million in donor funding.

“This report is published against the backdrop of the recent announcement of the forthcoming 2026 local government elections (LGE), scheduled to take place on 4 November 2026. The declarations provide an early indication of intensified political fundraising and mobilisation associated with the commencement of an election period,” said the IEC.

“This reporting cycle continues under the revised disclosure framework approved by the National Assembly, which increased the disclosure threshold from R100,000 to R200,000, and the annual upper donation limit from R15-million to R30-million.”

According to the amounts disclosed in the report, the DA saw the biggest surge in funding, with close to half of its annual donations coming in the final quarter.

The party declared R32.2-million, R1.1-million and R31.2-million in the first three quarters, respectively.

In the fourth quarter, it received a whopping R57.3-million, bringing its annual donations to just shy of R122-million.

Over the 12-month period, the DA’s most notable donations were R58-million through companies linked to Capitec Bank co-founder Michiel le Roux, and R11.4-million from Main Street 1564, owned by the online gambling entrepreneur Martin Moshal.

Moshal also donated R5-million to ActionSA in the fourth quarter, nearly half of the party’s R11.6-million annual donations. The majority of the party’s remaining donations came from its president, Herman Mashaba.

The second biggest surge in donations in the fourth quarter, R30-million, was declared by Rise Mzansi.

In comparison to the DA, across the previous three quarters, the ANC declared a total of R10-million, although that’s not the full picture.

In the first and third quarters, the party received R7.6-million and R2-million, respectively, from its investment arm, the Chancellor House Trust, and R358,000 from the Education and Training Unit in the second quarter.

The fourth quarter report reflected no declaration by the ANC. Howeve