How to turn a Transparency Policy into a workable and effective Legal Regime

Khomo, Coreen Morongoe Boipelo

How to turn a Transparency Policy into a workable and effective Legal Regime

Master Thesis

2021

Abstract

‘Democracy means being in touch and in tune with life as it's lived in our communities, and that is what we should expect from our leaders…' – Barak Obama Political parties are indispensable conduits for the enjoyment of political rights as they are responsible for aggregating and articulating interests, developing competing policy proposals, organising legislatures and co-ordinating the formation and activities of government, none of which is possible without adequate financial resources. The money political parties derive from the public revenue is not enough to allow them to run successful election campaigns, and as a result, they are left largely reliant on private sources of funding. However, the way in which this private funding infiltrates the political system has proven to be one of the biggest threats to democracy. An insidious link, fuelled by a lack of transparency and openness, is seen between those who donate money and those who receive it. Often, this culminates in a quid pro quo relationship between the donor and the donee which we see manifest as rampant corruption within the (dys)functioning of our state arms. In an effort to attenuate the ruinous effects of the unregulated passage of money through political systems, most democracies around the world have moved towards enacting regulatory disclosure laws, which are premised on the understanding that information on the private funding of political parties, and how this money is used, is essential for the effective exercise of the right to make political choices and to participate meaningfully in elections. No universally accepted model has been developed to regulate political finance; however, it is accepted that the core feature of any transparency policy is to be firmly rooted in the principles of access to information which in turn promotes accountability, responsiveness and openness. This paper examines whether South Africa's legal framework on political finance adequately addresses the problems that exist in relation to the funding of political parties and particularly, the threat of corruption.

Keywords

Constitutional and Administrative Law

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