PRETORIA, Thursday 27 August 2026 — The Democratic Alliance accounted for almost 89% of the R116.8 million in compliant political donations declared for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, as parties increase fundraising ahead of South Africa’s 4 November local government elections.
The Electoral Commission published the declarations on Thursday, covering donations received between 1 April and 30 June 2026. Four parties submitted declarations counted in the compliant total.
The DA declared R104.03 million, substantially more than the other parties included in the report.
ActionSA declared R5.5 million, the Labour Party of South Africa R5 million, and RISE Mzansi R2.25 million.
The scale of the DA’s fundraising is especially relevant ahead of an election in which the party is mounting major campaigns in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay.
Its declared funding represents about nine rand of every ten rand included in the IEC’s compliant total for the quarter.
Among the DA’s largest declared monetary donations were R30 million from Fynbos Ekwiteit, R25 million from Fynbos Kapitaal and R10 million from D Barnes, according to the published disclosure information.
Other monetary donors included R Slack Diamond, J Slack Jell, M Moshal and Lombard Consolidated, each at R5 million, alongside several smaller donations and in-kind contributions.
ActionSA’s declarations included R5 million from Martin Moshal and R500,000 from Siyaya Free To Air TV.
The IEC identified a compliance issue relating to the Siyaya donation because a corresponding declaration from the donor remained outstanding.
The Labour Party declared R5 million from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, while RISE Mzansi’s declarations included R1.25 million from Ungani Investments and R1 million from Captrust Investments.
The ANC was not included in the R116.8 million compliant total.
The Electoral Commission said it had received information relating to approximately R15.27 million in ANC donations that did not yet meet requirements under the Political Funding Act and the applicable disclosure framework.
The IEC said those matters involved deficiencies including incomplete or missing declarations and supporting documentation.
It has issued the ANC with a direction under section 15 requiring the party to address the outstanding compliance issues.
The commission stressed that exclusion of those amounts from the compliant total should not be interpreted as a finding that the donations themselves were unlawful.
The issue concerns whether disclosure and verification requirements have been properly satisfied.
The disclosure comes during the final phase of candidate registration for the municipal elections.
Parties and independent candidates have until 17:00 on Friday, 28 August to submit their candidate nominations to the IEC.
Campaign activity is expected to intensify once candidate lists are closed and parties move fully into the final two months of electioneering.
Political funding can become particularly important in metropolitan campaigns, where parties must finance large-scale advertising, field operations, voter mobilisation, candidate promotion and election-day structures across hundreds of voting districts.
The latest declarations therefore provide an early indication of the financial resources available to some parties as they prepare to compete for control of South Africa’s major metros.
They do not provide a complete picture of every party’s finances.
Political-funding disclosures only capture donations that meet statutory reporting requirements, while parties may also derive resources from sources permitted under electoral and political-funding law.
The IEC’s next disclosures will provide a clearer indication of whether fundraising accelerates as election day approaches and whether the gap between the DA and its competitors narrows during the main campaign period.
