Local government elections are set to be held in November.
Image: Armand Hough | Independent Newspapers
South Africa's voters and donors appear to be backing different parties.
The African National Congress secured 39.2% of the vote in the 2024 election, making it the country's largest political party. The Democratic Alliance secured 22.1%.
Yet the latest Electoral Commission funding disclosures show the DA declared R57.3 million in donations during the January-to-March 2026 quarter, compared with R10 million for the ANC. This equates to the ANC pulling in 17.5% of the amount the DA did.
On the face of declared donations, political funding is flowing in a markedly different direction from electoral support.
The disclosures show political parties reported R97.2 million in donations during the first quarter of 2026, up from R14.2 million in the corresponding period a year earlier. That represents an increase of more than R83 million in declared political funding – or 85.4%.
Even though both sets of disclosures come ahead of elections, the 2024 figures were weeks before South Africans voted, while local elections will not be held until November. Much of that increase accrued to the DA.
The DA, previously the official opposition before becoming part of the government of national unity, saw its declared donations rise from R6.2 million in the first quarter of 2025 to R57.3 million this year, an increase of R51.1 million.
The increase alone was more than three times larger than the R14.2 million all political parties combined declared during the comparable quarter a year earlier.
A year ago, the funding landscape looked very different.
The ANC topped the donations table with R7 million in declared funding, narrowly ahead of the DA's R6.2 million. ActionSA reported R1 million, and total disclosed donations amounted to R14.2 million.
Political donations do not correlate with results from the 2024 elections.
Image: ChatGPT
The DA led all parties with R57.3 million in declared donations. Rise Mzansi emerged as the second-largest recipient after reporting a R30 million donation from We Are The People. The ANC reported R10 million in donations, while ActionSA disclosed R9.9 million.
Comparing electoral support and disclosed donations highlights the extent of the shift. The ANC's 39.2% share of the vote made it South Africa's largest party in the 2024 election. The DA secured 22.1%, while ActionSA won 1.41% and Rise Mzansi 0.43%.
Yet the latest funding disclosures show that the DA reported almost six times as much funding as the ANC, while Rise Mzansi declared three times more funding than the governing party despite securing less than 1% of the national vote in 2024.
The increase in political funding was also concentrated as the scale of donations flowing to the DA changed significantly.
Of the additional R83 million declared over the year, the DA accounted for R51.1 million. Rise Mzansi added R30 million after reporting no donations above the disclosure threshold in the comparable quarter of 2025.
During the first quarter of 2025, the party's disclosures included a R3 million donation from Naspers, R743,687 from Main Street 1564 and R1 million in-kind support from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
This year, the party reported multiple eight-figure donations, including R13 million from Fynbos Kapitaal, R10 million from Fynbos Ekwiteit, R10 million from Main Street 1564 and R10 million from donor M Slack. It also disclosed a R4 million donation from donor G Ryan.
Political funding disclosures capture only donations above prescribed reporting thresholds and do not provide a complete picture of party finances. They do, however, provide insight into where major donors are directing money.
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