MTN’s political donations revealed

MTN has funded the ANC and EFF’s election campaigns. This was revealed in the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC’s) party funding report for the last quarter.

Under the new Political Party Funding Act, enacted in April 2021, political parties must declare all donations above R100,000 to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

The latest report, which provided an overview of money given to political parties before the elections, showed a significant rise in donations.

Between April and June 2024, South Africa’s political parties received donations worth R189 million from donors.

The Democratic Alliance received the most money, R57 million, followed by the Inkatha Freedom Party, R38 million, and Rise Mzansi, R34 million.

The African National Congress received R26 million during the quarter, and Action SA and Build One South Africa R13 million each.

Billionaires Jonathan Oppenheimer and Capitec founder Michiel Le Roux were the biggest political donors over the last quarter.

Oppenheimer donated R30 million to the DA and IFP (R15 million each), while Le Roux, through Fynbos Ekwiteit and Fynbos Kapitaal, gave the DA R30 million.

The third biggest donor was billionaire Martin Moshal, who gave R7.5 million each to ActionSA and the Inkatha Freedom Party and R11.5 million to Mmusi Maimane’s BOSA.

Nicky Oppenheimer gave R15 million to the IFP while Rebecca Oppenheimer gave R15 million to Rise Mzanzi. We are the People also gave Rise Mzanzi R15 million.

The ANC’s biggest supporter was the Batho Batho Trust, which gave the party R15 million over the last quarter.

MTN’s involvement with the ANC and EFF

Two donations that stood out were Mobile Telephone Networks (Pty) Ltd’s R515,313 in-kind donations to the ANC and EFF.

The donation to the African National Congress happened five days before the election, while its donation to the EFF was the day before the elections.

Most other companies, like African Rainbow Minerals and Harmony Gold, support all large political parties.

African Rainbow Minerals, for example, supported the DA, ANC, EFF, FF Plus, IFP, and ACDP ahead of the 2024 elections. Harmony Gold did the same.

Exxaro Resources, in turn, gave R25 million to the Multi-Party Democracy Fund in the last quarter.

The Multi-Party Democracy Fund gives money to all parties represented in national and provincial legislatures.

Daily Investor asked MTN for details about its donations to the ANC and EFF and it provided the following statement.

MTN explains its donations

MTN, as a South African company born at the dawn of democracy, is committed to maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance and transparency in all our operations.

MTN believes that it is crucial to support multi-party-political systems and the stability of democracies in the countries in which it operates and understands that political parties need resources to fulfil their vital democratic purpose.

MTN, guided by local legislation in the relevant country in which it operates and MTN’s Group Political Contributions Policy, does not make cash donations to political parties.

As a company, we make in-kind donations in the form of goods and services provided in its ordinary course of business. Donations are made to political parties who submit formal written requests to the company.

In the case of South Africa’s recent general elections, MTN received two formal written requests from the ANC and EFF. Our in-kind donations to these two political parties included: SIM cards, WiFi Routers for stadium VVIP, VIP, and media lounges, data, minutes and bulk SMSes.

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This article was first published by Daily Investor and is reproduced with permission.