The Campaign

14 February 2013 × posted by Fritz Jooste

Category: General

Election Time and Party Funding

3 February 2014 × posted by Mary Fawzy

Quicker than you could blink, it’s an election year again. As the campaign cycle intensifies, all sorts of politics will be flung around. Politicians will say all the right things and make the right promises. This gives them the chance to control the conversation and direct our attention towards topics that they are prepared to campaign on. But amongst all this political rhetoric there are many real and important problems facing South Africa that will not be dealt with. And we must ensure that some of these hard questions receive answers around voting time.

Much has been discussed about party funding. Promises were made, some under oath, protests held, letters written and yet Parliament has failed to honour its constitutional duty to enact comprehensive laws and regulations on party funding. Private donations to political parties are a black hole. And we as citizens have failed to hold Parliament to account.

Currently, parties that are represented in the national and provincial legislatures receive a sum of money that is proportional to their representation in Parliament. This public funding is regulated by the Public Funding of Represented Political Parties Act 103 of 1997 and the amounts allocated to each party are publicly available. In the 2012–2013 financial year the African National Congress (ANC) received R69 million of the R104,8 million earmarked for all 14 political parties that hold seats in parliament. The notice for the 2013–2014 financial year as published in the Government Gazette on 5 April 2013 increased the allocation for all political parties to R114,8 million. Continue reading …

Category: General

2014 Plan of Action

14 January 2014 × posted by Mary Fawzy

Dear Friends,

This year we focus on campaigning for comprehensive reform of the funding of political parties to make them 100% open and transparent, responsive, proportionally and neutrally funded to exclude any influence from special interests.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF 2013

Our short term goals for 2013 were to: (i) secure a meeting with Parliament to discuss party funding reform urgently; (ii) develop a campaign strategy through an inclusive and deliberative process; and (iii) create awareness about the campaign.

In 2013, we achieved the following:

  • On 16 January 2013 MVC wrote a letter to the Independent Electoral Commission requesting them to take a position on the need for legislation dealing with private donations to political parties. They refused;

  • On 9 May 2013 MVC staged a protest play at the World Economic Forum and around Green Market Square. It was a Gupta inspired wedding between Government and Big Business. Watch the video here;

  • On 4 June MVC wrote a letter of demand to to the Speaker requesting that they publish a timeline for the passing of legislation dealing with the regulation of party funding reform, failing which we would be forced to go to court to resolve the issue. They have not responded;

  • On 2 August 2013 we wrote an OpEd in the Mail and Guardian summarising our activities and the lack of response from government;

  • On 25 August we received correspondence from the Public Protector informing MVC that in her opinion, the courts are best placed to deal with this issue, following non-action by Parliament and the IEC; and

  • On September 2013, we met with our lawyers to consider legal action.

2014 PLAN OF ACTION

We believe that Parliament has failed to honour its constitutional obligation to pass legislation regulating private donations to political parties. We believe such legislation is a constitutional imperative, as required by the right of access to information in section 32, the right to just administrative action in section 33, as well as the principles of public administration in section 195 of the Constitution, read against the backdrop of the rule of law and other constitutional values. Further, this must be read in conjunction with the section 19 political right. Continue reading …

Category: General

My Vote Counts is hiring!

23 December 2013 × posted by Mary Fawzy

My Vote Counts seeks to appoint a dedicated and organised individual to be an assistant coordinator of the campaign, based in Cape Town.

The position is part time requiring minimum of 20 hours a week.

Responsibilities:

  • Assisting coordinator with the running of the campaign
  • Correspondence with campaign partners, members and donors
  • Assist with presenting campaign at workshops and meetings
  • Manage budgets
  • Organize events and meetings
  • Communicate with press when needed
  • Manage My Vote Counts social media
  • Meet with donors occasionally
  • Assist in campaign strategy planning
  • Keeping record of the activities of the campaign
  • Registration of the organisation as an NPC

Requirements:

  • Undergraduate degree in politics, public policy, law or a related field
  • Competency in English speaking, writing and reading
  • Knowledge of an African language other than Afrikaans is an advantage
  • Experience working in a campaign/NGO
  • Must have a good understanding of politics in South Africa
  • Must be passionate about electoral reform and party funding regulation, or have a keen interest in learning about it.

Salary: R8 000 per month
This is a 6 month contract, renewable subject to performance and availability of funds.
To apply, email a CV and motivation letter to gsolik@gmail.com

Deadline: 24th January 2014

Category: General
 
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