Legislation will need to be put in place limiting expenditures of parties and candidates in elections and must define election expenses. Election expenses could include the cost of services like media, time and space, personal labour and goods that are donated and have a commercial value up to a certain amount. In some jurisdictions, the formula limiting election expenses is based on the number of voters registered in every constituency in which a party has an official candidate. This will of course demand that the voters roll be accurate and reliable. Volunteer labour cannot be included under election expenses;  Candidates should be reimbursed for a portion of their costs but only if they satisfy a defined threshold of votes in their constituency. For instance, if a candidate receives at least 15% of the valid votes cast in his/her constituency and has fulfilled all the requirements stipulated in the relevant legislation, the candidate should be entitled to a reimbursement of part of the expenses as stated in the legislation. The present threshold for returning the deposit paid by candidates could be a starting point;  Legislation must require the disclosure of the names of donors to registered parties and candidates if the donation is more than a stipulated amount. A maximum amount of the donation per donor should also be specified. No contributor can donate through a third party. Donations may take the form of money or the provision of goods and services. Parties and candidates must also be required to account publicly for the uses to which they put public and donated funds. All registered political parties will have to be required to file returns itemising their election related expenses and their annual receipts and expenses. Each registered party and candidate must appoint an auditor who is required to report the receipts and expenses and all statements of contributions and expenditures by parties and candidates must be filed with the designated electoral officer and become available for public inspection;  An income tax credit system for taxpayers donating to parties or candidates. This will permit a taxpayer to deduct from his/her income tax payable a portion of a political contribution that an individual makes to a registered (but not to an unregistered) political party or to a candidate. For avoidance of doubt, to be eligible for a tax credit, the contribution must be made only to a registered agent of a registered party or to an official agent of a candidate. The amount of the tax credit will vary with the amount of the donation up to a maximum credit stipulated from time to time or from one taxation year to another. The rationale for introducing such a tax credit is that it broadens the basis of financing of the democratic processes without overburdening the treasury. A public consultative process could also determine whether contributions by taxpayers could be made annually to a political party or to a party or candidate only during an election.  In line with regulations and best practices elsewhere, foreign donations to political parties and candidates must be prohibited.  Stiff penalties must be imposed for infractions of the law governing party financing. This paper concludes by echoing what Lloyd Sachikonye has recently pointed out, that: Clearly, the healthy development of parties requires a conducive and ‘enabling’ institutional framework. To the extent that the present framework is restrictive, it should be made more relaxed and transparent, and not inhibitive to parties. In this respect, restrictive laws on rights of association, assembly, and expression as represented by the POSA, AIPPA should be urgently reviewed. … If the current institutional framework is not reformed, then party development and the wider democratisation process will continue to be adversely affected (2006, xiii). 27