1.0. Introduction The financing of political parties is generally considered to be one of the critical factors for the success of multiparty democracy. In the case of the public funding of political parties, Friedman states that as African States attempt efforts to move towards democracy, public funding of political parties has become an important issue in some of the continent’s politics1. He says that several African States which are attempting democratisation do so in a context which makes political party funding a vital issue, for two reasons: • The widespread perception in some societies that the ruling party uses State funds to support its activities, to the disadvantage of opposition parties which do not have access to such resources; and • The reality that many African societies lack a strong private economy, meaning that opposition political parties cannot rely on contributions from wealthy supporters to make up for any resource advantage which the ruling party may have2. Opposition parties may, therefore, demand that they also enjoy State support if they are to compete on a relatively equal footing with the ruling party or other parties with considerable private funding3. Apart from public funding, political parties may raise funds from private sources, such as membership fees, subscriptions and contributions, dues (e.g. members of parliament of the party may be levied a certain percentage of their government salary while ordinary members pay a stipulated monthly or annual subscription), donations by individuals or corporations (in cash or kind), fund raising activities (e.g. sale of party regalia), economic activities (e.g. establishing party newspaper/s, investing in property, or forming profit making companies), and loans. Some political parties may even rely on foreign funding. For instance, the Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) (ZANU (PF)) has received considerable funding, material and other 1 Friedman, “Public Funding of Political Parties in South Africa”, p.1. Ibid. The Consultant is of the view that even where the private sector might wish to contribute financially or otherwise to political parties of their choice, the political environment in many African countries, with respect to such issues as patronage and reprisals, is such that it is not advisable for wealthy individual businesspeople or companies to make such contributions to opposition parties. They are in fact compelled by the circumstance to support the ruling party. The Country study: “Resuscitating party politics in Zimbabwe: scenarios for the 21st century”, an analysis of the MDC and Zanu-PF from the perspectives of political leadership, political architecture and party constituencies observes at p.9 that failure by large corporate companies or even small ones to fund the ruling party is always seen as sympathy or support for the opposition. It may also result in the “loss” of contracts or favours from government. Contributions from MDC well-wishers used to be done in public until they became victimized and are now forced to fund the party anonymously. 3 This was the case in South Africa in the campaign period leading to the first democratic elections in 1994, where the Pan Africanist Congress, which had very little access to funding unlike the other competing parties, called for public funding for the political parties. See Friedman, op cit, p.2. 2 4