Hon members, the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services having considered the Promotion of Access to Information Amendment Bill
introduces the report. The background to the Bill is as follows:
My Vote Counts NPC brought an application in the Western Cape Division of the High court that challenged the constitutional validity of the Promotion of Access to Information Act of 2000. On June 2018 the Constitutional Court confirmed the Western Cape High Court order.
The Constitutional Court reasoned that this is so because the exercise of the right to vote must be an informed choice and there is a vital connection between the proper exercise of the right to vote and the right of access to information, and without access to information the ability of citizens to make responsible political decisions and participate meaningfully in public life is undermined.
The court also heard that the disclosure of private funding would also help to detect whose favour political players are likely to return once elected into public office. The Constitutional Court gave Parliament 18
months to remedy the deficiency. This deadline ends on 20 December 2019.
With this deadline in mind, the committee agreed to initiate the Bill. The committee complied with the National Assembly Rule 273(1) by tabling a memorandum in the National Assembly requesting permission to initiate a Bill on 24 July 2019. On 25 July 2019 the House gave permission to proceed.
The committee called for and considered written comments and consulted with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. The committee held public hearings at Parliament on 17 and 18 September 2019 where the following persons and organisations made oral presentations: amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism, Allan Gray, South African Human Rights Commission, Right2Know, My Vote Counts, Media Monitoring Africa, Congress of South African Trade Unions, Helen Suzman Foundation, Information Regulator and Mr James Tunbridge.
Broadly, the Bill seeks to address the Constitutional Court judgement by inserting a new section, 52(a), which deals with the recording, preservation and disclosure of records on the private funding of political parties and independent candidates.
Clause 1 of the Bill aims to amend the definition of head and private body and also insert a new definition, namely, political party in section 1 of the Public of Promotion of Access to Information Act. Clause 2 of the Bill creates an obligation on the head of a political party, which is defined to include an independent candidate, to disclose donations that have been made to a political party that exceeds the prescribed threshold in a financial year.
The head of a political party must keep records of any donations that have been made to a political party that exceeds the prescribed threshold in a financial year and the identity of persons or entities that made such donations. The prescribed threshold is the one contemplated in section 9(1)(a) of the Political Funding Act of 2018.
The records must be made available on quarterly basis as prescribed and the records must be kept for a period of five years after the records concerned have been created. Hon Deputy Speaker, we ask the House to support this Bill. [Applause.]