By Toby Shapshak
Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi looks set to become the most expensive new MP, with his party only gaining two seats.
According to donation figures lodged with the IEC, Zibi’s seat in Parliament cost nearly R16-million – about half of the total R31.8-million it raised.
Zibi plus one will become MPs, having received 67,975 votes (or 0.42% of the total) and finishing 11th in the general election on 29 May.
Action SA’s R91.8-million in donations got Herman Mashaba’s party six seats, at about R15-million each. The former Joburg mayor’s party received 192,373 votes (1.29%), and is the eighth largest.
Former DA leader Mmusi Maimane’s Build One South Africa (Bosa) raised R16.8-million – which is only enough to send him and one other back to Parliament. This is about half the cost of Zibi’s new career as a parliamentarian.
Bosa received 65,912 votes (0.41%) and came twelfth.
By contrast, Jacob Zuma’s new Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party appears to have become the country’s third-largest political party with much less funding. Because it was recently launched in the last six months, it hasn’t reported any donations to the IEC.
As former president of both the ANC and South Africa, Zuma has used his profile – as much as his Zulu heritage – to capture 2.3-million votes, or 14.58% of the vote.
The ANC got 40.2% (6.4-million votes), followed by the DA with 21.81% (3.5-million).
This has dropped the EFF to fourth place. It finished at 9.52% (1.5-million).
It is difficult to calculate the EFF’s donations, as it has not always lodged documents with the IEC and has never been transparent about its funding.
Sadly, only 58% of registered South Africans went out on Wednesday to vote – 16-million out of a possible 27-million registered voters.
Pictured above: Election posters near Rosebank, Johannesburg.
Image source: Scrolla.Africa
