High Court rules parties must disclose funding
The Western Cape High Court has ruled that political parties must disclose their funding.
Parliament now has 18 months in which to make changes to legislation.
The case was brought by public-interest group My Vote Counts.
It had argued that access to information about a party's private sources of funding is required for the effective exercise of the right to vote.
"Disclosure provides the electorate with information on where political campaign money comes from and how it is spent in order to aid voters in evaluating political parties. We argued further that the right of access to information and the right to vote are undeniably and inextricably interconnected and that the right to vote is the right to cast an informed vote, and the right to make political choices is the right to make informed political choices."
My Vote Counts' Janine Ogle says they're pleased with the judgment.
"This is a confirmation that the right to vote is the right to make an informed vote and that political party funding information is required to maintain the value of the right to vote."
Private political funding has long been a contentious issue.
Ogle says they first wrote to Parliament about this issue in 2011.
"It's been a long road. We've fought very hard. There hasn't been political will. There seems to be political will now which we're really excited about," she adds.