The Constitutional Court on Wednesday dismissed a bid to have political parties disclose the sources of their funding.

The Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) was the appropriate legislation for dealing with such matters, seven judges said in their majority judgment.

The applicant, an organisation campaigning for greater transparency in elections and politics called My Vote Counts, had failed to challenge Paia’s shortcomings, they said.

Four judges disagreed. According to their minority judgment, they would have declared Parliament had failed in its Constitutional obligation to pass legislation to allow for access to such information.

It said the question was not whether Paia was valid legislation, but whether parliament had fulfilled its obligation in terms of section 32 of the Constitution – the right of access to information.

The respondents were the national assembly speaker and chairperson of the National Council of Provinces and all political parties. None of the political parties opposed the application.

My Vote Counts had wanted specific legislation enacted in addition to Paia’s wide, general provisions. News24