The Capitec billionaire who gave R208 million to the DA

Billionaire Capitec founder Michiel le Roux has donated over R208 million to the Democratic Alliance (DA), the highest of any individual donor.

This was revealed by the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC’s) Political Party Funding reports, which are released quarterly.

The Political Party Funding reports form part of the requirements of the Political Funding Act, which took effect on 1 April 2021.

Political parties, independent candidates, and independent representatives must disclose all private donations received above R200,000 within a financial year.

This is a cumulative threshold. Multiple smaller donations from the same source that collectively exceed R200,000 must also be reported.

A single donor, including an individual or entity, is restricted to a maximum contribution of R30 million per financial year to any single political party.

Parties are legally mandated to submit these declarations to the IEC every three months, and the IEC publishes these figures to ensure public transparency.

Donors themselves must also independently report their donations to the IEC within 30 days of making them.

To curb improper influence and safeguard state funds, the Act strictly bans specific streams of private finance.

Direct donations from foreign governments, foreign state agencies, and foreign persons or entities are strictly prohibited.

No donations may be accepted from South African government departments, municipalities, or state companies such as Eskom or Transnet.

The IEC is also legally barred from accepting or processing any funds into state-managed pools if there is reason to believe the money stems from unlawful activities.

Billionaire Capitec founder Michiel le Roux’s DA donations

Over the past five years, billionaire Capitec founder Michiel le Roux has donated over R208 million to the Democratic Alliance.

In the late nineties, Le Roux joined forces with PSG founders Jannie Mouton and Chris Otto to convert an existing microloans business into a bank.

In March 2001, when Le Roux was 51, he founded Capitec. He was the initial CEO, serving from 2001 to 2004, and later as chairman.

The bank’s success since its launch surprised Le Roux, who initially told shareholders that the bank would be either a “big success or a small failure.”

“But not in my wildest dreams did I think that the success would be as big as it actually turned out to be,” he admitted.

As one of Capitec’s biggest shareholders, Le Roux accumulated tremendous wealth and became one of a handful of South African dollar billionaires.

Le Roux uses his billions for many philanthropic and funding activities that focus heavily on education, democracy-building, and political reform.

He uses three vehicles for political funding in South Africa: Fynbos Kapitaal, Fynbos Ekwiteit, and Fynbos Trust.

According to The Outlier, a publication founded by Alastair Otter and Laura Grant, Le Roux has donated more than R208 billion to the DA in the last 5 years.

Otter said that the IEC’s data showed that at least R1.14 billion has been donated to South African political parties since 2021.

“The ‘at least’ is there because those are the donations declared to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC),” he explained.

“What we don’t know is how many other donations have been made and not declared to the Electoral Commission of South Africa”.

The DA accounts for R523 million of the R1.14 billion and is the most active party in declaring donations.

A large portion of these donations comes from Fynbos Kapitaal, Fynbos Ekwiteit, and Fynbos Trust.

Fynbos Ekwiteit donated R110.1 million to the DA, Fynbos Kapitaal donated R98 million, and Fynbos Trust donated R271,000.

Political party donations summary, courtesy of The Outlier