You will not believe who helps fund our big political parties.

Picture: Karen Sandison/African News Agency (ANA)

Cape Town - Suspected fraudsters, money launderers and murderers have been cited as funders of some of the country’s big political parties in a report documenting sources of funding for political parties. 

The DA, governing party in the Cape Town metro and the Western Cape, is listed as receiving a “marginal amount” from a South African-born billionaire living in the UK, Nathan Kirsh, and a R400 000 donation from Stephen Nel, a director of the Gupta-owned Sahara Computers, between 2009/10.

It also received R500 000 at a fundraising event for the DA’s 2004 election campaign from German fugitive and fraudster Jürgen Harksen, who instructed his employee to write a cheque, according to the report.

Former Absa employee Eric Marais was fired by the bank in 2002 after it emerged that he had advanced a donation to the DA in an irregular manner (99000 Deutsche marks).

Full story at IOL.

By Dominic Adriaanse and Francesca Villette.