Cape Town - The African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance on Wednesday spoke with one voice in welcoming a high court decision dismissing an application for political parties to disclose funding.

Cape High Court Judge Ben Griesel dismissed an application by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa), which sought to establish the principle that political parties were obliged to give details of substantial private donations to those asking for information under the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

"The ruling vindicates the ANC's position that it has no legal or constitutional obligation to provide internal funding information to outside parties," said ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama.

He said the matter should not be decided by courts, but rather be addressed through an Act of Parliament "after due consultation and consideration of all relevant matters".

James Selfe, chair of the DA's federal council, said many of his party's donors wanted to remain anonymous because they feared that if their donations became known, the government might not award them contracts.

"This is certainly the perception of many donors. In light of this, the DA undertook to respect its donors' wishes to remain anonymous."

Selfe agreed that the matter should be dealt with by legislation rather than the courts.

In a written 39-page judgment, Griesel ruled that political parties were not public but private bodies.

Griesel said the Constitutionally-enshrined right to free, fair and regular elections did not impose a duty on political parties to disclose funding sources, nor did it give citizens the right to gain access to such records.

Nevertheless, he pointed out that the applicants had made a "compelling case" that private donations to political parties ought to be regulated by way of specific legislation in the interests of greater openness and transparency.

Idasa argued that disclosure of donations was required for the proper functioning of a multi-party, democratic system of government, and to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness.

With acknowledgements to Elmarie Jack, Sapa and News24.