GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General
30 October 2026
The GOOD Party and its Secretary-General, Brett Herron, have been granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) against the Electoral Court judgment under the Political Party Funding Act.
In a unanimous judgment handed down today, the court said it was persuaded that the issues raised by GOOD and Herron for leave to appeal were “issues in respect of which another court is likely to reach conclusions different from those reached by us”.
It continued: “We therefore conclude that there are reasonable prospects of another court making factual findings and coming to legal conclusions at variance with our factual findings and legal conclusions. The appeals, therefore, in our view, have a reasonable prospect of success.”
The allegation that GOOD had not reported a donation was raised by a DA member, Shaun August, who was dismissed as a member of GOOD for unbecoming behavior and financial misconduct.
Today’s judgment records: “On the merits, the GOOD Party submits that, on the facts, its version is neither so far-fetched nor so clearly untenable as to justify rejection on the papers. In particular, the GOOD Party argues that the court a quo did not have regard to the undisputed evidence of Mr Israel Govender that he was expressly instructed by the complainant, Mr August, to keep the arrangement confined to the two of them precisely because the GOOD Party’s leadership was not aware of it.
“Furthermore, it is contended that the credibility of Mr August is susceptible to criticism given that, by all accounts, he had an axe to grind with the GOOD Party, as he had left it under acrimonious circumstances.”
Other grounds of appeal include that:
• the party was never given the forensic report, in draft or final form, or invited to respond to it before the IEC went to court;
• no direction to comply was issued to the party, as section 15(1) of the Act requires;
• the evidence did not establish that the party’s leadership knew of the arrangement; and
• an administrative fine is discretionary, and should not have been imposed punitively during the early phase of the Act’s implementation.
The costs of the application for leave to appeal will follow the outcome of the appeal.
Said Herron: “We have maintained from the start that this judgment was wrong in law and on the facts. The court that decided it has now agreed that our appeal has reasonable prospects of success.
“This matters beyond GOOD. Parties, donors and the IEC all need clarity on how the Political Party Funding Act is enforced and on the procedural safeguards that apply before penalties are imposed. We welcome the SCA settling these questions.
GOOD’s commitment to transparency in political funding is unchanged.”
Media Enquiries: media@forgood.org.za