Cadre deployment not scandalous if competent people are appointed

One thing you have to give the South African media is that they’re really good at uncovering a lot. I’m somewhat convinced that South Africa isn’t uniquely corrupt but we get light shone upon our issues better than most countries. Even though typically nothing happens after the light is shone and if it does, it takes 15 years and a couple of judges are chucked off the bench.

This cadre deployment saga should not have been anything scandalous. After all, when interviewing people for jobs, one of the things you look for is trust. Ask any labour lawyer and they’ll also tell you that trust is the iconic employment glue. If your job is to execute on a political mandate, who are you going to trust more? Surely the person with the same political mandate. It’s not like such a mandate is a secret. Parties campaign, then release manifestos that nobody reads and then, when elected, pretend to deliver on those manifestos that nobody has read. But it’s there and out in the open.

At the end of the day, nobody can pretend that they don’t know what the parties’ intentions are. At the very most, one could argue that the parties aren’t sticking to their promises and politically they need to be held accountable on those fronts. But this is South Africa where the only thing more rife than political stupidity is political impunity.

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For whatever reason, we love being in this relationship despite the domestic violence, disappointment and promises that our partner will come home with R350 only to find out that it’s been gambled away or formed part of a large fried chicken bill. And you can cry that marriage is a sham or democracy has failed but it’s your marriage and your democracy. The institutions don’t have to suck but how you employ them might be the reason they do.

So, the ANC has given the DA such low hanging fruit with their cadre deployment. Would anybody be making any noise if the roads were nice, the electricity ample and the water clean? No! Who cares if somebody’s cousin’s mother’s baby daddy is in charge of Home Affairs if the documents are affordable and we don’t have to take two days of leave to have the privilege of sitting in a queue?

We’ve been conned into thinking that leadership roles are jobs first and service never. That’s what makes the cadre deployment records so tantalising; because we know that service to the people was never the intention. Had it been, then it would be admitting an even more worrying thing; that despite good intentions and an entire country’s budget, 30 ministries and a free political pass for as many years, the most they’ve gotten right is hosting a world cup.

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Cadre deployment is not bad in concept. Fikile Mbalula is right on that. Mbalula is also a good example of cadre deployment failing because despite holding several offices hardly anybody will be able to mention a single one of his accomplishments beyond dubbing himself “Razzmatazz”.

So, it’s just not good enough to defend something on principle when you’re screwing it up, and I dare say that they’ve screwed up cadre deployment pretty badly.

If there’s any damage that’s going to come out of these cadre deployment records, the ANC has nobody to blame but themselves because if the system worked, nobody would care about who was working the system.

Let it be a lesson to future government, regardless of who holds power – nobody asks you to explain yourself when they’re happy with what you’re offering and the price they pay for it. When you charge too much and give too little, that’s on you.

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