ANC loses cadre deployment case in the Constitutional Court

The ANC’s cadre deployment appeal against the Democratic Alliance (DA) has failed again, with the Constitutional Court dismissing its case with costs.

The governing party filed papers in the apex court after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) upheld a South Gauteng High Court ruling directing it to hand over documents on cadre deployment dating back to January 2013.

President Cyril Ramaphosa became chairman of the cadre deployment committee during the stipulated period.

‘Not in the interest of justice’

A quorum of eight justices dismissed ANC’s application with costs.

The court said the ANC was refused leave to appeal as it was “not in the interest of justice to hear the matter”.

READ: DA wants Mbalula jailed for contempt of court over cadre deployment

The access application to ANC deployment records was brought by DA MP Leon Schreiber in 2021 in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).

Five days to hand over documents

Responding to the ruling, Schreiber said the governing party has five days to hand over the records.

He added that the latest judgment and those from the lower courts confirmed that the DA was right that South Africans have a right to know how the ANC deployment committee “interferes” in its public sector appointments.

“In terms of the judgment, the ANC now has five working days to hand over to the DA all meeting minutes, CVs, email threads, Whatsapp discussions and other relevant documents relating to the cadre deployment committee dating back more than a decade.

“The ANC has run out of the road and must now expose the secrets it was so desperate to hide,” he said in a statement.

Announcing its apex court bid in November 2023, the ANC said the SCA did not consider all the evidence in its ruling.

“Having studied the judgment the ANC is of the view that SCA did not consider new evidence which has
emerged from a forensic report which reveals crucial evidence that makes it plain that there was no
authorisation for the transactions in question, and certain implicated individuals mispresented their
positions and authority.”

The ANC has previously defended the work of its deployment committee and is yet to respond to the Constitutional Court outcome.

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