DA flag. Picture: Gallo Image s/ Foto24 / Nelius Rademan
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is celebrating after it said the Johannesburg High Court found the ANC and its secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula guilty of contempt of court.
The party approached the court in March, arguing the ANC “unlawfully redacted, destroyed, and withheld” records of its cadre deployment committee dating back to 1 January 2013, when Cyril Ramaphosa became its chairman.
The DA claimed that the court agreed with them that this behaviour by the ANC, in violation of a court order upheld by the Constitutional Court, amounts to “wilful” and “male fide” contempt of court.
An 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).
The DA said the ruling confirms beyond a doubt that the ANC is a “lawless criminal syndicate” that is willing to trigger a constitutional crisis.
ALSO READ: Time’s up: DA threatens ANC top brass with jail over cadre deployment records
“While the ANC is prepared to go to any length to hide its dirty cadre deployment secrets and undermine the rule of law, there is, fortunately, no limit to the DA’s determination to uphold the rule of law and abolish cadre deployment corruption from the face of this country,” the party said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.
The high court declared the ruling party in breach of an order that was affirmed by the Constitutional Court.
The court further ordered the ANC to pay the DA’s full costs for the application and to give effect to the original court within 15 days by:
The court noted that “in particular, [the ANC] was obliged to disclose communication relating to the committee’s work by, and involving, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was the chairperson of the committee between 2013 and 2018.”
The DA called on Ramaphosa to act in accordance with his position as president by abiding by the ruling.
“Once again, the clock is ticking on the ANC. It has 15 working days—until 24 April 2024—to hand over all complete and unredacted cadre deployment records, including those held by Ramaphosa,” the party said.
“As we have done throughout our years-long battle to expose and defeat ANC cadre deployment, the DA reserves our rights to pursue further action against the constitutional delinquents masquerading as a governing party.”
ALSO READ: DA wants Mbalula jailed for contempt of court over cadre deployment
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.