DA asks high court to declare ANC cadre deployment unconstitutional

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Friday filed papers at the Pretoria High Court to have the ANC’s cadre deployment policy declared unconstitutional and illegal.

The official opposition party, which describes the legal action as historic and unprecedented, wants the high court to declare the governing party’s cadre deployment policy inconsistent with the country’s constitution and the Public Service Act.

‘True victims of cadre deployment’

Speaking to the media outside the Pretoria High Court, DA leader John Steenhuisen accused the ANC of using its cadre deployment committee to capture the state, extract public resources through corruption, and evade accountability.

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He said cadre deployment had harmed society immensely, especially the poor.

“There is a school of thought that says corruption and cadre deployment is a victimless crime, but nothing could be further from the truth,” Steenhuisen said.

“The true victims of cadre deployment and corruption are the 30 million South Africans who are now trapped in poverty. The true victims of cadre deployment and corruption are the 5,000 children under the age of five that we lose every year to malnutrition,” he added.

Missing ANC meeting minutes

Steenhuisen raised concerns over the missing minutes from the ANC’s cadre deployment committee meetings for the period between 2013 and 2018 when President Cyril Ramaphosa was chairperson of the committee.

Earlier this year, the state capture commission gave the DA minutes of the committee from 3 December 2018 to 17 May 2021, which was after Ramaphosa chaired the committee.

“I find it very strange that magically the minutes of the cadre deployment committee all the way up to just before he started chairing the committee are available, but the minutes for his period in office as chair are suddenly not available.

“I find it odd that you would stop taking minutes the moment a new chairperson came on board,” Steenhuisen said.

The DA leader said if the matter was investigated by law enforcement authorities, it would apparently prove that Ramaphosa was at the “heart of the state capture project”.

“What those minutes will show is locate President Ramaphosa at the heart of the state capture project. I say that because it would have been impossible to capture the state without the policy of cadre deployment.”

Ramaphosa defends cadre deployment

Appearing at the state capture commission in April last year, Ramaphosa defended the ANC’s cadre deployment committee, saying it merely made recommendations on people to appoint in the state.

However, Ramaphosa acknowledged implementation of the ANC deployment policy was not perfect, adding that its recommendations were not always followed by officials in government.

“We would concede there are weaknesses in its practical implementation that make the case for greater clarity, both in political parties and the state. Ultimately, political involvement in the administration of the public service must be circumscribed by legislation, convention and practice.

“We should do so to protect both political and administrative positions and to create certainty as to the division between political and administrative responsibility,” he said at the time.

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