DA wants ANC’s cadre deployment records from Ramaphosa

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has submitted a Promotion of Access to Information (PAIA) application to President Cyril Ramaphosa in order to obtain records on the ANC’s cadre deployment programme.

The application was submitted to Ramaphosa in his capacity as president of the ANC. The party wants a “complete record of minutes for every meeting of the ANC’s cadre deployment committee that took place since 1 January 2013 – when Ramaphosa reportedly became chairperson of the committee”.

The party said this request was made in their “ongoing quest to dismantle cadre deployment, which is the root cause of state capture and corruption in South Africa”.

In their application, the DA said in a statement on Sunday, the party wants:

• Detailed minutes of discussions held at each meeting of the committee,
• A list of all decisions taken by the committee,
• A list of all documents – including vacancy advertisements and CVs – considered by the committee, and
• Copies of all correspondence informing organs of state of the decisions taken by the committee.

According to Dr Leon Schreiber MP, the DA shadow minister for public service and administration, the party “believes that the public has the right to know the extent to which the ANC has used cadre deployment to circumvent section 197 (3) of the Constitution”.

The section says that “no employee of the public service may be favoured or prejudiced only because that person supports a particular political party or cause”.

Said Schreiber: “The South African public has a right to know what goes on in the smoke-filled backrooms of Luthuli House during meetings of Ramaphosa’s cadre deployment committee.

“They have a right to know the full truth of how cadre deployment has robbed hard-working professionals of opportunities in the public service, because the ANC has elevated “loyalty” to the party above competence and merit.

“They have a right to know that cadre deployment is the fundamental reason behind collapsing service delivery and out-of-control corruption everywhere the ANC governs.

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