ANC Gauteng statement on the hypocrisy and deceitfulness of the DA with regard to cadre deployment

6 March 2024

The African National Congress in Gauteng notes the ongoing hypocrisy and dishonesty of the Democratic Alliance (DA) with regard to the question of cadre deployment. Over the past few weeks, the DA has heightened its populist and performative politics on the issue of cadre deployment, presenting the practice not only as a cancer to public administration but also, as a preserve of the ANC.

The genesis of this performance can be traced to the DA's decision to hurl the ANC before the Constitutional Court to compel the organisation to make public its complete cadre deployment records dating back to I January 2013 when the sitting state and ANC president, Cyril Ramaphosa, became the Chairperson of the Deployment Committee of the ANC. The apex court gave a judgment in favour of the DA on the specific issue of making public the records.

Being a law-abiding organisation, the ANC did comply with the ruling. However, just two weeks ago, the High Court in Gauteng dismissed, with costs, the application by the DA to have the ANC's cadre development policy and deployment strategy declared unconstitutional. This judgment reflects both the legal unsoundness of the DA's case and the abuse of the courts that the organisation is synonymous with.

The issue of the DA's case is not only about legalities, it is also about the sheer hypocrisy of the organisation in positioning itself as being opposed to cadre deployment when it has been engaged in the same practice for many years. Nowhere is the evidence of this as clearly demonstrated as in the Public Protector's report titled:

"Report on an investigation into allegations of maladministration, improper conduct and irregular appointment of senior executives in the offices of the Executive Mayor and Council Speaker of the City of Tshwane metropolitan municipality". The investigation, undertaken in terms of section 182(1 ) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) and section 8(1) of the Public Protector Act (1994) reveals that under the DA-led coalition govemment in the administrative Capital of the country, cadre deployment was done in a manner so irresponsible that it contributed to the political instability that continues to characterise the said municipality. The Public Protector found that there were irregularities in the appointments of senior executives, most of which involved the appointments of persons who did not meet the minimum requirements for the positions in which they were appointed.

Some of the appointments that were made by the DA, which were deemed irregular by the Public Protector, include the following:
- The illegal appointment of the former Chief of Staff in the executive mayor's office, Mariette Aucamp, who held fake qualifications and earned an annual salary exceeding R1.2 million.

- The illegal appointment of Stephan de Villiers, who holds a body builders certificate, as the Executive Head in the office of the Executive Mayor, also with a salary exceeding R1.2 million.

- The illegal appointment of Previn Govender as Chief of Emergency, with falsified qualifications and a salary exceeding RI .2 million.

- The irregular appointment of former Executive Mayor Solly Msimang's relative, Johanna Nkomo, as the Chief of Metro Police. At the time of her appointment, she did not have the requisite Traffic Management Diploma and was not registered as a Traffic Officer - both of which are requirements for the positions. A waiver had to be applied for in order to enable her to take up the position.

These illegal and irregular appointments are made worse by the lies that the DA told residents of the City of Tshwane and citizens South Africa broadly, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) had vetted all qualifications of senior staff, when this had not been done. The extent of the DA's cadre deployment and nepotism in the administrative capital is not fully known because under the DA-led administration, the municipality failed to implement adequate record management controls, resulting in some documents going missing from the personnel files of interviewed candidates. This fact is also contained in the Public Protector's report.

The City of Tshwane is not the only municipality where the DA has deployed its own cadres - incompetent ones at that. By the admission of former senior DA leaders, including the former Mayor of Midvaal, the organisation has always been engaged in the practice of cadre deployment. It is on this basis that the ANC in Gauteng argues that the DA's curious Damascene conversion on the practice is hypocrisy at its worst.

The ANC in Gauteng fully supports the legal action undertaken by the organisation's former Caucus Leader in the City of Tshwane, Dr KgoSi Maepa, who has requested minutes of the DA's Federal Executive Council (FedEx) for the period 2016 to 2024.

Through these records, it will be demonstrates that the DA implemented its "Fit for Purpose" policy to employ, deploy, appoint and recommend its own members to positions of power in govemment not only in the City of Tshwane but across all municipalities that it governs.

The deadline for the DA to submit these minutes under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, which seeks to promote transparency, accountability and effective governance of public and private institutions, is the 6th of March 2024. The ANC implores the DA to comply with the deadline and demonstrate the same respect for the law that the ANC did when it was compelled to avail its own records. Failure by the DA to meet this deadline will be an admission of its hypocrisy and the laying bare of its deceitfulness.

The ANC in Gauteng implores the media to maintain the same level of objectivity and interest in the cadre deployment records of the DA as it has those of the ANC. The outrageous Machiavellian maneouvres and hypocrisy of the DA can only continue if an audible silence is maintained by those who are tasked with maintaining the principle of fair and truthful reporting.

Issued by Thembinkosi "Tk" Nciza, ANC Gauteng Provincial Secretary, 6 March 2024