The Democratic Alliance (DA) has requested the state capture commission of inquiry to investigate the “role played by the African National Congress’ (ANC) cadre deployment committee in facilitating state capture and corruption.”
The party also wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to testify about the committee’s alleged role, DA MP Leon Schreiber wrote in a letter to the inquiry’s chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, on Tuesday.
Schreiber cited a purported “leaked” memorandum from the ANC that apparently instructed that no government appointments, such as directors-general or board members of state-owned enterprises, should be made without “passing through the deployment committee first.” The ANC has however said the memo is “fictitious.”
“In light of this new evidence that ANC cadre deployment continues to facilitate the capture of the state by a political party, I repeat my plea that the commission urgently invite testimony from members of the ANC’s deployment committee under President Jacob Zuma, including from its chairperson at the time, President Cyril Ramaphosa,” Schreiber wrote.
‘Massive looting’
The DA also wants the inquiry to invite testimony from Public Service Commission (PSC) chairperson, Advocate Richard Sizani, and current ANC deployment committee members. Deputy President David Mabuza currently chairs the committee.
This is the second letter the DA has written to Zondo regarding the matter. It wrote the first in July last year following former Minister Barbara Hogan’s testimony.
In a separate statement, Schreiber said, “Cadre deployment not only fuels the ongoing massive looting of public resources by the ANC, but has also drained the state of skills by rewarding political loyalty to the ANC above skill and merit.
“The DA is also fast-tracking the development of our Capable State Bill to outlaw cadre deployment and replace the ANC’s corrupt state with a DA-style capable state where appointments are based on skill and demonstrated merit, not on cronyism and political corruption.”
Ramaphosa to appear
Earlier this month, Zondo said President Cyril Ramaphosa will appear before the inquiry on behalf of the ANC towards the end of the year.
“It is going to take some time before he appears. As I have said before, he welcomes the opportunity to come and give evidence before the commission. He said that already in 2018, so he will be coming,” Zondo stated.
In January, Ramaphosa said his administration is committed to ending the culture of “parachuting” poorly qualified people into positions of authority through political patronage.
He said, “A capable state starts with the people who work in it. Officials and managers must possess the right financial and technical skills and other expertise.
“We are committed to end the practice of poorly qualified individuals being parachuted into positions of authority through political patronage. There should be consequences for all those in the public service who do not do their work.”