Cadre deployment: Ruling comes down to approval of systemic injustice

21 February 2024

The bid to declare cadre deployment unconstitutional was dismissed this morning in the Gauteng High Court – a decision which, according to AfriForum, comes down to the approval of the ANC’s repulsive policy of cadre deployment. The court’s upsetting decision thus encourages obvious and systemic injustice and therefore discrimination based on political affiliation. The civil rights organisation acted as a friend of the court in the case in which the Democratic Alliance (DA) asked that cadre deployment be declared unconstitutional and illegal.

AfriForum still maintains that cadre deployment deprives those who are not ANC members of job opportunities, that it is in contravention of the Constitution, and that its misuse has already resulted in several catastrophes, including large-scale corruption and state capture.

According to Louis Boshoff, Campaign Officer at AfriForum, cadre deployment is the political engine through which the ANC ensures that its policy is carried out to the extreme in the public sector. “The court today left the door wide open for the ANC to now blatantly show its true communistic colours,” Boshoff states.

The Constitutional Court’s ruling earlier this month, in which the ANC was ordered to hand over all records (dating back to 2013) of its cadre deployment committee to the DA, stands in stark contrast to today’s decision.

Boshoff expresses AfriForum’s disappointment with today’s court ruling: “The ANC now has the opportunity to completely erase the already blurred line between government and ruling party and pave the way for further discrimination and self-enrichment.”

AfriForum will continue to oppose the cadre deployment policy and expose the consequent corruption.

If today’s judgment is taken on appeal, AfriForum will continue to participate in the court case.

Issued by Louis Boshoff, Campaign Officer, AfriForum, 21 February 2024