The African National Congress has not taken any view on the suitability of any candidates being considered for the position of Transnet Group Chief Executive.

Claims in Business Report today (24 March 2009) that the ANC has somehow delayed the filling of this post because it wasn't happy with one of the candidates are not correct.

When asked for comment on this matter, I told Business Report that the party's structures had never discussed the appointment of the new chief executive at Transnet.

It is unfortunate that Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesman for public enterprises Manie van Dyk nevertheless saw fit to comment (see here), relying only on the inaccuracies contained in the article.

The ANC has said before that it is preferable that appointments to senior management positions in the public sector not be made before the elections.

"The ANC is not telling anyone what to do. All we have done is made a suggestion that because there are 30 days to go before the election, can we just hold on with key appointments until after the elections," I told Business Report.

In his comments on the matter, Van Dyk should have acknowledged his own party's position on the issue. In October last year, the DA reported that it had written to Western Cape Premier Lynne Brown asking her not to fill a number of senior management positions, and to place a moratorium on further appointments until after the 2009 elections.

Statement issued by African National Congress spokesperson, Jessie Duarte, March 24 2009

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