Ruling against cadre deployment must serve as warning to ANC

8 October 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is calling on Dr Zamani Saul, in his capacity as provincial chairperson of the ANC, along with the ANC’s provincial secretary, Mr Deshi Ngxanga, to heed the latest warning of the Public Protector (PP) against cadre deployment.

This comes after Ngxanga was implicated in an investigation by the Office of the Public Protector into the irregular appointment of at least three ANC councillors to the Dawid Kruiper municipality in 2016. Ngxanga was serving as the Municipal Manager of the municipality at the time.

According to the PP’s investigation report, Human Resource policies were not properly followed in the appointment of Mr SP May, Ms R George and Mr DZ Ntlanganiso, and the posts were also not advertised. The PP further found the conduct of the municipality, under Ngxanga’s management, to have been improper, constituting maladministration and resulting in irregular expenditure.

This serves as a damning indictment, not only against Ngxanga, but also against the ANC’s antiquated and ill-fated practice of cadre deployment.

Earlier this year, the Auditor-General also largely attributed the demise of municipalities on the malpractice of cadre deployment, which sees too many incompetent people sitting in jobs that they are unable to perform. This in turn has a knock-on effect on municipalities, who then compensate for their unskilled work force by making use of consultants, which in turn costs municipalities more.

The DA wants Saul, Ngxanga and the ANC, to take note that there is no more place for cadre deployment within government. Cadre deployment constitutes maladministration and ultimately results in irregular expenditure. It is wrong and cannot be justified.

At the same time, we call on Saul, in his double capacity as ANC chairperson and as the premier, to ensure that the PP’s recommendations that disciplinary action be taken against all staff involved in making the irregular appointments in 2016, and that a judicial review of the appointments is urgently initiated, be adhered to.

The state is not meant to be abused as a recruitment agency for ANC members. The state is an institution of service. It must be treated as such by the government and by the ruling party, who will face a slew of like-minded findings against them, if they do not heed this call. This, because the DA will use the latest finding of the PP as a springboard from which to challenge the ANC on similar irregular appointments made across the province.

Issued by Harold McGluwa, DA Northern Cape Provincial Chairperson & Chief Whip of the Provincial Caucus, 8 October 2020