Johannesburg - The DA has lodged a complaint with Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to investigate the ANC’s influence in the appointment of senior officials by ministers.
On Wednesday, the official opposition said its complaint, which was filed on Tuesday, was triggered by what appeared to be a leaked document from the ANC secretary general’s office in which the party instructed members of Cabinet to first consult the ANC deployment committee before appointments and that the party be informed of all posts before they were advertised.
The senior posts include directors-general, board chairpersons and members as well as chief executive officers of state-owned enterprises.
DA spokesperson on public service and administration Leon Schreiber said the lodged complaint was “part of the DA’s effort to intensify the fight against ANC state capture, which is only possible because of the system of cadre deployment.”
“We have also referred the leaked cadre deployment memorandum to the Zondo Commission, along with an urgent request that the commission formally investigate the role played by the cadre deployment committee in facilitating state capture and corruption. Such investigation should include the summoning of the former and current chairpersons of the ANC deployment committee – President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President David Mabuza,” Schreiber said.
The party has requested that Mkhwebane investigate whether any minister received the memorandum or similar instructions from the ANC, and whether any minister has ever complied with the instructions.
Schreiber said the DA also wanted Mkhwebane to investigate whether any minister who received the instructions had reported “this attempt to capture and subvert the state’s appointment process in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004 or other applicable legislation” and whether failure to do so was a criminal offence or not.
“The DA urges both the Public Protector and the Zondo Commission to investigate the latest revelations about cadre deployment with the necessary vigour, since state capture, corruption and state collapse will only end once cadre deployment is eradicated and replaced by a fair, non-political and merit-based appointment system throughout the public sector,” he said.
The ANC has however distanced itself from the memorandum when it surfaced late last month, with the party’s national spokesperson Pule Mabe saying the party was “appalled” by the “fictitious” memo which he said did not represent the official position of the governing party.
Mabe could not be reached by the time of publication on Wednesday.