DA’s bid to abolish cadre deployment labelled 'opportunistic'

Cape Town - While the DA is confident it will be successful in its attempt to abolish cadre deployment, questions have been raised about the party's own version of cadre deployment.

Analysts have labelled the most recent attempts to have cadre deployment declared unlawful opportunistic and specious, arguing the party also deploys DA-aligned people to strategic positions.

Political analyst Lukhanyo Vangqa said the DA had practised cadre deployment when former Wesgro chief executive Tim Harris left Parliament to take the reins at the investment and trade unit within Western Cape government.

The DA has, however, denied the allegations, saying there were clear lines between party and state.

Federal council chair Helen Zille said cadre deployment by the DA was impossible.

“Wesgro has an independent board that appoints office bearers without any reference whatsoever to the DA. So cadre deployment is impossible.

“There is a fundamental principle – the separation between party and State. We defend that,” Zille said.

This comes as the ANC and the DA are embroiled in a bitter fight to blow the lid on what really happens in closed meetings where deployment is discussed.

The ANC in the Western Cape legislature in March launched an application to compel the DA to release details relating to deployment correspondence of party structures in the province’s municipality over the past 12 years.

In addition to the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application, which seeks access to all letters of deployment sent to local DA caucuses across municipalities since 2009, the ANC also wanted minutes of DA meetings at provincial and national level where deployment was discussed.

Meanwhile, the DA turned to the courts last month in a bid to have cadre deployment declared unlawful.

Also, the DA's attempt to get access to the minutes of the ANC's deployment committee, formerly chaired by ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa, will be heard in court in October. The party has done this through PAIA.

DA MP Leon Schreiber said cadre deployment laid the foundation for state capture and weakened the state.

Schreiber said the DA would argue that cadre deployment as currently practised by the ANC, breached certain sections of the Constitution.

"Cadre deployment, because it influences the appointments to benefit cadres of the ANC, breaches section 197(3) of the Constitution, which says that no employee in the public service may be disadvantaged based on whether they are a member or support a certain political party,“ Schreiber said.

He said the ANC’s application of its cadre deployment policy also breached Section195 and196 of the Constitution on equality.

"We argue that if someone is not a cadre and doesn't get the recommendation from the deployment committee if they applied – they are not treated equally,“ Schreiber said.

He said cadre deployment enabled the ANC to appoint people who committed state capture.

“It weakens state capacity and locks out people who are not getting the favour from the deployment policy. You may be a very highly-qualified person, but you don't have connections in the ANC, therefore the deployment committee is not going to recommend you,” Schreiber said.

Vangqa said while there was nothing wrong with the DA’s cadre deployment policy, its implementation was faulty.

“The DA is not being genuine and it's also opportunistic because they also practice the same thing.

“The former head of Wesgro is a former DA MP. He was deployed there by the DA and that is how the DA operates, they deploy their own people to ensure that they deliver on their policies.

“It's unfortunate that with the ANC's greed, corruption and self-serving it sometimes interferes with that process; however, the Constitution permits a process that is similar to cadre deployment,” Vangqa said.

ANC Western Cape convenor Lerumo Kalako defended the party’s cadre deployment policy, saying there was nothing wrong.

“When you get into government, you go in with a plan to address the plight of the people. You cannot employ people who don’t support our policies.

“There is nothing wrong with cadre deployment as long as it is done properly. The DA also does it in the Western Cape,” Kalako said.