ANC to hand over cadre deployment records, but minutes for relevant period not found

ANC to hand over cadre deployment records, but minutes for relevant period not found

The African National Congress (ANC) has confirmed it would hand over the cadre deployment records to the Democratic Alliance (DA) by the end of Monday.

However, the ANC said not all the records of the cadre deployment committee were found. It said said this was even communicated to the Zondo Commission as far back as 2021 that it could not find minutes of the cadre deployment committee between 2012 and 2017.

President Cyril Ramaphosa even raised this issue with the Zondo Commission when he appeared before it at the time.

The ANC warned the DA not to misuse the records it would be given on Monday.

The ruling party said the DA must ensure it did not flout the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) when handed the records.

DA leader John Steenhuisen warned over the weekend that if the ANC fails to hand over the records as directed by the Constitutional Court by the end of Monday, they will go back to the apex court to seek a contempt order against leaders of the ANC.

But the ANC said the DA was playing to the gallery with its threats when it knows that the Zondo Commission was given the records for 2018 to 2021, and the ruling party also put it in the public domain three years ago that it could not find minutes of meetings of the committee between 2012 and 2017.

“A number of these records for the period 2018 – 2021 were handed over to the Commission on State Capture (Zondo Commission) as far back as 2021, and were the subject of thorough scrutiny by the commission, including in testimony by the president and other national officials of the ANC. The ANC has nothing to hide.

“Similarly, the ANC indicated openly to the commission as far back as June 24, 2021 that: We have conducted a thorough search for minutes of the National Deployment Committee for the period December 2012 to December 2017. No minutes of the meetings of the National Deployment Committee for the relevant period could be found.

“Dr Leon Schreiber and the DA are fully aware of these facts, but have chosen to engage in deliberate misrepresentation, threats and false expectations of what might be contained in the records.

“In his testimony to the Zondo Commission, President Cyril Ramaphosa, committed that the ANC would do everything in its power to find the records. The ANC has done so and will hand over all records that have been found, and give an explanation regarding those records which either do not exist, or have not been able to be found,” said the ANC.

It warned the DA to stop making threats of the arrest of its leaders. It said it has complied with the relevant laws to hand over the records.

“Furthermore, precautions have been taken in order to comply with the provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) to protect the personal information of those who have not given consent for its release. The ANC calls upon Dr Schreiber to respect the rights of these individuals and to use the records handed to him for the purpose outlined in his PAIA application.”

The ANC said it was not the only party that practices cadre deployment in the world. Many countries, including the US, UK, France, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Mexico, Sweden, Poland and Korea practice this policy of cadre deployment.

This was also confirmed in a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that governing parties in these countries and other parts of the world deploy their own people to implement their policies.

The ANC said the DA and other parties in South Africa also use cadre deployment where they govern.

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