Policy analyst Nkosikhulule Nyembezi says the recent court decision dismissing the ANC’s appeal against a contempt of court ruling over the release of cadre deployment records affirmed that there would be “consequences for the ANC’s novel doctrine of total power with absolutely no responsibility”.
The Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg on Friday dismissed the ANC’s application for leave to appeal with costs after the party and its secretary-general Fikile Mbalula were found in contempt of court for not providing unredacted cadre deployment records.
The ANC had complied with a Constitutional Court ruling in February and handed over documents to the DA. They accused the DA of deliberate misrepresentation, threats and false expectations of what might be contained in the records.
The DA, however, approached the high court stating that most of the cadre deployment records supplied by the ANC had been incomplete or redacted.
In dismissing the ANC’s application for leave to appeal, Judge Brad Wanless on Friday found: “The applicants (ANC) have, in this application, been unable to substantiate, both in fact and/or law, reasons as to why this court allegedly erred which would give rise to a court of appeal setting aside the judgment and order made by this court.”
The DA welcomed the latest ruling with the party’s national spokesperson, Willie Aucamp saying they had long held that cadre deployment was at the heart of the ANC’s “system of corruption and state capture”.
“Since our victory in the Constitutional Court, which forced the ANC to release its cadre deployment records, we have uncovered a web of politically motivated appointments that has crippled service delivery and undermined the professionalism of the public service.
“We urge the ANC to comply fully with the court's orders.
“The people of South Africa deserve to know the truth about the corrupt practices that have undermined our institutions and compromised our democracy.”
Nyembezi said the court decision affirmed that there would be “consequences for the ANC’s novel doctrine of total power with absolutely no responsibility”.
“We have a sizeable number of ANC-appointed individuals in government that many citizens regard as incompetent, and, at the same time, these individuals are being encouraged by the party to believe that no screw-up, however grotesque, will be punished.
“That is a dangerously decadent form of government. Within the party’s inner circle, it is a private boast that influential individuals are tearing up the government’s rule book.
“One of the rules that they have been shredding most aggressively is the concept of elected and appointed public representatives' responsibility to uphold the batho pele (people first) principles.
“Under previous administrations, this idea has been central to how democratic politics is supposed to work,” Nyembezi said.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.
Cape Times