The publicly revealed cadre deployment records have revealed how the ANC’s deployment committee consulted with ministers, ultimately delaying progress on the appointment of the chief executive officers of state owned companies, Eskom and the SAA.
The records also revealed how there were significant delays in the process of appointing the CEOs, which the minutes said were due to compliance issues in 2018.
In minutes of a deployment committee meeting held at the ANC’s headquarters, Luthuli House on the 10th floor in March 2018, records show that Eskom needed a CEO and the deployment committee agreed to support the motion.
In both instances, the deployment of the CEOs was not ratified. The Democratic Alliance, which went all the way to the Constitutional Court to force the governing ANC to release the deployment records, said the committee had caused the delays in a bid to frustrate Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Public records show that Andre De Ruyter was eventually appointed Eskom group CEO in December 2019, while at SAA, Vuyani Jarana resigned in June 2019 due to uncertainty about funding and how slow decision making processes were delaying the airline's turnaround strategy.
The records also showed that in November 2020, the deployment committee met again to discussion board appointments at both SAA and Eskom.
The minutes further reveal that the Eskom Interim Board needed to be regularized and properly appointed within the existing rules of the state.
The minutes show that the committee convened their meeting via Zoom call on November 30 to discuss the matter.
DA MP Leon Schreiber, said the records reveal how the cadre deployment committee contributed to the downfall of SAA and Eskom.
The records consist of meeting minutes, email correspondence, WhatsApp conversations, CVs, and ANC’s cadre deployment policies dating from 2018.
On May 18, 2018 a list of abridged CV's and the full CV's were forwarded to Gordhan for consideration. This is after the committee agreed to forward names of people requesting for deployment.
The process was delayed and the meeting was also scheduled on many dates that did not have progress.
According to Schreiber, the delays were just tactics by the deployment committee to prevent Gordhan from appointing the CEOs.
He said this was because they wanted their cadres to get the job.
“The cadre deployment committee deliberately blocked and interfered with the appointment of CEOs because they were not their cadres,” he maintained.
Schreiber said the 1177-page ANC deployment record showed how the party unlawfully interfered with appointments across the state.
The minutes show that the committee convened their meeting via Zoom call on November 30 to discuss the matter.
A presentation was made for an interim structure that would provide stability to both institutions but the processes were not followed.
It was said that the deployment committee would be consulted on the appointment of both boards.
Schreber said there was nowhere to hide and the ANC cannot play victims in the process that they have interfered with, especially after admitting on record.
Meanwhile, the DA has lost its bid to have the ANC's cadre deployment policy declared unconstitutional. Their application was dismissed with costs by the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday. It vowed to appeal to the court judgment.
The DA is set to host a media briefing on Friday where it will unpack some of the details that emerged from the deployment records.
The ANC welcomed the court’s ruling, stating that the DA’s application was both legally unsound as well as hypocritical.
The party further called on all political parties to download the records to be on the clear side of their deployments.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
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