President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the Democratic Alliance (DA) to give them minutes of their meetings to prove they do not practice cadre deployment.
He accused the DA of being hypocrites saying it was also practising cadre deployment where it governs.
Ramaphosa was on Saturday unveiling the party’s election manifesto in Durban where he outlined a number of priorities to get the country of the economic crisis.
There was already work underway to fix energy and logistics sectors.
He said he will sign the National Health Insurance Bill after it has been on his desk since last December after it was passed by parliament.
After a legal challenge by the DA for the ANC to hand over its cadre deployment records, former DA mayor in Midvaal Bongani Baloyi said the DA was also practising cadre deployment.
But this was denied by DA leader John Steenhuisen. The official opposition has threatened the ANC with more legal action after it did not hand over minutes of meetings of the cadre deployment committee when Ramaphosa was chairing it.
Ramaphosa accused the DA of being hypocrites, saying the party was also practising cadre deployment where it governs.
He said the ANC will be putting its best candidates that are going to represent it in the national legislature and provinces.
“In this election, our candidates represent the finest. All leaders, once elected, will be held to high standards of accountability. We will ensure our candidates, once put forward, work in a focused and disciplined manner.
“We have made all the preparatory work. We will work in this new administration. We are taking measures to make we have the best. We are going to make sure we deploy people who are capable.
“In our cadre deployment policy, we put in people who share our vision. We will ensure the policies and visions of the ANC are followed. That is why the judgment in the Gauteng High Court concluded there is nothing political about influencing a policy direction,” said Ramaphosa. .
“Those who are talking about cadre deployment let them bring their minutes. They are hypocrites, We want their minutes. They are accusing the ANC of doing exactly what they are doing.”
He said even national chairperson Gwede Mantashe said a few weeks ago before 1994 there were no black judges and Directors-General in government.
But after the dawn of democracy there has been transformation in the judiciary and other sectors of society.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
IOL Politics