The one thing that unites the "good" ANC under President Cyril Ramaphosa and the "bad" ANC fronted by Jacob Zuma is that they both fervently believe in the discredited idea of cadre deployment.
For those who don’t know, this is the appointment of ANC loyalists to state institutions and enterprises. Inherent in this idea is the belief that there are no loyal, qualified South Africans, black or white, who want to or can serve their country, irrespective of which political party is in charge. Instead, the only people who can be relied upon to be loyal and of service are connected members of the ANC elite.
The rest of SA? Take a back seat while your country burns. It is similar to what the National Party and its Broederbond did between 1948 and 1994.
The belief in and practice of cadre deployment lies at the heart of the failure to deliver services to SA. Party loyalty trumps competence, qualifications and loyalty to SA. Those who wonder why the SA intelligence services could not predict the riots of July — or identify the instigators beforehand or even afterwards — need merely look at the heads of these "intelligence" bodies. All of them are party loyalists whose only credentials are that they bend their knee to whoever is in power. Yesterday they were Zuma loyalists. Today they may be Ramaphosa loyalists. It doesn’t really matter. They are not loyal to SA and its constitution, but to the ANC and its current leader.
This is why so many state-owned enterprises have been broken or destroyed. Organisations from SAA to Denel to Transnet are on their knees because abantu bethu (Zulu for "our own people") were put in charge, while competent South Africans were overlooked.
At SAA a deployee, Dudu Myeni, was appointed to chair the board despite her lack of the basic bachelor’s degree she claimed she had. SAA collapsed.
Every damning finding can be traced directly to cadre deployment
You would think that the many examples of the failure of cadre deployment would make Ramaphosa’s ANC reflect on what it has done to SA and change its ways. Not a chance. In April, Ramaphosa appeared before the Zondo commission and defended cadre deployment, saying it is an important part of advancing the party’s mandate.
"It should be noted that the deployment of cadres to strategic positions is not unique to the ANC.
"It is practised in various forms and through various mechanisms — even if not always acknowledged as such — by other political parties in SA and in other countries.
"In our view, cadre deployment has acquired such prominence in part because of the perspective that there should be no political interference in the selection of people who work in the public sector. However, international practice suggests a more nuanced approach to this matter," he said.
ANC chair Gwede Mantashe said: "The ANC prepares its cadres through an internal party process so that if I’m given a responsibility, I must have acquired the competence to execute ... the policy is about the development of individual cadres of the ANC."
I would really like to meet one, just one, ANC cadre who has gone through this process. A look at the syllabus would also be useful. The truth is that there is no such thing. To get the job, you merely have to pledge total fealty to the ANC.
That is why competent municipal managers are frequently fired and replaced with party cadres. And that is why you see community organisations taking these same municipalities to court to take over the provision of water, electricity and other basic utilities themselves because ANC cadres are failing spectacularly at the job. Read the auditor-general’s report. Every damning finding can be traced directly to cadre deployment.
There is much talk about transforming the state into an efficient machine. Firing incompetent, unqualified Zuma appointees and replacing them with incompetent, unqualified Ramaphosa appointees will not work.
We need a change in culture and practice. Currently, those who want to fleece the populace join the ANC, knowing that it edges them closer to the trough. Competent South Africans with no political connections are overlooked. Until that changes, we will continue to be mediocre.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.