-
President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President Paul Mashatile chaired the first cabinet meeting under the Government of National Unity (GNU) on July 9, 2024.
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosi Hlabisa says political parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU) that also govern in local government have agreed to do away with cadre deployment.
The African National Congress (ANC)’s policy of deploying party members to key government and state-owned enterprise positions has been strongly criticised.
Some critics, including the Democratic Alliance (DA), say it fosters corruption and undermines meritocracy, leading to poor delivery of basic services.
The DA has been pushing for the abolition of cadre deployment through court action.
However, Hlabisa says that in instances where it is implemented, it must be done on merit.
“Because it becomes difficult to introduce consequence management to a cadre, because a cadre will report you somewhere. That is why what is interesting [that] all political parties in the GNU, who are governing the local government space, we have all agreed that come 2026 local government, new turn, the deployment must be based on merit, nothing else.”
“The deployment of political leadership must meet certain competencies. You may not prescribe a degree or a diploma, but a person must be competent enough to comprehend the annual financial statements, to comprehend the report by the Auditor General and see what needs to be done,” explains Hlabisa.
