Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen
Brenton Geach/Gallo Images
- The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has dismissed the DA’s bid to have cadre deployment declared unconstitutional and unlawful.
- The DA has vowed to appeal the decision.
- The ANC has welcomed the judgment.
The DA is gearing up to appeal the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria’s decision to dismiss its bid to have the courts declare the ANC policy of cadre deployment unconstitutional.
The court dismissed the party’s bid with costs.
Judge Aubrey Ledwaba delivered the brief judgment on Wednesday morning.
This comes after the ANC handed the minutes of its meetings to the DA on Monday.
Speaking outside of the court, DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party was disappointed by the judgment.
“As a party that respects the rule of law and the Constitution, we respect the judgment, but we believe there’s a number of errors in interpretation and law were made,” he said.
“There’s a fine line between party and state that is observed. It goes to say that influencing government decisions is not the same as political meddling in the affair of government.”
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He said the judgment was a significant underestimation of the terrible effects that cadre deployment had on South Africa.
“This also flies in the face of the comments made by then deputy chief justice [Raymond Zondo] at the Zondo Commission who said it should be illegal for anybody to influence the appointment of people based on nothing but their party,” Steenhuisen added.
The Zondo Commission found that cadre deployment contributed to state capture and said the policy was unlawful and unconstitutional.
In the judgment, Ledwaba said:
The DA came to court with a case built on speculation and conjecture. Corruption knows no boundaries; it inflicts grave harm to society. For that reason, it ought not to be used by political parties to pursue political objectives. We are not persuaded that costs be granted against the Amicus Curiae.
In June 2022, shortly before the release of the Zondo Commission’s final installment of its report, which contained the findings on cadre deployment, the DA applied to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to have it declared unlawful and unconstitutional.
Steenhuisen said the DA believed that cadre deployment was a violation of the constitutional provisions which state that no one should be discriminated against on the basis of their party affiliation.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, who flew into Pretoria from Durban – where the party is having several activities ahead of its manifesto launch – said the ANC welcomed the judgment.
She added:
The application brought by the DA was both legally unsound and hypocritical.
Bhengu-Motsiri reiterated ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa’s statements at the Zondo Commission.
“It is the ANC’s view that the practice of cadre deployment should not be inconsistent with the principles of fairness, transparency, and merit in appointing individuals to public entities,” he said at the time
“Cadre deployment cannot be faulted in principle; it is a common feature of democratic practice around the world. But we would concede that there are weaknesses in its practical implementation that make the case for greater clarity, both within political parties and the state.”
Bhengu-Motsiri said the ANC would make the cadre deployment committee meeting minutes available on its website.
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