Dlamini-Zuma Affirms Cadre Deployment for Bust Municipalities

While President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year said the government was committed to putting properly qualified people in the right jobs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma today defended her earlier remarks that municipalities have to appoint the ‘”right cadres,” or supporters of the ANC.

In June the minister of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs made the statement about cadres – meaning ANC members deployed in government, including the civil service and other bodies that require political impartiality and technical expertise – while addressing the ANC’s OR Tambo School of Leadership.

Last month the auditor general reported the irregular expenditure at South African municipalities, which are controlled by COGTA, rose from R25 billion last year to R32 billion, due to “fruitless” payments, corruption and inexperienced staff, among other things.

Responding to the Democratic Alliance today in parliament, Dlamini-Zuma rejected the idea that “cadres” were necessarily unprofessional.

Cilliers Brink, the DA’s Shadow Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs, said in a statement, “The minister, if her remarks are to be taken at face value, seems incapable of understanding why municipal engineers, planners and managers cannot simply be drawn from the ranks of the ANC.

In January Ramaphosa said, “We are committed to end the practice of poorly qualified individuals being parachuted into positions of authority through political patronage.”

“But, as usual,” said the DA, “Minister Dlamini-Zuma seems to be rebuffing the President or simply reminding South Africa that we have been sold a false dawn.”