DA takes legal action missing cadre deployment records
John Steenhuisen has said the DA will be taking legal action against the ANC for not submitting Ramaphosa’s cadre deployment records.
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen says he will lodge contempt charges against the African National Congress (ANC) for not submitting records of the cadre deployment committee when President Cyril Ramaphosa was chairing the committee.
Steenhuisen said on Friday they will also appeal the judgment of the High Court in Pretoria that rejected their application on Thursday to declare cadre deployment unconstitutional and unlawful.
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DA SEEKS URGENT ORDER FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT
“The DA has yesterday, issued a letter of demand to the ANC for it to fully comply with the Constitutional Court’s order with a deadline of tomorrow. If they do not adhere to the demand, we will seek an urgent contempt of court ruling that includes prison time aimed specifically at its secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, who acted on behalf of the ANC in this matter,” said Steenhuisen.
“We will use the precedent created in the Jacob Zuma case, when he was sent to prison for similarly being in contempt of a Constitutional Court order. Finally, we will pursue criminal charges against ANC officials involved in the destruction of information as part of a blatant cover-up campaign to try and wipe Ramaphosa’s fingerprints off the cadre deployment records,” he added.
ANC TO GIVE EXPLANATION OVER CADRE DEPLOYMENT RECORDS
He said it was puzzling that there were no records of the cadre deployment committee when Ramaphosa was heading the committee. Ramaphosa became chairperson of the committee after his election as deputy president of the ANC at the Mangaung conference in December 2012.
The ANC said it had complied with the order of the Constitutional Court and gave the DA all its records. It said cadre deployment was practiced in the Global North and Global South, and South Africa was no exception. Early this week, the ANC said it would explain where no records were available, but the party has complied with the order directed by the court.