DA leader John Steenhuisen warned on Tuesday that his party would seek court relief against ANC leaders, should the governing party not comply with a Constitutional Court judgement to release cadre deployment policy records.
Steenhuisen said the records would expose the role of President Cyril Ramaphosa in laying the foundation for state capture when he served as its chairperson in some of the years dating back to January 2013.
Speaking during the State of the Nation Address debate, Steenhuisen said the DA expected the ANC to abide by the court ruling.
“If the ANC tries to subvert the rule of law, we will not hesitate to send its leaders to prison for contempt of court, using the very same precedent created when Zuma was sent to prison for the same offence.
“So mark your calendars: in just four days’ time, we will find this President’s fingerprints all over cadre deployment and state capture, the very things he spent six years telling us he is against.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said the DA would get the cadre deployment records.
Mantashe also defended the cadre deployment policy despite the celebration by the DA, and stated that they would continue implementing it.
“It has changed a situation where every director-general was a white male in 1994. It has changed the reality where every judge was a white male, where every mayor was a white male,” he said.
“Cadre deployment has changed that reality so run to court, do everything but the reality of the matter is that we will do it.
“You will get your report but we will continue to deploy people who are capable. That is it,” Mantashe added.
On Monday, the ANC lost an application in the Constitutional Court in its long-running dispute with the DA over the release of the records of its cadre deployment committee.
The apex court dismissed with costs an appeal by the ANC, ruling that it was not in the interests of justice for leave to appeal to be granted.
The governing party approached the apex court after the Supreme Court of Appeal found last September that the party could not appeal against an earlier high court loss on the matter.
The ruling effectively means the ANC has five working days to submit the minutes of meetings, CVs, email threads, WhatsApp discussions and all other documents of the cadre deployment committee.
The Johannesburg High Court previously ordered the ANC party to hand over the records of the national cadre deployment committee for its work from January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2021.
Cape Times
