- The DA accused the ANC of trying to hide its cadre deployment records after announcing it would appeal a high court order.
- On Thursday, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg overturned the ANC’s decision not to concede to the district attorney’s PAIA request for the records.
- The court ordered the ANC to hand over all records since 2013 to the prosecutor within five judicial days.
The ANC is trying to hide its cadre deployment records by appealing to the Gauteng High Court in the Johannesburg order that it must hand over the equipment to the DA, party MP Leon Schreiber said.
On Thursday, Judge Willem Wepener handed down a ruling ordering the ANC to provide the records to Schreiber within five court business days.
This relates to the complete records of the ANC national cadre deployment committee, including meeting minutes, WhatsApp conversations, email threads, CV and any other documents, from 1 January 2013. This includes the period when President Cyril Ramaphosa was chairman of the cadre deployment committee. in his capacity as Vice President of the ANC and when the state capture was at its height.
The court case came after the ANC refused Schreiber’s request for the records in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The court considered this decision invalid and illegal and annulled it.
Shortly after the sentence was handed down, the ANC indicated that it would appeal the decision without specifying any reason.
“The ANC may, in due course, consider conveying its full position on the matter should such a need arise after having obtained conclusive advice from its legal team,” the party said in a statement.
READ | ‘Historic victory’: Court orders ANC to give prosecutor its cadre deployment records
On Friday, Schreiber said in a statement that he is not surprised by the ANC’s response.
“The ANC’s rush to keep secrets from the people of South Africa at all costs only serves to confirm that there are plenty of skeletons buried within the cadre deployment records wanted by the DA. After all, if only cadre deployment was so harmless As the ANC likes to claim, why are they so desperate to prevent the people of South Africa from seeing the truth about party interference in the nomination processes?” he said.
Furthermore, he accused the ANC of hypocrisy because it shows how Ramaphosa tried to mislead the Zondo Commission.
Questioned by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, Ramaphosa said he found it “an interesting proposal to remove this cloak of secrecy. Perhaps the party should be able to show its hand.”
Schreiber said:
The fact that the ANC is now desperately trying to hide these records from the public shows that Ramaphosa was never serious about transparency.
The second reason why Schreiber considers the move hypocritical relates to the separate application that the district attorney filed with the Pretoria High Court to find the deployment of cadres illegal and unconstitutional. Arguments have been heard and judgment has been reserved.
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Schreiber said that when the ANC presented evidence, it claimed the policy was part of its exercise of “free speech” and “public debate”.
“This is also exposed as a falsehood by the ANC’s appeal of this case, because secrecy is anathema to free speech and public debate,” Schreiber said. “We hope to give the ANC another chance in court in our quest to rid South Africa of corruption,” Schreiber said.
