Durban - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended the ANC’s “cadre deployment” policy, saying there was nothing wrong with the ruling party deploying its members to key positions because this was an international practice.
All over the world when a political party won an election it would always seek to deploy those people it knew and trusted would be able to execute its policies and manifesto, he said.
Ramaphosa, who also chairs the ANC’s national deployment committee, was speaking at Durban City Hall last night during an ANC debate on the legacy of Nelson Mandela.
But he stressed that the ANC believed its cadres had to have the capability to execute the tasks they were given.
“On the one hand we want them to be cadres and on the other we want them to be capable and to have capacity. We are saying these two are not mutually exclusive.”
He said the ANC wanted to debunk the myth that it was all about deploying its members who were not capable. The ruling party, Ramaphosa added, would continue to deploy those people who would advance its policies.
“We would be very stupid if we are going to deploy people who will be acting against our revolution. We won the election on the basis of the mandate that our people have given us so we must deploy people who will advance that mandate,” he said, adding: “Asijiki (we are not turning back) and we don’t apologise.”
Ramaphosa said the main task for the ANC government now was to advance the radical socio-economic transformation of South Africa.
“In the main, the economic power in South Africa is still held by other people. Our people still do not have economic power.”
On Mandela, Ramaphosa described the former president as a loyal and disciplined member of the ANC and one who was “married” to the party’s national democratic struggle.
Ramaphosa said South Africans should draw lessons from Mandela’s life, adding that leaders should remain accountable to the people they serve.
“Madiba sought neither fame nor personal advancement. Madiba loathed corruption, wastage of public resources and self-enrichment. He saw how such tendencies further impoverished our people and eroded our social fabric,” he said.
“We must remain accountable to the people. We must be far more effective and we must be more efficient in delivering services.”
Daily News