In a ruling handed down yesterday morning by the Johannesburg High Court, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has won a seminal case finding the governing party of South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) and its secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, guilty of contempt of court.
“The ruling confirms beyond all doubt that the ANC is a lawless criminal syndicate that is prepared to trigger a constitutional crisis to hide the fact that its corrupt cadre deployment committee is the root cause of state capture, corruption and service delivery failure,” said Dr Leon Schreiber MP – DA Shadow Minister of Public Service and Administration.
“The DA approached the court, on an urgent basis, on 4 March 2024 after the ANC unlawfully redacted, destroyed and withheld records of its cadre deployment committee dating back to 1 January 2013, when Cyril Ramaphosa became its chairman. The court today agreed with the DA that this behaviour by the ANC, in violation of a court order upheld by the Constitutional Court, amounts to “wilful” and “male fide” contempt of court.”
While the ANC is clearly prepared to go to any length to hide its dirty cadre deployment secrets and undermine the rule of law, there is, fortunately, no limit to the DA’s determination to uphold the rule of law and abolish cadre deployment corruption from the face of this country.
The court consequently declared that the ANC is in breach of an order that was affirmed by the Constitutional Court. The court ordered the ANC to pay the DA’s full costs for the application, and to, within 15 days, give effect to the original court order by:
1. Providing to the DA all of the information that has already been disclosed and that is further required to be disclosed in unredacted form so as to ensure all names of persons are legible;
2. Providing to the DA all of the information related to the processes and decisions of the ANC cadre deployment committee during the period 1 January 2013 to 1 January 2021, including but not limited to minutes, draft minutes, notes, attendance registers, communications and decisions of the deployment committee whether prepared by or communicated to staff members of the ANC, members of the committee, chairpersons of the committee, and government officials; and
3. Emails, Whatsapps and other social media communications between and among members of the committee and between committee members, committee chairpersons and government officials.
4. Providing the DA with copies of all attachments to emails, Whatsapps and other social media communications;
5. Making available the following items to a neutral third-party information technology expert agreed to by the DA for the purposes of extracting information required to be disclosed by the court order:
- The hard drive and laptop of ANC official Thepelo Masilela;
- The personal email of Thapelo Masilela; and
- The laptop of ANC official Lungi Mtshali.
6. The ANC is directed to report to the court and to the DA’s attorneys, in writing and under oath, of its compliance with the court order.
7. The ANC is ordered to pay the costs of this application on the attorney and client scale such to include the costs of two counsels.
In its ruling, the court specifically condemned the ANC’s contemptuous failure to disclose communications and records held by Cyril Ramaphosa. “The court noted that “in particular, [the ANC] was obliged to disclose communication relating to the committee’s work by, and involving, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was the chairperson of the committee between 2013 and 2018,” said Dr Leon Schreiber to the Bulletin.
As a result of today’s ruling, the DA calls on Ramaphosa to act in accordance with his position as President of South Africa in order to bring an end to this escalating constitutional crisis triggered by his party, by abiding by the ruling and handing over to the DA all of his personal emails, Whatsapps and other communication revealing the role he personally played in state capture through his position as ANC cadre deployment chairperson.
“Once again, the clock is ticking on the ANC. It has 15 working days – until 24 April 2024 – to hand overall, complete and unredacted cadre deployment records, including those held by Ramaphosa. As we have done throughout our years-long battle to expose and defeat ANC cadre deployment, the DA reserves our right to pursue further action against the constitutional delinquents masquerading as a governing party,” concluded Dr Leon Schreiber
