The release of the African National Congress' (ANC) cadre deployment records has revealed how the party used its powers to hold the country's judiciary hostage, according to the official opposition.
The records were handed over to the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday, following a deadline set by the Constitutional Court. The DA had further threatened to take legal action if the ANC reneged on its deadline, but the governing party met the deadline.
Some names have been redacted from the publicly released documents, which include CVs and ID numbers, due to the Protection of Personal Information Act.
The documents have further revealed how despite President Cyril Ramaphosa telling the Zondo Commission that the ANC cannot appoint judges, it still attempted to have a hand in the judiciary and the chief justice's independence.
According to minutes of a meeting, the ANC speaks of a "dynamic link with Nadel“ - the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, a voluntary organisation of lawyers that looks at legal and judicial systems and access to justice for disadvantaged people.
The party further recommends that the process is incestuous and does not contribute much to judicial independence.
"The ANC prizes and values judicial independence. The current process provides for a system that has the judiciary having too much power in determining the leadership of the ... (the sentence is not complete)“
The documents further contain a letter from the party's late deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte to now Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, about a woman advocate whose name was removed from the candidate shortlist for a Constitutional Court bench vacancy.
Duarte further highlighted that the list was published without the woman being informed.
Describing the contents of the document as "a racketeering syndicate that has corrupted the State“, the DA's Leon Schreiber said they will work diligently to unveil the network of cadre deployment.
"ANC cadre deployment laid the foundation for state capture, for systemic corruption, and for the service delivery collapse that caused load shedding, water-shedding, and the accelerating failure of the State," he said.
The DA is set to host a media briefing on Friday where it will unpack some of the details that emerged from the documents handed over by the ruling party.
IOL