ANC to appeal contempt of court ruling on cadre deployment records

The ANC has filed notice for leave to appeal a Johannesburg high court ruling that it is in contempt of court over its failure to hand over all documents related to its cadre deployment committee to the DA.

The ruling party had been instructed by a court order to release unredacted cadre deployment records including draft minutes, notes, attendance registers, communications and decisions of the deployment committee. It eventually handed over the records but in a redacted form and with some records missing. 

Earlier this month, in an action brought by DA MP Leon Schreiber, the ANC and the party’s secretary-general Fikile Mbalula were found to be in civil contempt of court for failure to hand over all the documents relating to the time when President Cyril Ramaphosa chaired the deployment committee.

The ANC, Mbalula and strategic support manager in the deputy secretary-general’s office, Thapelo Masilela, said in papers the high court was misdirected in its ruling.

Schreiber had failed to prove his case on a balance of probabilities and there was no act of unlawfulness by the party, they said.

There was also no proof they had shown any bad faith or intent to deceive.

“These attributes are not present in the ANC’s handling of the matter. The ANC instead processed information which it had and explained its reasons for redacting some documents, and explained the non-existing records of 2013 to 2018. The latter could not be disputed by [Schreiber], and he ended up conceding to same. This cannot be mala fides [bad faith].”

Schreiber confirmed the DA has received notice from the ANC that it has applied for leave to appeal the ruling, and said the opposition party would continue to fight for all the records to be made public.

“The ANC’s latest application for leave to appeal confirms the party is terrified of the implications that would flow from revealing Ramaphosa’s personal complicity in cadre deployment corruption, a system found by the Zondo Commission to have ‘facilitated state capture’.

“The ANC needs to understand the DA will never relent on this matter because it is foundational to our mission to rescue SA. Should the ANC continue to hold the court in contempt after its latest doomed appeal fails, the DA will not hesitate to escalate our war against cadre deployment by applying to send Mbalula and other ANC officials to prison for criminal contempt of court.”

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