GHALEB CACHALIA: Cabanac appointment raises questions about cadre deployment

The appointment by the DA agriculture minister of Roman Cabanac as chief of staff has been the subject of much media attention. Cabanac, a founding member of the now defunct Capitalist Party of SA and host of the Morning Shot podcast, recently cleansed his X timeline of many controversial posts.

In response to the outcry, the DA said the situation was in fact a “beautiful” way to show the party did not practice cadre deployment, and spokesperson Karabo Khakhau stated — with convoluted syntax — that “we do not have a cadre deployment committee that FedEx approves who occupies which positions in government. So, what minister Steenhuisen’s decision is in appointing his chief of staff, is his decision, and is within his prerogative”.

On the face of it, Steenhuisen is within his rights to do so, and the DA has in effect managed to pass the buck and distance itself from its leader’s decisions on administrative appointments. However, the appointment cannot be separated from the DA’s opposition to cadre deployment and the general trajectory of politics within the party.  

Cadre deployment has been rampant. Appointments based primarily on loyalty to the governing party or a particular leader, rather than merit, have hitherto been a key plank in the DA’s criticism of the ANC.  

Moreover, the appointment of staff for reasons that have little or nothing to do with their ability to perform the tasks a particular position requires leads to an ethos, which, instead of serving the public, advances the interests of the party or those of its leader. 

After all, one of the main responsibilities of a ministerial chief of staff is to ensure liaison with internal and external role players with regard to matters relating to the portfolio of the executing authority.  

So the question is — against the spread of right-wing populism globally, the aims of the government of national unity (GNU) locally and the role of a chief of staff who typically acts as a confidant and adviser to the chief executive, acting as a sounding board for ideas — what does this appointment signal? 

Starting in the mid-2010s many democracies all over the world have turned towards the right, electing representatives that stand in stark contrast to those that pushed for globalisation and international co-operation two decades earlier. Given that this shift in politics results in the creation of an “us” versus “them” situation and it implies the creation of collective identities, what does this mean for the ministry concerned and the government it serves? Only in SA can you mix oil and water and hope to produce an elixir of sorts. What illness this elixir intended to cure is uncertain. 

Disclosure: one of the reasons for my resignation from the DA was the grip of a cabal, a worrying move to the right, a creeping authoritarianism and an inability to identify with the mood of the nation and the requirements of social justice globally.  

The party’s worrying move away from the centre of the political spectrum, in its embracing of right-wing tribal, religious and ultra-libertarian partners, the appointment of PR/lobbying firms with decidedly dubious pasts and the wooing of organisations such as the Afrikanerbond to endorse its coalition, presents a certain understandable disquiet in many quarters.  

In this context the appointment of the erstwhile podcaster is of concern. As US satirist and author PJ O’Rourke once said: “The idea of a news broadcast once was to find someone with information and broadcast it. The idea now is to find someone with ignorance and spread it around.” 

More so, it raises the question on the matter of cadre deployment — defined as the appointment by a governing party of a loyalist to an institution as a means of enhancing public reporting lines and ensuring that the institution stays true to the mandate of the party as elected by voters — what exactly is the colour of this GNU?

Is it a black or blue wildebeest? Is it of the white-bearded or brindled variety? I think we should be told. 

• Cachalia is a former DA MP and public enterprises spokesperson.