There is a link between the ANC's cadre deployment committee and state capture. That is the indisputable finding of the final part of the State Capture Inquiry report.
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo laid out, in black and white, that the ANC cadre deployment policy violated five different subsections of the Constitution and contravened the Public Service Act.
This is the most definitive finding of ANC complicity in state capture.
During its unrecorded meetings, the deployment committee deployed people, like Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko, to state-owned enterprises, who were then complicit in the wholesale capture of the state for the benefit of former president Jacob Zuma and the Guptas.
Luthuli House cannot deny it anymore - and the defence by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chaired the deployment committee during the state capture period, holds no water.
Zondo stated it very clear: "…the Constitution envisages a public administration that maintains a high standard of professional ethics: that is efficient, economical and effective in its use of resources, and that is impartial, fair, equitable and without bias."
But when you look at the ANC's deployment policy, it was the antithesis of these four values.
Zondo found that this committee was more powerful than Ramaphosa and the ANC wanted us to believe, and it played a central role in the destruction of state institutions and the looting of state funds.
He insists that it is, thus, illegal and unlawful.
What do the Zondo findings mean? What happens now? And can the ANC exist without this patronage system?
In this week's Friday Briefing, we have thoughtful and powerful pieces from Trevor Manuel, Professor William Gumede, Terence Corrigan, Khaya Sithole and Wayne Duvenage.
We also have a cartoon by News24's cartoonist, Carlos Amato, as part of our offering.
Best,
Qaanitah Hunter
Assistant Editor: Politics and Opinion
