“Cadre employment reason for collapse”

The root cause of the breakdown in Limpopo governance is the ruling party’s policy of cadre employment in all  centres of power, said provincial DA leader Jacques Smalle on 24 July.

“It is because of cadre deployment that most of Limpopo’s municipalities are teetering on the verge of collapse. Limpopo is among the worst-performing provinces in the delivery of basic services such as water, electricity, roads and access to clean drinking water. Examples abound of people still having to share water streams with animals,” reads an open letter by Smalle.

At the community meeting about the water crisis in Makhado (Louis Trichardt) on 18 July it was evident that the disgruntled community is becoming more and more intolerant of poor service delivery.

The Chairpersons Association (CA) also took a strong stance against cadre employment.

“We want the Makhado Municipality to employ people with expertise who are able to render services. We are not interested in cadre employment, we are interested in the services that we pay for,” the CA Chairperson, Mr André Naudé, said this week.

“Service delivery failures … are inherent in the ANC’s political narrative, which places cadres above everything else. In juxtaposition, fit-for-purpose selection criteria for office bearers will improve the quality of service delivery for the people of our province,” Smalle says.

The collapse of provincial governance due to cadre employment is said to be seen in the fact that the MEC for Basic Education is still in office after the failure to deliver text books. The provincial health department is said to be in shambles due to mismanagement that resulted in “dilapidated hospitals, broken medical equipment and an acute shortage of life-saving medication.” The province as a whole lost R2.7 billion “through severe mismanagement, corruption and theft.”

“It must be made known that the total collapse of governance in Limpopo is not something that happens overnight. It is a sustained and systematic disease allowed to fester over years of cadre deployment, complacency and arrogance. Limpopo is broken. The leaders elected into office … continue to refuse to accept responsibility, yet they remain untouchable due to internal party politics. While this continues, the people suffer,” says Smalle.

A document entitled “Adopted Strategy and Tactics of the ANC” “ of the 52nd National Conference in Polokwane in 2007, reads “in order for it to exercise its vanguard role, the ANC puts a high premium on the involvement of its cadres in all centres of power.”

“This is a dangerous political programme and its effects are already felt in Limpopo. Sadly, those who bear the brunt are ordinary men and women and not the politicians who enjoy the comforts and security of the higher echelons,” Smalle says.

News - Date: 30 July 2012

Linda van der Westhuizen

Linda van der Westhuizen has been with Zoutnet since 2001. She has a heart for God, people and their stories. Linda believes that every person is unique and has a special story to tell. It follows logically that human interest stories is her speciality. Linda finds working with people and their leaders in the economic, educational, spiritual and political arena very rewarding. “I have a special interest in what God is doing in our town, province and nation and what He wants us to become,” says Linda.

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