FINANCE Minister Pravin Gordhan rubbished the African National Congress policy of cadre deployment as "nonsense" yesterday and urged government structures to employ only the best people for important state jobs.
Answering questions about his budget speech before Parliament's finance committee, he said the ANC was willing to acknowledge that some things had gone wrong and that interventions were needed.
His remarks were triggered by a question from Democratic Alliance finance spokesman Tim Harris, who asked how the government would implement its ambitious infrastructure development programme while there was a national shortage of skills and the ANC continued its practice, referred to as "cadre deployment", of appointing party loyalists to important jobs.
"Now ... when I grew up as an activist, a cadre was a term reserved for the best qualified, the most committed, the most politically clear, the one who was willing to sacrifice the most, the one who was willing to be the most selfless and was the most reliable," Gordhan said.
"That's the real meaning of cadre in the ANC history books. There is a big difference between cadre deployment and deployment of friends and family," Gordhan continued.
Thaba Mufamadi, the chairman of the finance committee, said after the meeting that he assumed Gordhan was issuing a general warning against "those who do the wrong things", but he confirmed that the ANC still has a deployment committee.
Opposition parties and some business lobby groups have for years blamed the ANC's deployment policy for many of the failings in government performance.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe defended the policy in a speech to teachers last year, saying cadre deployment gave black people operation experience.
Gordhan slams ANC policy of deployment
FINANCE Minister Pravin Gordhan rubbished the African National Congress policy of cadre deployment as "nonsense" yesterday and urged government structures to employ only the best people for important state jobs.
Answering questions about his budget speech before Parliament's finance committee, he said the ANC was willing to acknowledge that some things had gone wrong and that interventions were needed.
His remarks were triggered by a question from Democratic Alliance finance spokesman Tim Harris, who asked how the government would implement its ambitious infrastructure development programme while there was a national shortage of skills and the ANC continued its practice, referred to as "cadre deployment", of appointing party loyalists to important jobs.
"Now ... when I grew up as an activist, a cadre was a term reserved for the best qualified, the most committed, the most politically clear, the one who was willing to sacrifice the most, the one who was willing to be the most selfless and was the most reliable," Gordhan said.
"That's the real meaning of cadre in the ANC history books. There is a big difference between cadre deployment and deployment of friends and family," Gordhan continued.
Thaba Mufamadi, the chairman of the finance committee, said after the meeting that he assumed Gordhan was issuing a general warning against "those who do the wrong things", but he confirmed that the ANC still has a deployment committee.
Opposition parties and some business lobby groups have for years blamed the ANC's deployment policy for many of the failings in government performance.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe defended the policy in a speech to teachers last year, saying cadre deployment gave black people operation experience.
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