ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has moved to defend cadre deployment, saying the "blackmail" by critics who view cadreship as a sin should be ignored.
"The blackmail of thinking that cadreship is a sin is something that we should not entertain. To be a cadre of a movement is not a sin.
"Opponents of cadre deployment ... they confuse it with wrong deployment. It's not the same," he said in Johannesburg yesterday.
He was replying to a question on whether the ANC national executive committee would discuss the issue of cadre deployment and how it intended to tackle the problem, which had consistently been raised by the opposition and the public.
But Mantashe took the question with a pinch of salt, highlighting that deployments should be based on both loyalty and competence. The one must no be without the other.
"You need to have absolute trust between political leadership, administration and management or there can be a total misfire or a situation where a mayor and municipal manager are moving in totally different directions. We can see more disaster when that happens," he said.
Mantashe referred to the American political system where Republicans cling to the top echelons of government, with the Democrats being the top management.
"When the Democrats take over they do the same. It is never criticised as cadre deployment. It happens generally in politics that the top management and political party in power ... there must be a reconciliation of their understanding and implementation thereof."
It was the wrong appointments that were the problem, as this produced the wrong results, he said.
"If you are a political leader and you appoint dwarfs, you are pulling yourself down, but if you appoint giants around you, you know you can stand on the shoulders of giants. It's just a question of inferiority complex. When you have the fear of competence, you make the wrong appointments."
Mantashe said the ANC was committed to getting rid of officials who failed toperform.
The latest report by the auditor-general shows the poor performance of municipalities was exacerbated by a large number of unqualified officials and incompetent senior managers. - nhlabathih@sowetan.co.za
l See page 6
Cadre deployment not a sin, says Mantashe
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has moved to defend cadre deployment, saying the "blackmail" by critics who view cadreship as a sin should be ignored.
"The blackmail of thinking that cadreship is a sin is something that we should not entertain. To be a cadre of a movement is not a sin.
"Opponents of cadre deployment ... they confuse it with wrong deployment. It's not the same," he said in Johannesburg yesterday.
He was replying to a question on whether the ANC national executive committee would discuss the issue of cadre deployment and how it intended to tackle the problem, which had consistently been raised by the opposition and the public.
But Mantashe took the question with a pinch of salt, highlighting that deployments should be based on both loyalty and competence. The one must no be without the other.
"You need to have absolute trust between political leadership, administration and management or there can be a total misfire or a situation where a mayor and municipal manager are moving in totally different directions. We can see more disaster when that happens," he said.
Mantashe referred to the American political system where Republicans cling to the top echelons of government, with the Democrats being the top management.
"When the Democrats take over they do the same. It is never criticised as cadre deployment. It happens generally in politics that the top management and political party in power ... there must be a reconciliation of their understanding and implementation thereof."
It was the wrong appointments that were the problem, as this produced the wrong results, he said.
"If you are a political leader and you appoint dwarfs, you are pulling yourself down, but if you appoint giants around you, you know you can stand on the shoulders of giants. It's just a question of inferiority complex. When you have the fear of competence, you make the wrong appointments."
Mantashe said the ANC was committed to getting rid of officials who failed toperform.
The latest report by the auditor-general shows the poor performance of municipalities was exacerbated by a large number of unqualified officials and incompetent senior managers. - nhlabathih@sowetan.co.za
l See page 6
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