Deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa, who faced a grilling on the corruption that decimated state-owned enterprises (SOEs), to provide a list of instances in which the ANC erred in the appointment of directors to boards of the companies before he completes his evidence at the end of May.
Ramaphosa was giving evidence at the state capture commission on Wednesday in which he faced extensive questions on the ANC’s cadre deployment policy. SOEs were a central target of state capture, with large portions of their substantial procurement budgets diverted into the pockets of corrupt politicians and the crony Gupta family, directors and executives.
The companies, essential to the functioning of the economy, were left in extreme financial distress from which several will be unable to recover.
Zondo said the commission wanted to know why it was that so many SOEs were in such a poor state when they had boards of directors in place.
"It is like there is something in common that made it possible for state-owned enterprises to be where they are. As the commission, we want to look at what recommendations should be made so that in future this does not happen. What was going on?" said Zondo.
In response, Ramaphosa replied that there was "massive system failure".
Asked by evidence leader Paul Pretorius whether he should not take responsibility for this, which included appointments of individuals such as Dudu Myeni, Brian Molefe, Siyabonga Gama and Anoj Singh, Ramaphosa replied: "That is a fair proposition.
"We acknowledge that some of these things did happen. Yes, things went horribly wrong, but we are here to correct that. We do that with humility and our heads bowed."
Zondo then asked Ramaphosa for a more specific list of the ANC’s mistakes, over and above his acknowledgment.
"I think it is quite important to acknowledge this but I would like you to identify the actual areas as a party where you did something you shouldn’t have. While an acknowledgment is important it is even better if one knows exactly what you are talking about," said Zondo.
Ramaphosa undertook to do so at the end of his evidence. He is expected to testify again on Thursday in his capacity as head of the ANC. At the end of May, Ramaphosa will give evidence as head of state.
Evidence on Wednesday focused mainly on the ANC’s deployment policy — a policy to ensure that ANC cadres occupy key positions in the state — which is implemented by a committee headed by the ANC’s deputy president.
For the last four years of the Jacob Zuma presidency and at the height of state capture, Ramaphosa was head of the deployment committee.
Ramaphosa defended the policy, arguing that many countries in the world did the same and that it was important to ensure that public servants understood and were sympathetic to the mandate of the majority party to ensure that social transformation occurred.
"It should be noted that the deployment of cadres to strategic positions is not unique to the ANC. It is practised in various forms and through various mechanisms — even if not always acknowledged as such — by other political parties in SA and in other countries.
"It is the ANC’s view that the practice of cadre deployment should not be inconsistent with the principles of fairness, transparency and merit in the appointment of individuals to public entities. Cadre deployment cannot be faulted in principle; it is a common feature of democratic practice around the world," he said.
Ramaphosa supported previous evidence by ANC chair Gwede Mantashe that the deployment committee did not appoint cadres but made recommendations. The entities involved and the cabinet minister in charge, in the case of appointments of directors, would follow the correct processes to ensure that the right people were selected, he said.
Zondo said he wondered whether the minister concerned would not feel under pressure to take the ANC’s recommendation, especially when the deployment committee was chaired by one of the ANC’s top officials.
Ramaphosa promised the commission several times that the mistakes made in deployment would never happen again. However, he did not endorse the suggestion made by national executive committee member Enoch Godongwana recently that the deployment strategy had perhaps run its course as both the demographic composition and political orientation of the public service had changed substantively.
"Transformation is not a one-day affair; it does not happen all at once. It needs to be guided," Ramaphosa said.
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