The Constitutional Court has thrown out the ANC’s appeal to keep its cadre deployment records under wraps – with costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The apex court said that it is \u201cnot in the interest of justice to hear the matter\u201d brought forth by the ruling party, giving the ANC five working days to hand over the records to DA’s Leon Schreiber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The records date back to January 2013, when President Cyril Ramaphosa became chairman of the cadre deployment committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This ruling will ensure transparency, by forcing the ANC to reveal how Ramaphosa\u2019s cadre committee laid the foundation for state capture by interfering in public appointment processes,” said Schreiber in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The case is also of historic significance in the ongoing battle against state capture… [with the] ruling handed down today is based on the premise \u2013 now vindicated by the highest court in the land \u2013 that the deployment committee does not merely make \u201crecommendations,\u201d but actively influences public sector appointment in an unlawful manner,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schreiber sought access to these records back in 2021 in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). However, it has faced much litigation from the ANC who have sought to keep the records private. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February of last year, Judge Willem Wepener of the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled that the ANC’s decision to withhold documents, including meeting minutes, WhatsApp conversations, email threads, CVs, and all other committee records, was unlawful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The judge ordered the party to provide the documents to the DA within five court days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ANC unsuccessfully applied for leave to appeal and then went to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on the day it was supposed to hand over the records. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On September 4, the SCA dismissed the ANC’s application with costs and ordered the party to hand over the documents to the DA within five days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back in November 2023, the ANC said \u201cthat [the] SCA did not consider new evidence which has emerged from a forensic report which reveals crucial evidence that makes it plain that there was no authorisation for the transactions in question, and certain implicated individuals mispresented their positions and authority.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ANC then filed papers in the apex court last year after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) upheld the South Gauteng High Court ruling. However, the ANC failed to meet the court-ordered deadline, and four days later, it applied to the apex court for leave to appeal and asked the court to condone the late filing of the appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n