SINAWO THAMBO: Steenhuisen’s appointment of unqualified staff in govt reeks of DA cadre deployment

The debate around cadre deployment in South Africa, where elected Members of the Executive appoint members of their political party into government bureaucracies and as functionaries of the State, has been a raging debate since the advent of democracy in 1994. 

For a very long time, this has been a character trait of the former ruling party the African National Congress (ANC), which has led to the establishment of patronage networks and the vicious decapacitation of the South African State operationally and administratively through the mechanism of cadre deployment.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has over the past few years postured as the champion of anti-cadre deployment, and has even taken the ANC to court demanding the records of its cadre deployment committee, in a quest to expose the undermining of state capacity by the ANC, to enrich those aligned with it. 

It has therefore been quite ironic that the DA is now embroiled in its own cadre deployment scandal, courtesy of the Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen.

Steenhuisen, who gleefully assumed office after prolonged negotiations to establish the so-called Government of National Unity (GNU), is alleged to have appointed four DA members as part of his staff in the capacity of advisors and assistants in his duties as the Minister of Agriculture. 

This comes after his controversial appointment of the right-wing podcaster, outspoken homophobe and racial chauvinist Roman Cabanac as his Chief of Staff. Cabanac is yet to resign as requested by Steenhuisen after public pressure, and continues to draw a salary from taxpayer money while ostensibly doing no work.

The four DA individuals, on the other hand, did not and do not meet the necessary requirements to occupy these roles, according to the Public Service Act and relevant legislation that stipulates strict educational qualifications and experience requirements for appointment within government departments. Mind you, these regulations have been put in place, where education is a necessity in order to work for government as a means to professionalise the public service sphere in South Africa. 

Perhaps due to his insecurities around his own educational inadequacies, Steenhuisen has no regard for the need to professionalise the administration and bureaucracy of government.

It was the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) that, through the method of posing a question for a written reply, asked Steenhuisen whether he had indeed appointed four individuals into the Department as staff or advisors and whether he had done this through deviation from the relevant legislation that governs appointments.

Alas, patronage was an insufficient transgression for the esteemed Minister Steenhuisen, because on top of cadre deployment, he decided to violate his oath of office and lie to Parliament, and by extension, lie to the people of South Africa. 

Steenhuisen responded to the question by the EFF in the negative and opened up a can of worms whose consequences I do not think he fully understands.

There are verifiable public records, for purposes of example, of former DA Member of Parliament Annette Steyn, being referred to by Steenhuisen on public and media platforms as his special advisor who has hit the ground running in the Department, and assisted him in connecting with her “connections” in the agricultural sector. 

We need not dig too deep to further find the Minister of Public Works Dean Macpherson, pictured alongside Steenhuisen and Steyn at the Agri Limpopo Conference on the 13th of August 2024, in a tweet, where Macpherson refers to Steyn as his former colleague in Parliament and the special advisor to John Steenhuisen as the Minister of Agriculture.

Steyn is the gift that keeps on giving, as it relates to revealing that Steenhuisen lied to Parliament and appointed her as his special advisor long before he applied for a deviation for her appointment to the Minister of Public Service and Administration. 

On the 18th of August 2024, Steyn gave the keynote address at the Grain SA Farmer Development Conference, referred to in that gathering as giving that address as the Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture. The minister himself gave a special video message to the same conference, while Steyn stood smiling from ear to ear at the podium representing government as an advisor.

It is an undeniable fact that Steyn is one of four appointments which were made by Steenhuisen irregularly, and for that, he must be held accountable. 

Of critical concern and contradiction is, if Steenhuisen denies having appointed these individuals, how did they gain access to the records, communication systems, public platforms, and access the premises of the Department of Agriculture? 

Even more concerning is that the duties they are alleged to have been executing require certain levels of security clearance - have these individuals been interacting with such sensitive information without the required clearances, placing our food security as a nation at risk?

The EFF has since referred John Steenhuisen to the Ethics Committee in Parliament to investigate the violation of the Code of Ethics that govern both Members of Parliament and Members of the Executive.

One thing is clear, for the DA cadre deployment is not a challenge, and meritocracy is not the measure of whether one is worthy for appointment or not. 

For the DA, it is membership to the organisation and a certain pigment of the colour of one’s skin that is sufficient as a qualification to represent and work for the people of South Africa at the highest level.