Mashatile: Cadre deployment is merit-based and not a jobs-for-pals scheme

CAPE TOWN - Deputy President Paul Mashatile has denied claims that the African National Congress (ANC) sends unqualified people to head up municipalities, which leads to their collapse.

Mashatile said the skills problem was at ward level, where communities decided themselves on who their ward councillor candidates should be.

He said that cadre deployment was not a jobs-for-pals scheme and was merit-based.

Mashatile was answering questions in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Thursday on what the government was doing to address the widespread collapse of service delivery at local government.

"Honourable Frederik Badenhorst is saying that maybe we do deploy people without skills. I want to assure you that from my party, we don’t do that. I know that when people hear the word cadre development, they thinks it's jobs-for-pals. That’s not the case."