Roadmap for Effective and Efficient Cadre Deployment in South Africa

Abstract

The concept of Cadre deployment may be seen as the appointment by a government's governing party of a loyalist in an organisation, as a means of circumventing public reporting-lines and bringing that institution under the control of the party, as opposed to the state. The policy involves the creation of a parallel power-structure to a constitution, so that party members answer first to the party and second to the public while the party advances its own interests ahead of those of the public. From an economic perspective, the policy of cadre deployment is a patronage dispensed to individuals, companies and agencies, by the government’s governing policy, not on merit but on the basis that they enjoy some political connection to the governing party. In the South African environment, the African National Congress Cadre Policy and Deployment Strategy has its genesis in an ANC document called The National Democratic Revolution? Is it still on track? The aim of the strategic document was to assist the political party to deal with changing international and national socio politico and economic environments. According to the ANC, brave new times require brave new cadres in government, business, civic society and international arenas, and this topic was discussed during the ANC's policy conference in June 2017. The current paper aims at developing a framework for better implementation of the policy of cadre deployment in South Africa.