The DA claims that because the ANC did not include President Cyril Ramaphosa’s e-mail and WhatsApp conversations in the ANC cadre deployment records that it filed on Monday, it will file a contempt of court application against the ANC.
DA leader John Steenhuisen stated during a press conference on Friday that the ANC had not provided any copies that would have been pertinent to Ramaphosa’s tenure as the ANC cadre deployment committee chairman from 2013 to 2018.
Ramaphosa served as the ANC deputy president from 2012 to 2017. He was also the country’s deputy president from 2014 to 2018.
According to Steenhuisen, the DA sent the ANC a letter of demand on Thursday, requesting that the party turn in all copies of Ramaphosa’s e-mails and WhatsApp messages from his time as the head of the cadre deployment committee by the end of this Saturday.
Order will gun for Mbalula
In the event that it does not, the DA will file a request for a contempt of court order against the ANC, which would result in the imprisonment of ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula.
“We will launch a contempt of court application against the ANC to obtain copies of e-mails and WhatsApps that are relevant to the period when President Cyril Ramaphosa served as chairman of the ANC cadre deployment committee between 2013 and 2018, which we now know from past experience and from the Zondo commission that was the heart of the state capture process,” said Steenhuisen.
“The ANC failed to include President Cyril Ramaphosa’s own e-mails and WhatsApps in the material that it handed over to the DA.
“Despite the fact that Ramaphosa was the chairman of this committee during this period and was one of the recipients of these e-mails and WhatsApp messages in question.
“He ultimately bears the responsibility for the operations of the committee and failed to dispose of an affidavit confirming he has no documents or information for this period, instead of choosing the dog-eat-my-homework approach.”
Steenhuisen explained further: “The DA issued a letter of demand to the ANC yesterday [Thursday] for it to fully comply with the ConCourt order with a deadline of tomorrow [Saturday].
“If it does not adhere to the demand, we are going to be seeking a contempt of court ruling that includes prison time aimed specifically at secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, who acted on behalf of the ANC in this matter.
“We will use the precedent created by the case of Jacob Zuma when he was sent to prison for being in contempt of court.”
Application for leave to appeal
ANC officials “involved in the destruction of information as part of the blatant cover-up campaign to try to wipe off Cyril Ramaphosa’s fingerprints from the cadre deployment records” will also face criminal charges, according to Steenhuisen.
Meanwhile, Steenhuisen said the DA will be filing an application for leave to appeal the Pretoria High Court’s ruling that dismissed its application to have the ANC policy of cadre deployment declared unconstitutional.
The DA’s application was dismissed with costs on Wednesday.
The ANC handed over its cadre deployment records to the DA on Monday in line with a Constitutional Court order.
The governing party had earlier lost its bid to appeal an earlier ruling mandating the release of the documents.
