The ANC in the North West maintains that it has no provincial or regional deployment committee, but instead there is a structure called the provincial accountability forum, and the forum keeps no minutes of its meetings.
This was the party’s written response to former Rustenburg councillor Ratanang Nke.
The response came after Nke challenged the party with evidence that it had indeed held meetings under the banner of a deployment committee.
Nke has challenged in court the appointment of Ashmar Khuduge as municipal manager in Rustenburg and demanded confirmation from the ANC as to whether or not the party recommended his appointment through the decision of a deployment committee.
Non-existence of deployment committee
But the ruling party is not budging.
“We herein reiterate our client’s position in relation to the non-existence of a provincial and/or regional deployment committee,” lawyers at De Swardt Myambo Hlahla Attorneys wrote in a letter dated Tuesday.
“Our client only has a provincial accountability forum, which does not record any discussions and/or take any minutes,” said the law firm’s Tshepo Hlahla.
Hlahla restated that the appointment of the municipal manager was a process strictly under the control and direction of the municipal council.
“Kindly consider this letter to be our client’s final correspondence with your client on the matter,” Hlahla said.
“You are requested to serve any contemplated court papers directly to our office.”
Nke tenders resignation
Nke resigned on January 15 as a councillor for the Arona Party, which was previously in coalition with the ANC in the municipality.
His “evidence” shows that the ANC provincial deployment committee discussed the appointment of officials in municipalities, including Khuduge’s, across the province as early as last August.
The document, which did not bear any ANC logo or letterhead, contained minutes of a meeting held on August 2 2023, titled “Deployment Committee Meeting”.
According to the minutes of the meeting, the unnamed chairperson “told the committee members that the provincial office holders decided that the deployment committee had agreed with the municipalities to hire a certain candidate”.
Rejection by the MEC
The MEC for cooperative governance, traditional affairs, and human settlements rejected this, and they agreed to send all proposals to that department to determine each applicant’s status before sending them to the municipalities.
Among the municipalities discussed were Ratlou in Setlagole, Tswaing in Delareyville, Kagisano-Molopo in Ganyesa, Kgetleng in Koster, Madibeng in Brits, Taung in Taung, and Maquassi Hills in Wolmaransstad.
Nke’s other supporting document is a PDF letter saved as “15 January 2023 deployment committee invite”, inviting representatives from seven municipalities, including Rustenburg, to attend, along with regional secretaries or interim regional coordinators from Mahikeng’s Ngaka Modiri Molema and Rustenburg’s Bojanala districts.
