The ANC in North West has rubbished claims that it has a deployment committee that pushed for the appointment of Ashmar Khuduge as Rustenburg municipal manager.
In a letter to former councillor Ratanang Nke, who is challenging Khuduge’s appointment in the Mahikeng High Court, the governing party, through its lawyers, said it does not have a deployment committee.
“It is our instruction that our client does not have an existing North West provincial and/or regional deployment committee.
“Consequently, the appointment of the Rustenburg Local Municipality municipal manager was not considered by any existent North West provincial and/or regional deployment committee,” De Swardt Myambo Hlahla Attorneys wrote to Nke on Monday.
The letter responds to Nke’s letter of demand on March 25, in which he wanted to establish whether the ANC deployment committee endorsed or recommended Khuduge’s appointment.
De Swardt Myambo Hlahla Attorneys said: “It is the municipal council, as opposed to our client, that effects the appointment of the municipal manager. The local government: appointment and conditions of employment of senior managers policy does not provide any scope or powers for a political party to appoint a senior manager.
“The decision of the municipal council is an administrative action. Any challenge to the appointment of the Rustenburg municipal manager should be directed to the municipal council as opposed to our client.”
The law firm warned that the organisation would seek punitive costs if misjoined in any proceeding connected with the appointment of Khuduge.
The letter was also precipitated by the ‘evidence’ Nke submitted to the ANC. Nke resigned on January 15 as a councillor for the Arona party, which was previouslly 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 August last year. 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 meeting minutes, 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.” This was then turned down by the MEC of cooperative governance, traditional affairs and human settlements and they agreed to send all proposals to that department to check on each applicant’s status before they were sent 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.
