Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Des Erasmus
Published on 2024-02-23 11:29:18
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has issued a stern ultimatum to ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula, giving him two days to provide the full, unredacted minutes of the national deployment committee or face contempt of court charges. The DA alleges that Mbalula unlawfully redacted certain portions of the documents and failed to submit records for the period when Cyril Ramaphosa chaired the deployment committee from December 2012 to December 2017.
Legal representatives acting on behalf of DA MP Leon Schreiber served Mbalula with a letter of demand on Thursday night, demanding the unedited documents. Mbalula, in his court affidavit, justified the redactions as necessary to comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) and claimed that the ANC no longer had records predating 2018.
The DA argued that the ANC’s redaction of names of committee members, communication parties, and discussed individuals was unjustified under Popia and insisted that the court order took precedence over any other regulations. They contended that the ANC’s claim of being unable to locate records from 2013 to 2018 was not credible, pointing out that there was correspondence indicating a willingness to disclose the information.
If the ANC truly lacked the physical records, the DA demanded the organization provide any digital traces of committee meetings and decisions. They called into question the credibility of the ANC’s claim that no communications or notes existed from this five-year period, especially given President Ramaphosa’s testimony at the Zondo state capture commission.
Failure to comply with the DA’s demands would result in the party seeking an urgent contempt of court ruling that could potentially lead to prison time for Mbalula. DA leader John Steenhuisen drew parallels to the Jacob Zuma case, where Zuma was imprisoned for contempt of a constitutional court order, and warned that criminal charges could also be pursued against ANC officials involved in destroying information to conceal Ramaphosa’s involvement in cadre deployment decisions.
Overall, the DA’s pursuit of the unredacted deployment committee minutes reflects their commitment to transparency and accountability in governance, holding officials to task for their actions and decisions. The outcome of this dispute will undoubtedly have implications for how political parties handle sensitive information and comply with legal obligations in the future.
Read the original article on Mail & Guardian
