ANC does not interfere with the appointment of people in government – Mashatile

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has raised a few eyebrows after saying the ANC does not interfere with the appointment of people in government.

The deputy president was responding to oral questions in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Thursday.

ANC MP Shahidabibi Shaikh had asked Mashatile what special measures government was considering to address the escalating debt of municipalities to Eskom and water entities.

Eskom debt

“The sustainable provision of essential services such as water, electricity, sanitation must be the hallmark of developmental local government. In the immediate, we have been helping municipalities pay debts owed to Eskom and water. At the end of December 2022, municipalities owed Eskom R56.3 billion and the debt is rising,” said Mashatile.

To address the issue of municipality debt, Eskom would provide incentivised relief to municipalities whose debt is unaffordable.

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Eskom will provide incentivised relief to municipalities whose debt is unaffordable, however, the relief will come with conditions that will ensure there is no repeat of debt build-up over time.

Some of the conditions will include the installation of prepaid meters to correct non-payment and operational practices in the affected municipalities, said Mashatile.

Water debt

The government was also working with municipalities and water boards to address water debt.

Municipalities and water boards are responsible for 65% of the debt, he said.

“As of December 2022, water boards were owed R65.1 by municipalities. This includes R10.9 billion that is overdue by more than three months. The escalating debt in the water sector is attributed to the absence of economic regulatory regime for infrastructure investment and a culture of non-payment of services, water losses and unauthorised connections.”

Mashatile on cadre deployment

Mashatile’s answers, however, did not satisfy DA’s Cathlene Labuschagne, who said the poor financial management in municipalities was a result of the ANC’s cadre deployment policy.

Labuschagne said while the government’s initiatives to address debt were important, those hired to manage municipalities’ financial affairs were equally as important, a comment Mashatile agreed with.

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Mashatile said while Labuschagne was right about employing qualified people to run municipalities, she misunderstood the ANC’s cadre deployment policy.

“We, as the governing party, don’t interfere with the appointment of people in government, at all,” said Mashatile, to a few raised eyebrows.

“The honourable member does not understand the issue of cadre deployment. It has nothing to do with just appointing people in government. When people are appointed in government, they go through the necessary processes of application and interview.

ALSO READ: Eskom to provide relief to municipalities whose debt is ‘unaffordable’ – with conditions

“It’s not so much leadership that distress municipalities. Most of the mayors who were appointed to municipalities were interviewed. We do take the issue of municipalities very seriously. In most of our municipalities, we do have the right people leading. You will see a lot of improvement going forward.”

The ruling party has repeatedly defended its cadre deployment policy, despite the State Capture Commission report finding it unconstitutional and illegal.

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The DA has also approached the courts declare the ANC’s cadre deployment policy unconstitutional and illegal.

It believes the ANC’s policy is inconsistent with the country’s constitution and the Public Service Act and has enabled state capture and corruption.