Splinter cell: ANC secretary general Ace Magashule.
Free State Premier Ace Magashule says the ANC will never abandon its deployment policy, despite widespread criticism that it was contributing to poor service delivery.
“We are not ashamed of cadre deployment. We will continue to implement it without fail. Everywhere in the world, cadre deployment is practiced. When the [Democratic Alliance] took over the Western Cape, they removed ANC people from key positions,” said Magashule during a press briefing after his state of the province address in Bloemfontein on Tuesday.
The Human Sciences Research Council said previously that the ANC’s policy on cadre deployment was adversely affecting public services.
“One conclusion that seems to be common is that the ANC’s deployment strategy systematically places loyalty ahead of merit, and even of competence, and is therefore a serious obstacle to efficient public service,” HSRC researcher Modimowabarwa Kanyane was quoted as saying.
Skills shortage
Magashule acknowledged skills shortages in the public service contributed to poor service delivery. He said it was important for the ANC to deploy its best cadres in key positions in government.
Magashule said his provincial administration was working hard to address skills shortages in the province.
The provincial government, said Magashule, has sent hundreds of students to study medicine and engineering in Cuba. He said the province was expecting 40 engineers from Cuba that would be deployed in different municipalities.
The provincial government was also expecting to place 40 medical doctors, 10 paediatricians, five dentists, 10 gynaecologists and 100 nurses from Cuba in hospitals such as Albert Nzula and Senorita Nhlabathi, and in small towns in the Phumelela, Ngwathe and Maluti-a-Phofung municipality municipalities.