Is ANC dishing out jobs to secure support ahead of the elections?

Limpopo government leaders, MEC for Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure Tonny Ernest Rachoene, Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba and Greater Tzaneen municipality Mayor Odas Ngobeni assess progress in the rehabilitation of damaged roads in the Tzaneen area after floods. Picture: Supplied. The Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure in Limpopo has branded claims that it is giving jobs to pals as pure politicking by opposition parties, three months before the upcoming local government elections.

On Thursday, the EFF and ActionSA issued damning statements, condemning allegations that the ruling party, the ANC, and its deployees in government, Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure MEC Tonny Rachoene, are using state resources to garner support for ANC votes ahead of the upcoming November vote. ActionSA MP Malebo Patricia Kobe accused MEC Rachoene’s recent recruitment drive for job opportunities at the entity of being a “jobs for comrades network”. “ActionSA condemns the latest display of ANC patronage masquerading as public service in the Limpopo Department of Public Works and Infrastructure under MEC Tony Rachuene.

“Images and communications surrounding the issuing of appointment letters to newly appointed employees, alongside an official ANC message congratulating its ‘comrades’ on their appointments, raise deeply troubling questions about whether employment in the public service is being determined by merit or by political allegiance,” said Kobe. Kobe said the state does not belong to the ANC, nor should public employment be treated as a reward for party allegiance or loyalty. “While government has presented the appointment of 140 workers as a step towards building a capable and ethical state, the accompanying political celebration tells an entirely different story and serves to undermine the concept of an ethical state,” she said.

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“It creates the unmistakable impression that these appointments are being treated as patronage for ANC loyalists rather than the outcome of a fair, transparent and merit-based recruitment process. “This kind of political nepotism is a matter that is generally experienced and loathed by South Africans, especially those trapped in the penury imposed by being unemployed.” Kobe added that at a time when millions of South Africans, particularly young graduates, remain unemployed, the public service cannot become a jobs programme for politically connected cadres. “Every public sector appointment tainted by perceptions of political favouritism further erodes public confidence in the state and entrenches the very culture of cadre deployment that has hollowed out government institutions across South Africa.

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