ANC puts people in power to steal taxpayer money

The African National Congress (ANC) has mismanaged state entities and put people in government to facilitate the looting of funds. 

This is done rather than filling positions with competent people who deliver services effectively and efficiently for South African citizens. 

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) CEO Wayne Duvenage describes this as the extractive mindset of many individuals in government. 

Duvenage told State of the Nation that this model is impossible to change, as it has become baked into many politicians from the ANC. 

As the party cycles through leaders and officials, the next in line believe that it is their chance to grow rich through the state. 

This has been exaggerated by the implementation of the ANC’s transformation agenda, where Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) has been abused by well-connected individuals. 

These individuals use BEE as a guise to secure contracts and funding from the state, leveraging the legislation to ensure they benefit. 

As a result, the state’s transformation agenda has not benefited a broad cross-section of South African society, but has lined the pockets of a few individuals. 

Duvenage explained that this has resulted in billions of rands of taxpayer money flowing into the hands of the well-connected political elite. 

This does not grow the economy, empower individuals, or improve service delivery for millions of South Africans dependent on the state. 

“Most institutions are badly run on purpose because it is being plundered. Where there is easy money to be made, the criminal syndicates have infiltrated,” Duvenage said. 

“They have infiltrated literally every entity in this country where they can. They will extract until they can no longer. You have this extractive mindset in government.” 

Duvenage explained that this mindset has resulted in politicians and officials not knowing how to address problems, spend prudently, and ensure citizens benefit from service delivery. 

“People have been put into positions of power for a purpose. They are there to extract funds. They are there to enrich cadres, cronies, and connected individuals very rich,” Duvenage said. 

“Interest in fixing our government, in fixing our state institutions, in fixing our municipalities, is not a genuine one despite what many politicians say.” 

Cadre deployment bleeding taxpayers dry

The biggest part of the ANC’s extractive machine is cadre deployment, where the party places its officials in positions of power to further its agenda. 

This has resulted in incompetent individuals being overpromoted within the government and appointed to positions of significant responsibility without being qualified to do the job. 

This is incredibly destructive as it leads to the mismanagement of state institutions, public companies, and entire government departments. 

As a result, billions of rands of taxpayer money have been lost and thrown down the drain through mismanagement. This is apart from the severe economic consequences. 

“We can talk as much as we like about the accountability that is required throughout the government. But it will make no difference,” Duvenage said.

“Until you put people who are competent into positions of power in the state, none of that will work. The cadre deployment system the ANC has is not about competency.”

Duvenage said the problem is worse than mismanagement, with the cadres deployed into state positions also extracting money through corrupt practices. 

While many of the individuals put into positions of power in the state by the ANC are incompetent, some of them are also corrupt. 

“The ANC’s cadre deployment system is about putting people in positions from a patronage point of view,” Duvenage said. 

“This makes it extremely difficult for anybody in that system to hold anybody else to account because you have a cadre deployment team at the ANC who will not allow you to do that.” 

Duvenage said this team will not allow ANC members to hold each other accountable in government because they are only accountable to the party. 

These individuals are not accountable to the government, to a director-general, or even to a minister. They only have to answer to the ANC. 

“When you are in a position to employ people, you are put under pressure to appoint people connected to you and to the party,” Duvenage said. 

“You have in many municipalities and departments, people who should not be there because they are not qualified, but they serve the patronage network.”