By Paul Hoffman 

The part that Paul Mashatile played in the appointment of John Lamola as the new SAA CEO is a direct conflict between the interests of the ANC in cadre deployment and his overall official duties as deputy president.

The canary in the coal mine for this tale of woe is Rise Mzansi, one of the smaller but more effective parties represented in Parliament. Here is how the alarm was raised in its media statement on 25 February 2025:

“RISE Mzansi has requested that the Portfolio Committee on Transport deal with a scathing and concerning News24 report, which places serious allegations of impropriety, interference and ethical non-alignment at the doorstep of Deputy President Paul Mashatile; the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy; and the ANC regarding the shortlisting of the South African Airways (SAA) chief executive officer (CEO). The Committee will be conducting oversight at Airways Park, the SAA head office, on Wednesday.

“The News24 report alleges that Mashatile and Creecy ‘interviewed’ two candidates – Messers Allan Kilavuka and John Lamola – at the Deputy President’s Pretoria official residence – Oliver Tambo House. It is noted that Kilavuka received the second highest score during an official interview process, while Lamola received the worst, and other candidates were not invited to the Deputy President’s official residence for an unofficial interview.

“What is alarming is that despite a formal interview process, the Tambo House interview appears to be a parallel process driven by the ANC, particularly the deployment committee, which played a central role in State Capture. The multibillion-rand State Capture Inquiry deemed the practice of cadre deployment unconstitutional and illegal. RISE Mzansi will push for answers on this matter, and we call for the SAA Board, Deputy President Mashatile and Minister Creecy to provide full and satisfactory responses to the dark cloud which once again hangs over SAA.

“Should we not be satisfied with the responses, we will explore further parliamentary and legislative mechanisms to extract the truth and protect one of the country’s most expensive state assets from undue political interference. RISE Mzansi will agitate for the Government of National Unity (GNU) to establish a competitive, transparent, and accountable selection and appointment process for key leadership positions, ensuring that the “fit and proper” requirement is upheld. For example, the heads of the SA Police Service, National Prosecuting Authority, SA Revenue Service and selected directors-general and provincial equivalents must all be appointed on merit through a public final interview process.”

The cost of the Zondo commission was around R1.3-billion, all public money, which was well spent if regard is had to the many billions recovered and still recoverable from the looters involved in State Capture.

It is true that the commission regarded the ANC’s practice of cadre deployment as unconstitutional and illegal and recommended that it be ended. The ANC resists this recommendation in the face of high court findings of illegality and unconstitutionality.

The final word will be spoken on this front by the Constitutional Court where the issue is the subject matter of pending appeal proceedings which have arguably been pending for too long, given the public interest in the outcome.

The next step in the saga is well summarised by News24 on 28 February, 2025:

“What appears to be a major cover-up of the ANC’s political interference in the appointment of a chief executive officer (CEO) for SA Airways (SAA) has begun, drawing on the alleged role of President Cyril Ramaphosa to quell the controversy.

“In a statement on Thursday, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy claimed on Ramaphosa’s advice, she and Deputy President Paul Mashatile interviewed two candidates in January, months after the board had already conducted rigorous interviews and made its recommendations.”

News24’s Kyle Cowan editorialises on the statement in the following points that accompany the report in three telling bullet points:

• Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has pointed to the citizenship of other candidates as one of the main reasons they chose to appoint John Lamola, whose score was surpassed by two other candidates in interviews for the position of SAA CEO;
• However, this is contradicted by the fact that foreign nationals, who all brought considerably more experience to the table, were never excluded from the interviewing or headhunting process; and
• Instead, it appears a cover-up is under way to hide the reality of ANC interference in the process that has resulted in the most experienced candidates being excluded from consideration for one of the toughest jobs in global aviation.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile is the Chair of the Luthuli House-based Cadre Deployment Committee of the ANC, the main task of which is to ensure that loyal cadres of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR), or at least those sympathetic to the NDR, get their hands on the levers of power in SA.

Foreigners who are not aligned to the goals of the NDR stand little or no chance of meeting the secretive criteria of the committee. The law requires good human-resource management practices. Cadre deployment is not a “good human-resource management practice” but the ANC remains committed to it and to the NDR, despite the formation of the GNU on the basis of shared commitment to the values of the Constitution and the rule of law.

This deployment committee exists to advance the interests of the ANC, not the country. As deputy president, Mashatile is bound to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law and to act in accordance with his oath of office, the relevant part of which requires that he will “always promote all that will advance the Republic, and oppose all that may harm it”.

Rejecting the candidates favoured by the board of directors of SAA in favour of a lesser candidate on the basis of implementing the goals of the NDR is what got SA into the State Capture pickle – which is still an ongoing blight on the body politic of the country.

Previous leadership of SAA has been foreign – who can forget the tumultuous time Coleman Andrews, an American, spent at the helm of SAA at the turn of the century. He was paid out as much as R200-million tax free during his two-and-a-half year tenure, according to press reports at the time.

As a member of the national Cabinet, Mashatile is bound by the provisions of Section 96 of the Constitution. He may not:

“2(b) act in any way that is inconsistent with [his] office or expose [himself] to any situation involving the risk of a conflict between [his] official responsibilities and private interests or (c) use [his] position to benefit any other person.”

The part that Mashatile played in the appointment of John Lamola as the new SAA CEO is one involving more than the impermissible mere “risk of a conflict”. There is an actual conflict between the interests of the ANC in cadre deployment and the overall official duties of the deputy president.

The conflict is one that is intractable, irresolvable and unmanageable. Mashatile cannot wear two hats at the same time. As deputy president he is bound, if he is to be involved at all, to select the best candidate, not Lamola.

As chair of the cadre deployment committee, he is obliged by his party (not his role in government) to appoint Lamola, the candidate with the best cadre deployment credentials, but not the best candidate at all.

Section 195(1) of the Constitution sets out the values and principles that govern the public administration (including governance of state-owned enterprises, of which SAA is one). Cadre deployment does not feature on the list in the section.

Mashatile should, as he is so bound by the Constitution, have steered well clear of the SAA CEO appointment process. He did not – on any version of the tale, spun or unspun.

It is reported that the DA has taken the matter up in the form of a complaint to the Public Protector. It is not clear whether the complaint raises the issues discussed above. It should do so.

Rise Mzansi is quite right to insist upon the revision of appointment procedures in SA. The practice of cadre deployment is an abuse of power and a cause of State Capture. It should be ended now. DM