Cadre Deployment Over Accountability

Statement by Jan de Villiers MP – DA National Spokesperson:

The Democratic Alliance rejects the ANC’s attack on Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube and its attempt to portray legitimate executive oversight as political interference.

What the ANC calls “overreach” is simply a Minister doing her job: asking difficult questions, acting on serious governance concerns, protecting public money and making sure that learning materials reach classrooms in 2027.

The ANC’s claim that Minister Gwarube has stopped textbook procurement is false.

She has maintained the suspension of procurement from the new Foundation Phase National Catalogue while ensuring that provinces and schools can continue procuring previously approved materials for the 2027 school year. She has repeatedly instructed the Director-General to prioritise the procurement and provisioning of textbooks, workbooks and stationery and to ensure that there are no delays.

The ANC is also wrong to claim that the investigations found “no irregularities”.

The final independent investigation identified material areas of non-compliance, governance weaknesses and potential procurement and financial-management risks.

The fact that specific allegations against certain publishers were not substantiated does not mean that the entire Catalogue process was cleared.

Nor is Minister Gwarube commissioning investigation after investigation until she gets the answer she wants.

The factual investigation is complete. The Minister is now following the recommendation of the final investigation by obtaining specialist legal advice on the implications of its findings and the appropriate way forward.

That is responsible government.

The ANC’s reaction exposes a deeper problem.

For decades, cadre deployment blurred the line between a professional public service and party political interests. Now, when a Minister outside the ANC asks hard questions of senior officials and insists on accountability, the ANC instinctively rushes to defend the administrative establishment.

No public servant is above accountability. No Director-General is beyond scrutiny. And no administrative process should be protected from legitimate executive oversight simply because accountability is politically uncomfortable for the ANC.

The DA supports transformation and broader participation in the publishing sector. But transformation cannot mean ignoring governance failures or proceeding while serious legal concerns remain unresolved.

Transformation and clean governance are not competing objectives. South Africa needs both.

DA Leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has already publicly called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to resolve the governance impasse in the Department of Basic Education.

That request is now before the President, and the DA and South Africans await his response while he considers the matter.

In the meantime, the ANC should stop turning a legitimate governance issue into a partisan defence of the status quo.

Minister Gwarube is doing what South Africans expect of a responsible Minister: protecting learners, protecting public money and demanding accountability.

That is not overreach. That is responsible government.