Study Group Scandal

Statement by George Michalakis MP – DA Parliamentary Leader:

The Democratic Alliance (DA) this week exposed through parliamentary questions that several officials from State Departments have contravened Section 195(1) of the Constitution and the public service code of conduct by attending study groups with African National Congress (ANC) members of Parliament before portfolio committees.

Section 195(1) of the Constitution states that the public services is governed by principles that include a service that is impartial, fair and without bias. The Code of Conduct for the public service requires that all employees shall not abuse their position in the public service to promote or prejudice the interest of any political party or interest group, they must avoid conflicts of interest and refrain from party political activities in the workplace. It is also a serious violation of the principle of separation of party and state.

Although the DA understands that public service officials can, in the course of exercising their duties, from time to time provide technical answers in an impartial way, the current status of the ANC’s study groups crosses the line, using it as a tool to drive a political agenda and include such officials in political discussions.

The Democratic Alliance submitted parliamentary questions that revealed that:

• Within the Department of Water and Sanitation at least 20 senior officials (Director General, Chief Financial Officer, Deputy Directors General and Chief Directors) attended a total of 16 study group meetings with MPs from the ANC since the start of the 7th Parliament in 2024.
• The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, in 2024, after receiving tip-offs about this matter, issued a directive to ensure that no official may attend such study groups. The directive was re-issued in May 2026.

Several ministers, including the Minister of Transport, Minister of Women Youth and Persons with Disabilities and the Minister of Small Business Development, sought in their response to avoid the question completely by falsely claiming that they have no responsibility.

The DA is still awaiting responses from several departments.

We will now, as these responses come in, write to the Public Service Commission to request a full inquiry into the conduct of these officials. We will also write to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Jan de Villiers, for further investigation. We will also submit further questions to the ministers who avoided the question, to obtain the required information.

This is a further symptom of decades of ANC cadre deployment, that has hollowed out the public service. DA will relentlessly go after officials who are meant to be politically neutral, that have made themselves guilty of such misconduct.