Premier defends cadre deployment
2012-07-31 22:19
Bloemfontein - There is nothing wrong with ANC cadre deployment as such, the party's Free State chairperson Ace Magashule said on Tuesday.
"There is nothing wrong with cadre deployment as long as you look at skills," said Magashule, who is also the provincial premier.
Speaking on the state of municipalities, the Free State leader agreed he had received criticism for putting African National Congress officials into jobs, but said the focus was on skills.
"Municipalities need skills," Magashule said during a dialogue televised by the SABC and The New Age newspaper.
He said Free State municipalities had gone to great lengths in starting to appoint skilled workers.
They were recruited from places such as the auditor general’s offices and the private sector.
Magashule said despite this, many rural municipalities were not viable.
"You can put me there, put a minister there, a director general in Gariep. There is no tax base, no revenue. What can they do?"
Apart from one municipal entity, the Free State received no clean audit for the financial year ended 30 June 2011, Auditor General Terence Nombembe announced recently.
Nombembe said the Free State was a concern because suitably qualified chief financial officers had been appointed at 80%of the municipalities.
Magashule said that the province had learned from the past and now aimed to employ the "best of the best".
- SAPA
