ANC cadre deployment: Redefining cluelessness

James Lorimer, Shadow Deputy Minister of Co - operative Governance and Traditional Affairs
23 March 2011

The ANC’s MEC for local government in the Eastern Cape has justified the deployment of a cadre with a consistent record of failure to a new position. MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane has responded to a DA enquiry about the matter with an answer that redefines the concept of cluelessness.

Siphiwo Sohena is an ANC cadre who has been appointed to a succession of important jobs despite highly questionable results. He first rose to prominence as the head of Human Resources in the Nelson Mandela Metro in 2004. He was suspended after a scandal involving his purchase of golf shirts at R560 apiece. He left with a golden handshake.

He was then appointed as municipal manager of the Sundays River Valley Municipality, at that time one of the best run in the Eastern Cape. Within two years the municipality was bankrupt and he was sacked, facing 11 charges of gross misconduct and mismanagement. After party political infighting the ANC reinstated him. Unhappy residents took this decision to court and the court confirmed the sacking, awarding costs against Sohena. Read more ...