Allen Lang, Rondebosch
While I agree largely with the comments made by Phil Flockton in his letter (“Shades of the old SA in cadre deployment,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, September 22), there is one big difference between the “cadre deployment” of the Nats and the ANC.
In the case of the Nats, they ensured that the cadres (primarily Broederbond members) that were deployed were very experienced, technically competent in their specific fields of expertise and highly qualified (with genuine degrees).
These people built the South African economy into the powerhouse of the African continent over a period of 15 to 20 years. SOEs thrived under their leadership. One only needs to look at Eskom, South African Railways, SAA, Armscor and Denel, as well as the military in the days before 1994.
These organisations were ranked very highly when compared to similar organisations around the world. Our engineers and doctors and other professionals were sought after by many countries.
The ANC, on the other hand, has managed to all but destroy this over the same length of time. Eskom (as I understand) is delivering less power than was being produced prior to 1994 (that is when they can deliver power); many of our trains can’t run due to infrastructure having been stolen and vandalised (why was the Railway Police discontinued by the ANC?); let’s not even discuss SAA; and Denel is also continuously running to the government for bailouts, as are many other SOEs (e.g. SA Post Office, SABC, etc. etc.). This is due to the cadre employment policy of the ANC where one can be put into the top jobs in the SOEs irrespective of ability, competence, qualification and experience.
Imagine where South Africa could have been today had the ANC learnt about effective cadre deployment from the Nats.