The Democratic Alliance's (DA's) policy for public service and administration is a reaction to the damage done by the African National Congress's (ANC's) cadre deployment policy and intends to depoliticise the public service.

The party has been staunchly opposed to cadre deployment, asking the High Court to declare it unlawful and unconstitutional.

While arguments were heard in January in this case, the judgment is still awaited.

However, in its public administration policy adopted by its federal council in October, the DA lays down the gauntlet to the ANC, stating in a paragraph under the heading "The Problem": "The politicisation and de-professionalisation of the South African state was a deliberate strategy carried out by the ANC through cadre deployment.

"Depoliticising and professionalising the public sector to improve service delivery and root out maladministration and corruption requires an equally deliberate strategy.

"This includes abolishing the mechanism used to politicise the state, namely cadre deployment, and institutionalising a new system of merit-based appointments."

In what DA members would call creating "clear blue water" between itself and the ANC, the document further states: "While the ANC demands a state where merit and skills are subservient to political loyalty [and racial demographics], the DA embraces meritocracy and skills-based appointments.

"Where the ANC has turned the state into an extension of the party, the DA stands for a politically neutral state that loyally implements the government's policies of the day.

"Where the ANC has made it near-impossible for skilled employees to thrive and advance in the public sector, the DA is committed to building a public administration that fosters and rewards an esprit de corps based on excellence."

The DA's policy includes the following measures:

Outlaw cadre deployment: The party intends to enact legislation that would make it a criminal offence for anyone to interfere in public recruitment processes.

"This reform focuses on the person or political organisation attempting to practise cadre deployment by designating the act of influencing appointment decisions for political reasons as an offence.

"As with all forms of corruption, cadre deployment involves at least two parties. This reform focuses on the party soliciting deployment by attempting to influence appointment decisions," reads the policy.

Remove powers of appointment from politicians: The DA intends to amend "all laws and regulations governing appointment processes in all three spheres of government and other organs of state, aiming to remove powers of appointment from politicians".

In terms of the legislation, the DA intends to replace the Public Service Act.

The most senior positions in any given government department or institution, such as directors generals (DGs) and heads of department (HODs) will be selected by panels mainly composed of experts recommended by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

For these appointments, the relevant executive authority, such as the president, premier, minister or MEC, would be entitled to be a member of the selection panel, but the majority of panel members will be independent experts drawn from the PSC's pool.

Politicians will be completely removed from the appointments below senior level.

Selection panels will be composed exclusively of members selected from the pool of experts designated by the PSC.

"All officials below the top position in a department or institution will be appointed by the relevant DG or HOD - not by the politician leading that portfolio. [The only exception to this rule will be the limited number of appointments on the grounds of policy considerations in terms of Section 195[4] of the Constitution. These persons will be appointed by the relevant executive authority, such as the minister or MEC]," reads the policy.

Regular lifestyle audits for both politicians and senior officials: "Wherever we take power, the DA undertakes to retain skilled incumbent officials who excel at their jobs and live up to this constitutional injunction.

"We will, however, hold accountable corrupt and incompetent officials and those who violate the constitutional requirement to execute the lawful policies of incoming DA-led governments," reads the policy.

Reviewing and replacing codes of good practice, including the code for dismissal: According to the DA, these codes have "degenerated into contradictions and unenforceability under the ANC".

"The DA will remedy this situation by ensuring that all codes of good practice are restructured to ensure they are clear, sustainable and enforceable.

"We will provide training to human resource managers throughout the public administration and hold them accountable for enforcing codes of good practice and consequence management without fear or favour," reads the policy.

Standardised pre-entry examinations and headhunting: To ensure that only fit and proper persons are appointed to the public administration, the DA intends to introduce standardised pre-entry examinations "that will filter out manifestly unsuitable candidates long before they appear before a selection panel".

"This reform will introduce an additional layer of objectivity to the process up front while also ensuring that all applicants for positions in the public sector comply with minimum competencies.

"Civil service entry exams have a long and successful history in many countries, dating back to ancient China and are currently implemented in countries as varied as India, the United Kingdom, parts of the United States and Brazil," reads the policy.

The DA also intends to introduce new regulations enabling appointing authorities to headhunt exceptionally skilled candidates.

"To prevent corruption, this process will only commence after a selection panel has failed to identify a suitable candidate from the pool of applicants and will include strict compliance monitoring by the PSC," reads the policy.

Succession planning: The DA intends to integrate succession planning into the key performance metrics for senior public servants.

"We cannot afford the loss of capacity and institutional knowledge that results when skilled officials retire without having a cohort of younger employees ready to take their place.

"Ensuring senior officials are measured on their investment in preparing such a cohort for promotion into higher ranks will be another critical component of the future-oriented culture of excellence we aim to build," reads the policy.

Embracing technology: "As part of reforming the public sector's culture towards innovation and excellence, we will redefine the relationship between officials and modern technology.

"Ensuring that all parts of the public sector throughout the country are connected to high-speed internet and embracing the development of technologies like artificial intelligence [AI] holds great potential for South Africa to leapfrog into solutions for service delivery challenges.

"The DA will embrace digital and other technological solutions to accelerate service delivery," reads the policy.

Abolishing the Department of Public Service and Administration: Once its intended reform process is complete, the DA proposes to transfer oversight and regulatory functions to a "reformed, politically independent and autonomous" PSC, followed by abolishing the Department of Public Service and Administration.

In a scathing section in his final state capture report, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said cadre deployment is unconstitutional and unlawful and, by President Cyril Ramaphosa's own admission, could be abused to facilitate corruption and state capture.

He dismissed Ramaphosa and ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe's justification of the policy when they testified before the commission.

Examining the legal framework, he noted the Constitution demanded a non-partisan public service.

Zondo said if a party could decide appointments, it could abuse this power "to achieve ends which are not in the best interests of the country".

"The evidence has demonstrated that state capture has been facilitated by the appointment of pliant individuals to powerful positions in state entities.

"The essential danger remains that appointment processes which are conducted behind closed doors and outside the constitutionally and legally stipulated processes are open to abuse."

However, the governing ANC's response to the Zondo Commission and the DA's attempts to outlaw its policy and obtain its cadre deployment records while Ramaphosa was the deployment committee's chairperson, has been contradictory.

Mantashe, who is also implicated in the report for benefitting from Bosasa's largesse, came out guns blazing against the Zondo Commission’s observations.

In an affidavit filed to oppose the DA's application to have cadre deployment outlawed, Ramaphosa, in his capacity as president of the country rather than ANC leader, contradicted Zondo’s assessment that cadre deployment is unlawful and unconstitutional and denied the ANC had deployed a coterie of individuals implicated in state capture.

However, in his implementation plan for the Zondo Commission, Ramaphosa stated: "A key mechanism of state capture was the strategic positioning of individuals in positions of power through the abuse of public sector appointment and dismissal processes. This was in contravention of the Constitution and applicable legislation."

His Cabinet also adopted a policy framework that ditches the cadre deployment policy.

A day after ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula denied in court papers the party’s deployment committee "deploy or impose candidates on state institutions" he told reporters the ANC does as parties the world over: "deploy strategically people who execute" the party's manifesto.