‘Laptop crashed’: Why ANC can’t locate cadre deployment records during Ramaphosa’s time as chair

The ANC has blamed its inability to make full disclosure of its cadre deployment committee records on a computer that mysteriously crashed. 

The ANC contends that the same employee whose computer crashed, also mistakenly deleted some of the deployment committee’s official records when he sought to free up more space on his e-mail account.

This is contained in an affidavit by the ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula in which he details steps the party took to locate the missing records the Constitutional Court ordered be sent to DA MP Leon Schreiber.

During 2023, my personal e-mail. which I used for the deployment committee, was full. In an attempt to free up space, I sorted sent e-mails by size and deleted majority of the big files. A number of e-mails which relate to the deployment committee were included

—  Thapelo Masilela, ANC strategic support manager: deputy secretary-general’s office

The affidavit forms part of the cadre deployment records that the ConCourt ordered the ANC to submit Schreiber.

Schreiber first lodged a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request in 2021 at the height of the exposure of state capture under Jacob Zuma’s presidency.

The deleted files and e-mails go back to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s time as chairperson of the ANC’s cadre deployment committee, which are the records that are being sought by the DA. They cover the period when Ramaphosa was elected as the party’s deputy president in December 2012, until he was first elected president in December 2017.

Mbalula claims that the deployment committee during Ramaphosa’s tenure as chairperson did not keep any minutes of its meetings and therefore such cannot be provided.

He explains in his affidavit that though decisions would have been taken by the deployment committee under Ramaphosa, those cannot be retrieved as there are no minutes to accompany and confirm discussions decisions.

“It is possible that the committee took decisions during that period, however, in the absence of minutes, any attempt at compiling a list of decisions would be an inaccurate reflection of the committee’s decisions during that period,” said Mbalula in his affidavit signed on Monday.

The ANC, Mbalula contended, took drastic steps to try to locate the missing records, including going through the late deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte’s files. Duarte served as the deployment committee’s coordinator.

Some of the files, he revealed, were kept on ANC staff member Thapelo Masilela’s computer, which has since crashed. Masilela served as a strategic support manager in Duarte’s office.

Some files were mistakenly deleted by Masilela last year when he sought to free up more space on his e-mail.

“Mr Thapelo Masilela (strategic support manager: deputy secretary-general’s office) confirmed that some information in respect to the committee had unfortunately been lost when his laptop crashed,” said Mbalula.

“During 2023, his personal e-mail account, which he used for the work of the committee, was full. In an attempt to free up space, he sorted e-mails by size and deleted the majority of the larger files. A number of e-mails which related to the committee were included.”

Masilela confirms this in his confirmatory affidavit.

Though the DA’s Schreiber first lodged the PAIA request in 2021, Masilela says his laptop crashed in June last year and that he mistakenly deleted the records in the course of 2023.

“On or about June 2023 my laptop, which contained information in relation to the deployment committee, crashed and a lot of data which was stored on that hard drive had been lost,” said Masilela.

“Despite numerous efforts to retrieve the data from this laptop’s hard drive, I was unable to retrieve everything as at February 18 2024, and therefore do not have in my possession any other information for the period in question other than what appears in the affidavit to which this affidavit is annexed.

“During 2023, my personal e-mail. which I used for the deployment committee, was full. In an attempt to free up space, I sorted sent e-mails by size and deleted majority of the big files. A number of e-mails which relate to the deployment committee were included.”