DA parliamentary leader George Michalakis says the action by government officials who attend ANC study groups was a serious violation of the principle of separation of party and state.
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At least four ministers have confirmed that several of their departmental officials have been attending ANC study groups to brief them about topics for portfolio committees meetings and also explain technical issues.
This was revealed in parliamentary responses posed by the DA amid reports that the ANC continued with the practice of inviting top government officials to their study group meetings contrary to the Constitution and the Code of Conduct for the public service.
DA parliamentary leader George Michalakis said the action by the officials is a serious violation of the principle of separation of party and state.
“Although the DA understands that public service officials can, in the course of exercising their duties, from time to time provide technical answers in an impartial way, the current status of the ANC's study groups crosses the line, using it as a tool to drive a political agenda and include such officials in political discussions,” Michalakis said.
He also said the DA will request the Public Service Commission to conduct a full inquiry into the conduct of the officials and the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration for further investigation.
"This is a further symptom of decades of ANC cadre deployment, that has hollowed out the public service. The DA will relentlessly go after officials who are meant to be politically neutral, that have made themselves guilty of such misconduct."
In March, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube flagged the issue in an open letter. In April, Bantu Holomisa, who is UDM leader and Defence Deputy Minister, penned a letter to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza and Public Service Commission chairperson Professor Somadoda Fikeni about “the informal and secretive gatherings”.
The recent parliamentary replies show that four ministers confirmed officials attended the study groups, two claimed to be unaware and three were outright cagey.
Two have since barred officials from attending the study groups, and one even has set up a hotline to report the culprits.
Correctional Services Minister Piet Groenewald said senior officials attended 29 study groups between September 2024 and March 2026.
“Since 24 March 2026, following a letter issued by the Minister of Correctional Services, stating that ‘officials of the Department may not attend any caucus or study group meeting of any political party on any official DCS matters’, no official has attended any study group,” said Groenewald.
Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina confirmed that her ministerial staff and other top officials in the department and entities attended 16 meetings from July 2024 until last month.
Majodina said the ANC study groups invite her and deputy ministers, with officials accompanying them to explain technical issues.
“The study group meetings do not have formal agendas as they are not accountability platforms. The topic was always to discuss the items to be discussed in upcoming portfolio committee meetings or to be briefed on challenges of water and sanitation, which affect various parts of the country,” she said.
Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia said the meetings were to prepare for the oversight hearings of his ministry before the portfolio committee meeting.
He said the meetings were mostly attended by the National Commissioner, Deputy National Commissioners and the ministerial advisors.
“Officials are mostly requested to provide briefings of a technical or policy nature as part of such preparation, however they should not and do not participate in the political discussions that follow such presentations,” Cachalia said, adding that officials were asked to leave the meeting after providing the required briefing.
Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson said he was aware through tip-offs that his department officials were attending study groups of political parties to brief them on department matters outside of portfolio committee meetings.
“This information is then used to advance political agendas and, what is becoming more apparent, to fight back against our efforts to enforce accountability,” said Mapherson.
He had issued a directive to the director-general in December 2024 to ensure that no official may attend any political study group, and that officials did not indulge in briefing or soliciting support from political parties for their agenda.
“I have reissued this directive in a letter to the Director-General on 7 May, 2026,” said Macpherson.
However, the minister said some officials used the study groups as a means to advance their vested interests or to distract from the department's activities in undoing the rot and criminality.
“This is an ongoing matter that is being investigated by the State Security Agency, including the interception of communication and leaking of information,” Macpherson said, adding that there was a dedicated email to report officials illegally attending these study groups or engaging in unlawful practices.
Meanwhile, of the other ministers who responded, only Sport, Arts and Culture minister Gayton Mckenzie as well as Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Willie Aucamp said they were not aware of any officials attending party political study groups in their official capacity.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy, Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni and Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga were cagey in their responses.
They maintained that they did not preside over study groups and referred questions to the chief whips of political parties.