National Assembly: 2nd July 2009

Mr Speaker

The IFP joins all other speakers and parties in saying thank you very much to all who have worked well during the past year to make a success of our Institution.

Parliament has undergone some important changes in the past few months. Not only do we have a new State President, but we also see many other new faces on the highest level.

In fact, we have a new Speaker, new Deputy Speaker and a new ANC Chief Whip. We look forward to working with them in the interest of those who have voted us here.

I remember the days when Mr Speaker was still Chief Whip of the ANC.  We worked together harmoniously. I am sure that spirit will continue.

What I specifically remember of Mr Speaker when still ANC Chief Whip, is his willingness to listen. And his open doors. And, very important, he never made a distinction between members - whether they were from his party, the ANC, or from any other party.

That, of course, is the main characteristic of a good speaker. And, of course, also the Deputy Speaker and Chief Whip.  We also thank the Whips of all other parties for very cordial relationships. Thank you very much.

To Mr Mansura and his staff: Kamal, you are a real friend. Thank you all very much for assisting us at any time.

It would be amiss if I do not mention the former Speaker, Gwen Mahlangu. Although she once chased me and my cake out of Parliament, I never stopped liking her. I trust that she is very happy in her new and important position.

Mr Speaker

HOW DID WE DO?

We now come to the point of weighing Parliament's performance during the past year. How did we do?

Speaking about the functioning of Parliament, we did well. We had our challenges, which were many; we had numerous meetings and we assisted one another. I think we  coped. So, as a machine, we operated well.

There are, however, some points I wish to raise under the heading MORAL LEADERSHIP.

Parliament, as an Institution, should set the example to all in our land when it comes to Moral Leadership. And, unfortunately, our image does not always reflect that.

We are still saddled with severe criticism about the so-called Travel Gate Scandal. And it will not go away. Eighteen of our Members have been convicted by the High Court on very serious criminal charges such as fraud and their careers seriously damaged.

But another twelve MP's, who have committed largely the same offences, have not been prosecuted. The reasons advanced by the National Prosecuting Authorities for not prosecuting them, never convinced me.  Parliament itself instituted disciplinary steps against the 12, but those cases are still pending and have never been finalised.

The stain remains on Parliament's image. And it will not go away.

What is to be done, is the appointment of a Judge of the High Court to investigate the whole Travel Gate matter and give us a report. That is the only way we can demonstrate moral leadership.

In addition to Travel gate, KPMG has found that we were fleeced of millions of rand by certain companies.

It is painful.

It wont go away.

We need to clean up our image.

Mr Speaker,
 

I do not want to paint only a negative picture.

Our Parliament has weathered many storms. And there will be many more.  And we will overcome them as well.

I remain proud to be a member of this Parliament. I have been here for 32 years and I still enjoy every day. We as members are being cared for better that MPs in many other countries of the world.

My attitude as a Whip, which I have been for longer than 20 years, has always been to help to fix things.

So, my message is:

-     We are aware of our shortcomings.

-     We will fix them.

Contact:
Koos van der Merwe
082 444 4944