Hon Deputy Speaker, hon members, yet again this House finds itself losing one of its members to the ravages and scourge of cancer.
On Tuesday, I moved a motion on World Cancer Day. Many of us know of loved ones who have passed on from cancer, among those our colleagues Ms Botha and Dr Mario Oriani-Ambrosini. There can be no doubt that this dreaded disease will affect us all, personally or through family, friends and colleagues.
Ms Botha sadly passed after having been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma, a form of skin cancer, which had spread to her brain. In this context, I would like to urge the hon Minister of Health to introduce better public education, especially to parents, on the dangers, causes and risks of skin cancers, as most of these can be prevented if diagnosed in their early stages.
Hon Deputy Speaker, we have an opportunity and, I dare say, a duty through the Bills before us, such as the Medical Innovation Bill, to take the fight to this dreaded disease and we sincerely hope that innovative draft legislation such as the Medical Innovation Bill finds its way into law in South Africa soon.
Ms Botha was an active parliamentarian and she added value to the institution and the country, particularly in the areas of social development, in which she served as chairperson of the portfolio committee, as well as being a member of the Portfolio Committee on Science and Technology.
I met Ms Botha in 1995 when she served as Senator Botha in the first Senate of the Republic of South Africa - Senator James Selfe will know that. I choose to remember the good that Ms Botha did, which was plenty. In the words of Shakespeare's Antony: "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones." I don't agree with that, hon Speaker, because the good should also live on after us.
In a similar context, I recall a senior hon member on the right side of the House, who is not here today, referring to the private matters of a member on the left side of the House. In my view this was unfair and uncalled for. I remind this House of John 8 and I quote:
And they brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery ... [saying] "In the law Moses commanded us that such should be stoned." ... They continued asking Him. He stood up and said unto them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.
On behalf of our leader, hon Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, and all of our Members of Parliament and members of provincial legislatures, I extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Senator Yolanda Botha. May her soul rest in peace. I thank you.