Speaker, I move:
That the House -
1) notes the sad passing of a gallant freedom fighter, a pathfinder of note and community builder, Mama Mittah Seperepere or Goeieman, as she was affectionately known, on 30 October 2010;
2) further notes that Mama Mittah was born on 28 December 1929 in Riverton and lived most of her adult life in exile;
3) remembers her participation in sowing the seeds of the struggle for women's emancipation inspired by the Programme of Action of 1949 of the African National Congress Youth League and that her involvement earned her the wrath of the Special Branch, culminating in her imprisonment in 1965;
4) further remembers that in 1989 Mama Mittah was appointed ANC Chief Representative to Madagascar, La Runion, Seychelles, Mauritius and the Comores;
5) recalls that in 1990, she returned to South Africa and served as a Member of the National Assembly from 1994 to 1999; and
6) conveys its heartfelt condolences to the Seperepere family, friends and comrades in the ANC and its alliance partners.
Agreed to.
The condolences of the House will be conveyed accordingly.
Mr Speaker, I'm sorry to raise this point, sir. We have certainly acknowledged the resolution and I realise that we probably should have made an issue of this beforehand if we had any problems with it, but I'm not at all sure, sir, why a notice of this particular type appears on the Order Paper and why it wasn't simply a motion without notice read by the ANC.
There might be some other details that I'm not aware of, but at the same time, I believe that this might lead to a kind of precedent being followed in Parliament in the future that could have unfortunate consequences.
Speaker, with due respect, we think that that objection should have come much earlier. Thank you very much.
Mr Speaker, I wish to emphasise, sir, that I'm not objecting to the motion, but I'm just saying to the ANC Whippery that I would sincerely hope that we are more cautious in the future about the kind of motions that we put on the Order Paper.
We ...
Hon member, I really don't want to open a debate on this matter.
With your permission, Speaker, we take the point. Thank you.