Thank you, House Chair. I never thought the day would come when I stand or sit in this House and hear the ANC and the EFF extol the virtues of National Party policy from the
1960s to 1989. In fact, I barely see anyone from the Economics Cluster here. I mean, they are running for cover. Where are they hiding from this debate today? I don't understand it. However, what I find even more amazing is how the ANC is able to use code words to couch some very, very bad ideas. For example, we were once told that a private swimming pool constructed for the use of the ex-President was a fire pool. Now this cover- up did no damage to the political careers of those involved. In fact, Minister fire pool is now the Minister of Labour. The ANC's capacity for irony knows few limits.
The code word for today is prescribed assets, and as hon Hill- Lewis pointed out, it is not actually this innocuous thing. It is the theft of pension funds; money that people work and save their entire lives for in the hopes that they can sustain themselves and cover their costs in their retirement. Yet you want to raid this money in order to pay for the damage that you've done to the country's finances and to its SOEs. [Applause.]
Now, the ANC speaker said that the ANC is not a reckless government, yet when you look at the debt levels of SOEs and government guarantees of nearly a trillion rand, that is reckless. That was reckless! There is no other way to describe it. Just watch five minutes of the Zondo commission. I challenge any ANC member to spend five minutes watching the Zondo commission ...