Hon Speaker, hon Deputy Speaker, hon Chief Justice, His Excellency, our President, hon members, I consider it a privilege to congratulate His Excellency, our elected President of the Republic. On behalf of the IFP, I wish you strength, I wish you wisdom and I wish you support.
As the oldest member of this august House, it is my prerogative to speak about the past. I have served my country for more than 60 years and have witnessed the leadership of J G Strijdom, H F Verwoerd, B J Vorster, Marais Viljoen, P W Botha and President F
W. De Klerk. And I had the privilege of serving this country under our former Presidents, Mr Mandela and Mr Mbeki. I have entered this House alongside these great sons of the soil.
In all these years, I have seen our country at crossroads more than once and I have come to recognise the leadership it takes to navigate South Africa safely to the right path. Undoubted we stand now at the crossroads again, desperate to move away from the shadows of corruption but towards the light of growth, investment, unity and justice. It will take a unique leader to navigate this cause. Such leader deserves support from within their own ranks as well as from us in the opposition benches.
We are not here to overlook mistakes or to turn a blind eye to wrongs, but we are here to secure the best interest of our country. If you are serving the best interest of our country, Your Excellency, I can assure you of our support and, if you do the right thing for South Africa we will always do. This is the kind of constructive opposition we have tried to give to this House. History has chosen President Ramaphosa for the present
task, may he be the leader that our country needs at this crucial time. I thank you, Madam Speaker. [Applause.]
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