Madam Speaker, today reminds me of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 when American president Roosevelt described the Japanese attack as a "Day of Infamy". I predict that the same will be said about the murder of the Scorpions.
What is to happen today? The majority party merely wants this House to rubber-stamp their Polokwane decision today. They want us to ignore the merits and outstanding successes of the Scorpions. They want us to help them cover up the truth - the real truth about the Scorpions - namely that the Scorpions must die because they had to charge high profile ANC persons such as the police commissioner and Mr Jacob Zuma.
It was crystal clear right from the start that despite the ANC's poor window-dressing explanations to the contrary and despite the many meetings of the portfolio committee and the millions of words spoken there and ... [Interjections.] Yes, I didn't attend most of them because I attended the reference group of the President. Another IFP member was there, and you were not there all the time. So, shut up. [Laughter.] So, despite the many public hearings and all these, it was abundantly clear from the start that the ANC charade was hidden under all this window-dressing, namely the ANC's real intention simply to enforce their rubber stamp on the killing of the Scorpions.
It is also clear after Polokwane, which now really governs South Africa - the SACP- that the silent Polokwane communist coup is taking South Africa into a new and ominous direction in doing the following: killing the Scorpions to prevent prosecutions; bringing back the Land Expropriation Bill and moving towards a disastrous Zimbabwe situation in respect of land; and creating a small super-Cabinet so that only a handful of people effectively govern South Africa in the name of democracy. No wonder the ANC has split and hundreds of thousands of their former supporters are streaming to the new party. I can see how stressed they are because they are losing.
In a nutshell, one characteristic of the Scorpions that made them this very highly successful organised crime fighter was their independence and the fact that they were located outside of the police. They could investigate and prosecute without fear of favour and without political or other interference. In fact, the Scorpions did not hesitate to charge the police commissioner and Mr Jacob Zuma. But that precious independence is now, of course, down the drain.
The IFP has a number of strong objections to the legislation before this House, and I will only refer to a few. Firstly, the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill kills the Scorpions and, secondly, the South African Police Service Amendment Bill creates the DPCI as just another police division taking instructions from the commissioner. In other words, the new unit will not be independent and could be subjected to interference from higher levels. The Bill does not guarantee that all Scorpions investigators will be selected for the new unit. Already, a number of highly skilled ones have resigned. There is no guarantee that the DSO will finalise the so-called "sensitive investigation" that it is currently conducting or which may be pending.
In conclusion, the decision to kill the Scorpions is a reckless political expediency to protect ANC leaders and members from criminal investigation and possible prosecution. The decision is the result of a communist take- over in Polokwane. The communist take-over is switching on many red lights for the future of this country, especially for democracy. In the circumstances, the IFP will not be a party to such gross abuse of power.
History will one day say that today was a day to be remembered as a day that will live on in infamy. We will therefore vote against these Bills and support the DA's amendments which are an improvement of the Bills before the House in respect of the independence of the new prosecuting structure. Thank you. [Applause.]