Hon Chairperson and hon colleagues, on behalf of the IFP, I pay tribute to a remarkable man who served our nation with distinction. Having listened to the words spoken at last week's memorial service, there is no doubt that the late Secretary to Parliament played a significant role in establishing and strengthening democracy.
During the memorial service, I had the privilege of expressing the IFP's admiration for Mr Coetzee. I noted that his passing was somehow unexpected, for even though he had been waging a long fight against cancer, he would always be available, always be in the office and always be hard at work. So, we often forgot that his health was not what it should be.
Cancer didn't slow him down, but neither did it make him self-focused or less patient with those around him. We in the IFP experienced his cordial efficiency time and again. And we admired the way he performed his duties with such dignity and fairness.
Having already expressed our admiration and our deepest condolences, I would like to honour Mr Michael Coetzee today by challenging us to fight for individuals like him, those who are fighting for their lives against a formidable, but beatable disease.
Millions of South Africans are living with cancer, and many are dying, not because of cancer, but because of its treatment. This is close to my heart for I lost both my parents to cancer, while my wife and mother-in-law are in remission. I know that many in this House can relate to this, for you would have friends or relatives that have also gone through this dreaded disease.
Cancer is set to claim more lives than HIV and Aids. It is fast becoming the pandemic of this generation, yet the medical profession has found no cure and is treating cancer with a standard protocol that has proven ineffective, generally debilitating and often fatal. Our laws will not allow them to look elsewhere, or try something new, even in the face of promising results. Thus the IFP, through the hon Dr Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, is challenging this House to change the legislation. We are challenging government to adopt and consider the Medical Innovation Bill and pilot it to implementation.
The Bill enables doctors to offer alternative treatments to people like Mr Coetzee, who could not be cured by conventional treatment, but may have been helped to live longer and more comfortably if the law had allowed it. This Bill is not just about decriminalising and liberalising cannabis for medical and industrial use; it's also about allowing the Minister of Health to authorise, establish and resource pilot, innovative cancer treatment centres where doctors are allowed to administer innovative, unproven but harmless cancer treatments wherever other treatments cannot provide a cure, and on the basis of the patient's informed consent.
This is about making South Africa a global leader in cancer research and treatment, and it's about supporting the National Health Insurance initiative. One was heartened to hear the deputy secretary-general of the ANC, Ms Jessie Duarte, saying at the memorial service last week that our government should indeed invest more in cancer research.
As legislators, let us commit to fighting cancer and to enabling those who can to find a cure. Let us do this in honour of Mr Michael Coetzee and millions of others. Let us not allow his passing, and that of many others, to have been in vain. It is said, when one closes one's eyes, it should open the eyes of others. Let us commit to being those eyes. Thank you. [Applause.]