Hon Deputy Speaker, hon members, Ministers and Deputy Ministers here present, this is a message from the UDM.
It is indeed an honour for us as a party to be accorded this opportunity to pay tribute to a stalwart as great and grand as Michael, the former Secretary to Parliament. When death strikes, families freeze. This Parliament was no different from his personal family, because we are part of that family of his.
We highly appreciate the opportunity, particularly regarding the fact that we are here talking about a man of such stature by his deeds. Shakespeare writes thus about such circumstances in life:
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ...
Another South African leader, who may not be popular nowadays, said, "there are consequences which are too ghastly to contemplate".
Parliament took the tide, which was in the form of Michael, and that is why we are here today. Wise parliamentarians of the early 2000s identified that tide in Mr Coetzee, and they took it at its flood. As South Africans, we are benefiting from his great mind. So is the world. Michael was that axis. He was that backbone. He was indeed that light. During his time, I am told, trains ran on time.
In his epitaph, if we were to be given the opportunity, as parliamentarians, we would steal a line or two from Thomas Gray, and scribble:
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathom'd caves of ocean bear ...
That is what should go in his epitaph.
The period from 2002 to 2012 was particularly painful, whilst, at the same time, being a period of growth on the part of this Parliament that we are. It was painful in the sense that that was when he started to become ill, and slowly his membranes could not take it any more.
This brings us to the vital point that a normal human being is composed of four elements. Three of those are the body, the brain and the spirit. While his body succumbed, albeit slowly, his brain kept on generating great ideas, and now, his spirit will linger on for years to come.
What a unique birth when he was born! What a priceless contribution during his life! What a life he led. What a Parliament he helped to develop. Alas, what a loss to the nation!
To the family, we say, as Robert H Schuller did: "Tough times never last. Tough people do. Be tough."
Thank you. [Applause.]