Mr Speaker, many years ago, Mark Twain said the following: "Reports of my death are grossly exaggerated." [Laughter.]
I want to say that the reports of my retirement are also "grossly exaggerated". [Laughter.] I find it very difficult to retire. So, what I am going to do - indeed, I wrote to you this morning, Mr Speaker -as I leave the seat here, is that I would like you to reserve a seat for me up there! [Interjections.] [Applause.] Then, I shall be looking down on the House and exercising my right of oversight. [Laughter.] [Applause.] So, be careful, I shall be around!
You see, Mr Speaker, it is rather difficult to get rid of me. I live in Cape Town. I have an office across the road in Plein Street, and I shall be working on the journal, New Agenda, that I have been editing for 10 years. That journal is going to keep me very busy. That is why the word "retirement" does not fit nicely in my mind. As I am here and across the road, I shall be exercising oversight and monitoring this House. So, please pay attention, because I shall be sitting up there across the road keeping an eye on everybody.
I need to say a few words about my experience in this House. I enjoy speaking; I do not enjoy listening. So, I found a trick to use when I speak here at the podium. The trick is this: When you see that the House is not paying attention, all you have to do is to provoke the DA. [Laughter.] And as you provoke them, they rise like fish to the bait. [Interjections.] [Laughter.] They attack you! And as they attack you, the whole House listens! [Laughter.]
I want to confess that I have used that trick many times, especially in the days of the hon Mike Ellis. [Applause.] [Laughter.] Mike was really a fish who rose to the bait. [Laughter.] If I called him a capitalist, he would call me a communist. Then the whole House would be in a furore! [Laughter.] So, I want to thank the DA for this entertainment. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
I want to say a few words about the ethics of the House. This morning the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests met. We passed the new code of ethical conduct. If I look back on my period of 20 years in the House, I think I am going to be very proud of the fact that this committee has set a new standard for behaviour in this House. I want to thank all the members of that committee for their co-operation. [Applause.]
To get cross-party co-operation and participation in this House is not easy. You have got some troublesome people on both sides. We managed to bring them all together. We have passed this code of conduct, and I am very pleased about that. I think it will act as a beacon for future conduct here.
I also want to say a few words about how I see the politics of this place and indeed of the country. Let me confess that when I was a young student and a young militant, I was very radical. What we talked about in the struggle, led by the ANC, to which I committed myself as a student and a young radical, was taking power. The ANC and the liberation movement had the vision that we had to take power. I think we have matured a little bit. What we see now is that we have a multiparty democracy in this House, which is very important and vibrant.
The taking of power is now really in the background, because we are here to share the power of this House and of this country across party lines. I think that is very important. As for myself, let me say that I no longer think in terms of taking power. I think in terms of developing a consensus across the country, a consensus which is a multiparty consensus and which deals with the basic issues facing the country.
I have been working with economic policy for many years. I see that the challenge for us in this House is to focus on economic development, and not only growth. Growth in itself - I see the Minister of Finance is here - is not enough. It has to be not only inclusive, but also developmental. I want to put that as the basic issue which should unite the House, because it is really noncontentious. It means that we should develop the country as a whole.
We have complex challenges for this country which cannot merely be handled in simple financial terms, because the social consequences of all our policies should be before us all the time.
My final message to the House is this: I shall be watching from there, but you have a huge responsibility of developing this country for all our people. You must take account, not only of the mechanics of making money and of running the system, but also of the social consequences of our decisions. We have, all of us, a huge responsibility before history.
Finally, I would like to give advice to all the veterans who have been talking here, and talking about retirement. My advice to you is: You may leave the House, but don't retire. There is a lot to be done! Thank you all. [Applause.]