Hon Chairperson, it is indeed a great honour for me to say a word on the resignation of hon Meshoe.
During the dawn of our new democracy, when Rev Meshoe was elected, I was one of the first who said, "church must be church and politics must be politics, and pastors must stay at home and preach in church". However, since I have interacted with him, also as his colleague, I started to realise during various oversight visits, not only his value, but also the value that his party added to our new democracy, and the impact that his character has had on his public life.
Hon Meshoe is someone with integrity. It is very hard to separate his character from his actions. This is evident from his practical community work with projects such as feeding schemes, clothing the poor, and a women's centre. He is a true model of Christian faith in action.
We have various election campaign slogans, such as: "Working together, we can do more", "Know your DA", and "Time for Change." However, for Reverend Meshoe and his party, their slogan was "Operation Push Back Your Enemy with Prayer, Halleluiah!"
Hon Meshoe is the only hon member in the history of Parliament who was able to beat the speaker and the time allocation system. I remember the day he stood up here in Parliament, delivering his sermon. He actually went over his speaking time, and no one, not even the Speaker, had the courage to stop him, simply because who would want to stop the Reverend in the middle of a prayer. Tsamaya hantle, Mfundisi. Ke a leboga. [Farewell, Reverend. Thank you.] [Applause.]