Deputy Speaker, I don't have much to say to the Acting Deputy Chief Whip of the Majority Party, other than to say that one wonders what chaos there would have been had it not been for the Opposition. [Interjections.]
At the outset, allow me to join the Speaker and the many millions of people all over the world in wishing our beloved Madiba well.
Siyakukhumbula emithandazo yethu, Tata. [We will lift you up in our prayers, Tata.]
Also, Deputy Speaker, on an occasion like this, it is only natural to give recognition. In this regard, I wish to pay tribute to the Speaker for his stewardship of this institution. As I did a few weeks ago, I want to thank him for at last, rare as these occasions were, acknowledging the true role of Parliament as the nodal point where issues facing South Africa should be debated.
However, Deputy Speaker, you must ask yourself whether we have gone far enough to ensure that Parliament regains its rightful place as the centre of debate in this country. Parliament's budget is R2 billion, but who would have thought that it would take that much money for Parliament to do so little? The House does not debate legislation all the time. This House does not debate issues of public importance. The House does not summon anyone to appear before it. [Interjections.] The House does not debate committee oversight reports. The House rarely debates draft resolutions. The House most definitely does not debate motions of no confidence.
Adjunkspeaker, miskien is ek nou 'n bietjie onregverdig teenoor hierdie Huis. [Tussenwerpsels.] Verlede jaar het ons 30 uur gewy aan debatte met betrekking tot feesvieringe, herdenkings, gelukwensinge, en allerlei seremonies. Gelukkig het ons ook die ontvangs van die langverwagte Nasionale Ontwikkelingsplan gedebatteer, anders sou die President seker nooit 'n afskrif ontvang het nie. Op 'n ernstige noot: Ons het bitter min tyd gewy aan die debatteer van sake waarvoor die kiesers ons hierheen gestuur het. Verlede jaar is sommige wetsontwerpe goedgekeur sonder enige debat hoegenaamd, terwyl sake van daadwerklike openbare belang selde of ooit hier bespreek is.
Die DA het byvoorbeeld agt versoeke ter tafel gel vir debatte van openbare belang oor aangeleenthede wat wissel van die handboek krisis tot die Nkandla-debakel, maar vir welke tegniese redes die Speaker dit ook al geweier het, moet u weet dat di weiering die mense van ons land ontneem het van daardie besprekings. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Deputy Speaker, perhaps I am being a bit unfair towards this House. [Interjections.] Last year we devoted 30 hours to debates with regard to celebrations, commemorations, felicitations and all kinds of ceremonies. Fortunately, we also debated the receipt of the long-awaited National Development Plan, otherwise the President would probably have never received a copy. On a serious note: We have spent very little time on debating the issues for which the voters have sent us here. Last year some Bills were approved without any debate whatsoever, while issues of actual public interest were hardly ever, if ever, addressed here.
For instance, the DA tabled eight requests for debates of public interest about matters ranging from the textbook crisis to the Nkandla debacle, but for whatever technical reasons the Speaker did not accede to it, you must realise that not allowing those debates deprived the people of this country of those discussions.]
Thankfully, after our efforts, the Guptagate debate took place a few weeks ago, and it proved to be a vital contribution that Parliament could make to the national discourse. For once, members were not sitting here reading the news on their iPads, bored to sleep by the vacuous rhetoric that prevails during most sessions. By simply debating things that matter to the public, by simply doing their job, members were once again making Parliament relevant. This should be the norm, not the exception.