Hon Deputy Speaker, hon Deputy President and hon Speaker of Parliament, if during the debate on the Budget Vote of Parliament the Chief Whip of the Majority Party does not participate in the debate at all, and if the Chief Whip of the Opposition says what he had to say today about Parliament, then, clearly, there is something seriously wrong in Parliament.
Let's say for argument's sake that 50% of the things said by the Chief Whip of the Opposition are not correct, then something is still seriously wrong. We cannot ignore this and Parliament will have to address this very, very urgently. Parliament does not belong to the ruling party or the majority. Parliament also does not belong to the opposition. Parliament belongs to all the people of South Africa and all the voices of the people of South Africa should be heard in Parliament. [Applause.]
Both the hon Speaker and the Acting Deputy Chief Whip of the Majority Party referred to the different court cases that Parliament and the Speaker were involved in during the last couple of months, or year. I can assure you that no Member of Parliament or opposition party, for some reason or other, thinks that it is a good idea just to go to court. We don't do that. That is the last resort, when Parliament or the majority in Parliament frustrates what needs to be done.
Can you imagine, it is almost 20 years after 1994, and we could not convince the majority to debate a motion of no confidence in this House. It is unthinkable. We had to go to court to try to get some form of relief so that such a basic thing could be done.
The hon Deputy Chief Whip of the Majority Party asks: "Where does all this leave this institution of Parliament?" That is a very good question. We should go out there and ask the public what they think of this institution. It is not what we think. What do they think of this institution?
Parliament is only a building. It is given life by the Constitution and the Rules, but it is the members and political parties that really matter and give life to this institution. I am sorry to say that I don't think we are fulfilling our constitutional imperatives and objectives as we should.
The Constitution clearly states in section 42(1) that Parliament represents the people. That is correct. It ensures government by the people under the Constitution, and in doing so to choose a President. That is correct. That is what we did. However, one of the important things is to provide a national forum for public consideration of issues. We are failing in that. Yes, we had one or two debates. I said it last year and it still remains. On the programme of Parliament you will find what happens each and every day in order for it to be recognised internationally. You will find the day for this and the day for that, but we are not debating those things that matter to the people out there.
It is an uphill battle all the time for opposition parties to try to get those things on the agenda, and then we find it strange that Parliament seems not to be all that relevant to the public out there.
Parliament should always understand the importance and the role it should play, and we are not doing so.
Ek wil spesifiek na een punt verwys, en ek weet my tyd is verstreke. Ek wil nie veralgemeen wat die SA Polisiediens nie. Die Parlement is sekerlik veronderstel ... (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[I want to refer to one point specifically, and I know my time has expired. I do not want to generalise with regard to the SA Police Service. Parliament is surely supposed ...]
... to be a national key point. But go through some of the control and check points where the SAPS are in charge. Quite often those persons will not even look up when somebody goes through, because they are busy on their cellphones or they are reading newspapers. With all due respect, there is a new head of security who was appointed recently. Clearly, with the control room, no communication should be by cellphone. There is no reason why members protecting this institution should be on their cellphones, not even looking up when members of the public or other people go through. It doesn't make sense. It cannot be accepted and we cannot support that. Thank you. [Applause.]