Hon Deputy Speaker, the Speaker earlier referred to some of the challenges that we face in Parliament, and those of us who are privileged to be MPs in this House can only agree with him wholeheartedly. Debate in this House have moved from robust to rough, racist and personal. Invitations to take the debate outside have become the order of the day. Regrettably, some of the presiding officers fail to keep order in the House and as a result the public perception of Parliament is being tarnished.
The Governance Model of Parliament was finalised in November 2004, but has been very slow out of the starting blocks in respect of implementation. Seven years down the line some structures set up by the Governance Model of Parliament have not achieved the goals set for them.
Sectoral parliaments dealing with women, youth, people's Parliament, and more recently, the National Interfaith Council, was a political mechanism set up to give effect to the public participation component of the Governance Model of Parliament.
Hon Kubayi, the DA is not opposed to sectoral parliaments. What we are opposed to is the manner in which these sectoral parliaments are run. The truth is, they usually land up being ANC rallies and the opposition is hardly ever given space on the programme. Reports are not tabled timeously, and those that are conveniently exclude the details about the financials. We know that the Women's Parliament cost R1,7 million last year, the Youth Parliament R2,1 million and the Interfaith Council R2,1 million, but there are no details on how the money was spent.
I have listened carefully to the reports of the two House Chairs for the Quarterly Consultative Forum, QCF, and the Parliamentary Group on International Relations, PGIR. I have a different view. The QCF is a structure set up to handle members' facilities. It has not met as regularly as it should have. In fact, it had only two meetings this year and regrettably this forum does not execute its mandate.
In fact, I don't think that the chairs of the QCF themselves understand their mandate. For example, issues around information technology, IT, bounce back and forth between the Chief Whips' Forum, the IT focus group and the QCF like a battered ping pong ball, to no avail. It is shameful that in this day and age Parliament does not have Wi-Fi hotspots in all of its buildings.
The decision was taken last Friday that we will be getting iPads in July. We will wait and see. Members are waiting for their blazers, too. The gift shop was supposed to be opened in January. Everybody is envious about the Parliament jacket. We are waiting for it. [Interjections.] So am I.
The PGIR is quite frankly dysfunctional and a disaster. The Speaker acknowledged the dysfunctionality. Four consecutive meetings were cancelled this year due to apologies and last week we had to wait for 45 minutes before we could get a quorum. Senior MPs sit on this committee and blame must be laid squarely on the MPs in this committee for its dysfunctionality.
That being said, the terms of reference of the PGIR are not clear, as its role and the relationship between International Relations and the select committee and the PGIR are not set out. The PGIR seems to be functioning on an ad hoc basis and appears to be in a state of paralysis.
One of the approved prioritised projects of Vote No 2 is the NA Chamber systems and technology upgrade. Recently, the Chief Whip of the ANC blamed the faulty voting system for his infamous no-vote on the Secrecy Bill. I hope that the hon Motshekga's voting system has been fixed so that he does not have finger trouble on the 18th of June.
Hon Kubayi was being disingenious about the motion of no-confidence in President Zuma. The truth is that the ANC blocked the motion and we had no option but to seek recourse in court. Hon Ambrosini's persistence in respect of the Private Members' Bill has paid off. We owe him a great debt, because the ruling opens up the blocking stance of the ANC. [Applause.]
Hon Tshwete, the DA does not rent a crowd, never has and never will. Our activists wear their blue t-shirts with pride. I can see that our blue blitz is giving the ANC the blues. The ANC must catch a wake-up call. Watch out for us on every corner, taxi rank and church. The DA delivers and does not lie, and the ANC should stop calling back the past. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
Hon Bhoola, you are a one-man comedy show desperately ... [Interjections.] [Applause.] ... knocking on the ANC's door for a job, because the MF has shown you the door.
On a more serious note, as we are here today, we are reminded of, and we should actually honour, South Africa's icon and bring back the decorum in this House. Let's have honest and intelligent debate here. Our thoughts and prayers are with Nelson Mandela and his family. I thank you. [Applause.]