Mr Speaker, on Thursday last week, hon President Jacob Zuma had an opportunity to come before this House and give Parliament and the people of South Africa an honest assessment of the most pressing issues facing our nation.
Instead of assuring us, he revealed his true political colours. In his response to my question on whether the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, AMCU, as a trade union, should have been given an opportunity to participate in wage negotiations at the Lonmin mine, President Zuma said, and I quote:
We have more rights here because we are in a majority and you have fewer rights because you are in a minority and that is how democracy works.
Mr Speaker, the Presidency spokesperson has since argued that the hon President's comments were misconstrued. There is nothing to be misconstrued. His comments were clear for everyone to hear. I have written to President Zuma asking him to unconditionally retract these problematic comments about our democracy. They are unacceptable. The ANC should distance itself from such comments and publicly endorse a retraction by President Zuma. [Interjections.]