Hon Chairperson, hon Speaker and colleagues, I want to start by making two observations. When I look at the speakers' list of today, I think we are making history. You can go and check. I say it's the first time in the history of Parliament, even since 1910, that neither the Chief Whip nor the Deputy Chief Whip of the Majority Party is participating in the debate on the Budget Vote of Parliament. I don't know why they are not participating. I don't know what it means, but to me it says something.
The second observation I would like to make is that the Leader of Government Business should attend this debate. If there is one debate that I think the Leader of Government Business should attend - except for the debate on the Presidency - it is the debate on Parliament, because the Leader of Government Business is the link of the executive with Parliament itself.
Hon Speaker and Deputy Chairperson, the legislative authority of the Republic on a national level vests in Parliament. This in itself makes Parliament a rather important institution. However, we run the risk of making Parliament irrelevant in the eyes of the public. Parliament, as far as I am concerned, has become boring, dull and a place of mediocrity. This we cannot blame on the public, or the electorate, or the media. We, the politicians operating within our political parties and within the structures of Parliament, should accept and take full responsibility for this unfortunate state of affairs.
The Constitution in section 42(3) clearly states the task of the National Assembly. The National Assembly is elected to represent the people and to ensure government by the people under the Constitution - by doing what? By choosing the President - we have done that - and by providing a national forum for public consideration of issues. In that, we have completely failed - utterly failed - by passing legislation even when we are out of ideas, since most legislation was passed during the First, Second and Third Parliaments. And the National Assembly is elected to represent the people and to ensure government by the people under the Constitution by scrutinising and overseeing executive action.
The National Assembly is supposed to represent the people. Are we doing this? Why do I think that Parliament is becoming irrelevant in the eyes of the electorate? So many things are happening out there on a daily basis that affect the lives of all our citizens, but Parliament is silent. We have nothing to say. We are failing the Constitution and our citizens in this regard.
The Rules of the House make provision for us to fulfil our constitutional obligation to act as a national representative forum of the people for the consideration of issues. Rule 103 makes provision for debates on matters of public importance. During the term of the current Fourth Parliament, which started in April 2009, we have not had a single debate on a single matter of public importance in more than three years. The last one was during the Third Parliament. Since then, one would think that nothing of public importance happened in the Republic of South Africa. Parliament should have expressed itself, but it didn't.
Rule 104 makes provision for debates on matters of urgent public importance. During the term of the current Fourth Parliament, we also have had in more than three years not a single debate on a matter of urgent public importance. Just think of the e-toll saga, the youth subsidy, the recent painting of the President, all the service delivery demonstrations, farm murders, eight schools burnt down in this month alone in the Eastern Cape, the Bheki Cele and Mdluli sagas, the nondelivery of textbooks, etc. But none of these issues is seen as urgent or of public importance. Parliament, like the government, remains silent.
If it is "International Snail Fossils Day" we will have a debate, but the issues that affect the lives of the people we represent are conveniently ignored. Don't blame the opposition for this. Rule 222 states that the Chief Whip must arrange the business of the National Assembly on the Order Paper. Every day motions are proposed, but none of these things is ever discussed or ever debated. Are we surprised that the public is not taking Parliament seriously when they out there are extensively discussing all the issues intensively on a daily basis, but Parliament has nothing to say? We are discussing all kinds of irrelevant things. It is our own fault. We should change that. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]