Hayi, bendisalinde ukuba bakubulise mama, nawe uhlale phantsi kakuhle. [Kwahlekwa.] [No, I was waiting for them to greet you, Madam, and please take your seat nicely. [Laughter.]]
Hon members, I just wanted to make one remark. I would like to plead with the provincial Whips that when special delegates come to the House, and I am insisting on this, they should be given an opportunity to say something about their provinces.
We must not lose sight of the fact that we are here to represent our provinces. Therefore, we would like to hear what the provinces are saying about some of the issues taking place there. I was very disappointed that an MEC from the Free State was not on the speakers' list. There is another MEC from the Northern Cape over there, who is also not on the speakers' list. I don't know why.
I would like to ask the provincial Whips to notify the Chief Whip of the NCOP when our special delegates are coming, so that they can be allotted some time to speak to us. We are dying to listen to them and hear what is happening in their provinces. They cannot just talk to the Minister at the Minmec. They should talk to us too. That is very important to us.
Hon premiers, I am sorry that maybe you did not notify them that you were coming. But I am not sure. They were supposed to know that you were coming. They were supposed to get it directly from the Constitution House that monitors everybody who comes to the NCOP, so that you can be allocated the space to talk.
I am sorry that you were not on the list. I don't know why it happened in that manner, but I would have loved to listen to both of you. Having said that, I am going to allow the Minister to come and respond to the debate. [Applause.]