It's a matter of historical record. I am very proud of my record. I never, like some of the Ministers here, asked for a tender when I was in government. Go and check; it's a matter of historical record. Shame on you! [Applause.] The Cabinet asked the South African public to move on as if this was now water under the bridge. The President's commitment to rooting out corruption will always ring hollow, unless he deals with these issues.
We are told that all Ministers have now signed performance agreements with the President, but that these will not be made public. Why make the announcement in public if the public has no way of monitoring and evaluating them. [Applause.] If the public does not know what the agreements are, how are they supposed to judge whether or not these Ministers are acting in terms of the agreements they have with the President?
We welcome, though, Mr President, the new-found impetus to fight the scourge of HIV and Aids, including your leadership on being tested. This is an important step as it helps people who are HIV-positive to ensure that they do not infect others or contract a different strain by continuing as if nothing had taken place. There is, however, an even bigger onus on those of us who test negative. They have to take steps to ensure that they remain negative through remaining faithful to their partners and condomising. They, too, have a duty to stop engaging in risky sexual behaviour.
Important as the roll-out of antiretrovirals is, without the procurement of essential drugs at cheaper rates, the programme may soon become unaffordable. So, we agree with the Minister that everything must be done to ensure that drugs are found at cheaper rates.
We also welcome the establishment of the National Planning Commission, which is now in place, more so since it is staffed by men and women who we believe will be able to not only focus on what the ANC manifesto says, but also on what the vision of South Africa should be over the next five, 10 to 15 years. That we welcome, sir, and hope we will be able to work with them.
We also welcome, as you yourself have said, your openness in working with the opposition, more so the engagement that we have had with political leaders, including the point that we must find a way to build national cohesion. One way of building national cohesion is by ensuring that when we celebrate national days, that these are seen truly as national days in the way in which you have been trying to do.
Nation-building remains a challenge, though. All of us need to watch our tongues. We must be mindful of what we say. We must ensure that we do not, in the process, fan racial hatred. This is not a call for papering over the fact that there are still high levels of inequality in income distribution and ownership of the economy, as well as the means of production, but rather a call to raise this issue with the aim of ensuring implementation of corrective policies while building our nation. I was alarmed that the ANC felt that the kind of language Mr Malema used on a British journalist was correct, and that what they felt was the biggest insult was what they thought he had said about the President. I thought that what he said about the President, what he said when he was in Zimbabwe, and what he said about a British journalist were wrong and should have been dealt with and dealt with effectively. Thank you very much. [Applause.]