Hon Deputy Speaker, hon members, the budget before us allocates a sizable amount of taxpayers' money for spending on what is not essentially a line function. One is reminded that there were many detractors of the previous executive who said that too much power was being centralised in the Presidency. But now those same detractors are champions of an expanded Presidency, and hence more taxpayers' money is required to fund this expansion.
Allow me to make a rural analogy. The policies and service delivery objectives of government are like a wagon and Cabinet is like a team of oxen that must, together, pull the wagon to its destination. In such an analogy, the President and his Deputy have the duty of being the wagon drivers. The Presidency gives direction and, where necessary, wields the whip.
At the moment, with this expanded Presidency, we have a situation where the wagon driver is bringing in more workers to assist. In itself, this is not a problem. What might be a problem is that they are not oxen. In other words, they are not there to help drag the wagon. Instead, they are there to assist the wagon driver. The obvious danger is that they are simply adding to the load of the wagon. [Interjections.] The even bigger danger is that there might soon be confusion about who is giving the direction and who is wielding the whip. There is huge potential for squabbles and conflict. The wagon could come to a complete standstill. One hopes that this situation has been foreseen and that the President has his hands firmly on the reins of government. The UDM supports the Budget Vote. Ke a leboga. [Thank you.] [Applause.]