Mr Speaker, I rise in support of the motion proposed by the Chief Whip of the ANC.
There are not many members of the first democratically elected Parliament - perhaps we can call it the class of 1994 - left in this House. For those of us who were here in 1994, remember the excitement and the sense of anticipation that surrounded the formation of that new Parliament.
One of the new boys in that Parliament was a Free Stater with a very strong Afrikaans accent sitting in the ANC benches. In many ways he seemed to be out of place, at first. His background seemed to suggest that he should have been anywhere but as a member of the liberation struggle. As the Sunday Times dated 7 June 2009 reported, his father was rumoured to be a member of the Broederbond and after matriculating he received a bursary from the Department of Defence to study Chemical Engineering.
Dirk du Toit was a very proud Afrikaner and was, in fact, a very staunch opponent of apartheid. He had been a member of the Progressive Federal Party - a party which I was also a proud member of - and from there he moved easily into the ANC, where he had an illustrious career.
As the Chief Whip of the ANC has pointed out, Prof du Toit clearly was an excellent academic. He did not complete his degree in Chemical Engineering but gave up his studies to study law. He was - as we know - an advocate of the Supreme Court but, more importantly, after completing a Doctorate in Law in the Netherlands, he returned to the University of the Free State in 1975 and became the Head of Department of Philosophy and Law, in fact, a professor of law, at that university.
It was from this position that he became a Member of Parliament in 1994 and one can recall the gravelly voice of Dirk du Toit making his point as a new member of this Parliament. His commitment to his ideals and to his party was never in doubt and he spoke with passion about matters close to his heart. It was well known that his particular area of concern was about the rights of farmworkers who were very much at the mercy of the farmers during the years of apartheid. What was interesting about Dirk is that he was never a farmer himself and had no background in farming. Certainly, this raised the ire of some in this country when he was appointed as a Deputy Minister of Agriculture in 1999. But Dirk did not allow that to stop him from doing his job and he ensured that his position gave him a platform to do what he could to end the exploitation of farmworkers and to stop the unfair evictions. He was also heavily committed to the Land Reform Programme and to the development of emerging farmers.
I must say, Mr Speaker, that as a party we did not necessarily agree with everything he said or did. We sometimes believed that the way in which he approached things was incorrect, but we never ever doubted his deep commitment to his job as the Deputy Minister and his party, the ANC.
We have all observed that Dirk looked frail in his last years at Parliament and it was not a surprise to us that he decided to retire in 2009. Nevertheless, we were saddened to hear of his sudden passing away at the beginning of the month. His memory is etched into the Constitution of this country because of the prominent role he played in the writing of it. Those of us who remember him, will certainly remember that new boy of 1994 and never forget him.
To conclude, we do offer our sincere condolences to his wife, his family, and his party, the ANC, which certainly has lost a deeply committed member. Thank you very much. [Applause.]