Hon Chairperson, hon premiers present here today, hon members, on behalf of the DA may I, first of all, welcome the special premier of the new government of the Western Cape - she is here, where we are seated - the hon Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille. [Applause.] I also rise to congratulate you, Chairperson, on your re-election to this important office.
Sihlalo, siyakuhalalisela ngokukhethwa kwakho. Sithembe ukuthi umthandazo wethu uzohamba phambili, umsebenzi uqhubeke ukuze bonke abantu baseNingizimu Afrika babone ukuthi thina lapha eMkhandlwini KaZwelonke Wezifundazwe sisebenzela bona asisebenzeli izikhwama zethu. [Uhleko.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Chairperson, we congratulate you on your election. We hope that our work will take priority; our work must go on so that the people of South Africa can see that here in the National Council of Provinces we are working for them and not for our own pockets. [Laughter.]]
Voorsitter, ons is almal pas deur 'n baie felle stryd in hierdie verkiesing. Dit het weer na vore gekom dat, ongeag die uitslag, die groot uitdagings van die land van die verlede ons nog steeds in die gesig staar. Ons het nog steeds werkloosheid, armoede, korrupsie, nepotisme, misdaad, Vigs, en nou's daar nog ook varkgriep wat ons dringend sal moet aanspreek. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Chairperson, we have all just been through a very fierce contest in this election. It has once again come to the fore, irrespective of the results, that we are still faced with the country's biggest challenges of the past. We still have unemployment, poverty, corruption, nepotism, crime, Aids, and now swine flu too that we will have to urgently address.]
Whilst it is true that we, as delegates, represent the provinces, it must never be forgotten that we are part of these delegations precisely as a result of the votes out there for our different parties. That must never be forgotten.
Three million voters have entrusted their hopes and their aspirations to the DA. My team and I - and I welcome them here as part of the team of this House but especially as part of the DA's team - will ensure that the trust of the voters out there will never be betrayed.
In my province, Mpumalanga, when the new premier, Mr D D Mabuza, was declared elected yesterday, one of the visitors in the audience shouted "At last!" In his congratulatory speech, the leader of the DA in Mpumalanga, Anthony Benade, said that he hoped that the remarks from those supporters of Mr Mabuza did not mean, "At last we also have a seat on the gravy train; at last, we also have a part of the spoils". [Interjections.]
Our task - and we must all understand it very well - is to ensure, through proper and diligent oversight, despite the shouts from my friend, Papi, down here, that the spoils never ever go to anybody individually, that nobody shares in the profits of this country, except that we all work diligently to better the lives of the people out there, especially those who are suffering. Only they should benefit from whatever we do as an elected House, as a Parliament. In all our endeavours, we should also ensure that true democracy is always practised in an open-opportunity society.
We will work together with you and support you and the other parties for as long as you, the governing party, remain true to those tenets. But we will vigorously oppose you and anything that is contrary to that. Let us all help to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones.
Sebetsa ka kgotso, Modulasetulo, Modimo a be le wena. [Mahofi.] [Work well, Mr Chairperson. May God be with you. [Applause.]]