Hon Chairperson, the AIC will approach this debate first and foremost by highlighting a few issues of prime importance in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996. Chapter 3 of the Constitution has been hailed as the so-called new philosophy of the South African constitutional law system. This philosophy requires co- operation between the spheres of government and a commitment to resolving disputes among the spheres amicably, rather than opposing one another as adversaries in the courts.

However, this philosophy is hampered by political rot and political corruption, which promote party-political interests - something that is seriously undermining the rule of law in this country.

For instance, in 2006 the Matatiele Local Municipality and others took the ANC government to the Constitutional Court over the Matatiele demarcation saga. The decision to incorporate Matatiele into the Eastern Cape, against the will of the people, was taken by the ANC National Executive Committee on 8 August 2005. That is what we call political rot, amongst other things.

In October 2009 the ANC manipulated the process of testing the views of the people of Matatiele in regard to which provincial administration - KwaZulu- Natal or the Eastern Cape - they wanted to fall under. This fell under the mandate of the Ministry of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. That is what we call political corruption. In the light of the above, the AIC is raising three issues that must be taken seriously by the National Assembly of the Fifth Parliament.

Firstly, the results of the testing of the views of the people of Matatiele and Moutse must be released as soon as possible.

Secondly, the National Assembly must consider the reduction of nine provinces to four provinces. This will go a long way in saving the taxpayers money, because nothing effective is being done by these provincial legislatures, except to be a source of employment for cadres. If we do away with these provinces, we will save plus-minus R2,6 billion in each financial year and that money should go to local government where people need services.

Section 155 of the Constitution gives metropolitan municipalities exclusive authority ... [Time expired.] I support the Budget Vote.