Deputy Speaker, on Tuesday the ANC's Chief Whip suggested that the DA was trying to trick MPs into voting against the Protection of Information Bill using, amongst other things, cash parcels. This is nonsense. To suggest that a political party would bribe other Members of Parliament to further its interests is a serious accusation. This accusation is without foundation.
It is helpful that the Chief Whip made that statement because it allows us to deduce several facts about the ANC. It tells us that the ANC is disingenuous, panicked about the Bill, unsure that it can master enough support to ensure its success and that it is hypocritical. Remember that this is the same party that has deployed a former premier, accused of paying off journalists, as an ambassador.
This is a party in serious moral decline, but do not quote me on that. The ANC's own policy discussion document describes a party mired in corruption, which has lost its moral compass, abused its position and forgotten the poor and the marginalised. Who would expect anything else from such a leadership? It is not possible for a party without a moral compass to act in a morally admirable manner.
The DA offers the ANC its sympathies. Unfortunately, we think the diagnosis is terminal. [Applause.]