House Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the House -
1) notes the appointment of Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe as the new chancellor of Limpopo's University of Venda, Univen, at an official ceremony on Tuesday, 9 March 2010;
2) further notes the significance that goes with this important position and that the university will benefit from having a person of the stature of Deputy President Motlanthe as chancellor;
3) recalls that Deputy President Motlanthe is not new to education: He was involved in establishing the J B Marks Education Trust, which provides bursaries to mineworkers and their dependants, and the Trade Union School, as well as the Elijah Barayi Memorial Training Centre;
4) recognises the work done by the former chancellor, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, who has successfully completed two terms;
5) congratulates the Deputy President on his new appointment as chancellor; and
6) that the ANC recognises the importance of educating the people: Together we can instil a culture of learning!
Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr Chairman, on a point of order: I am not sure why, in a motion without notice, any reference to a political party has to be made. The Deputy Chief Whip said that the ANC recognises the importance of education. I believe, sir, that on this occasion, the whole House recognises it. That is the wording that should be followed. [Applause.]
I thought that motions are usually given to parties and that you have concurred, so I will not know whether you have concurred or not.
Mr Chairman, may I simply and very sincerely say that if the Deputy Chief Whip of the ANC removes the words "the ANC recognises", we will have no problem with that motion at all.
Chairperson, if it has to be turned into a motion, then let that be, but you cannot remove the words, "the ANC recognises".
So the ANC feels that they will not move? Can I thus repeat the question? If there are no objections, I put the motion.
Mr Chairman, one does not want to object to a thing like this, but I think that the ANC knows as well as we do that when you propose a motion without notice - and I do apologise for the fact that we did not draw this to their attention beforehand - it must not be party-political. We do not stand up on behalf of the DA and propose motions without notice. I am simply asking the Deputy Chief Whip to remove that one last clause, which is slightly irrelevant under the circumstances, because the whole House agrees with him, not just the ANC.
Hon members, I think the point of order is correct: A motion without notice should be non-political. However, I am not sure whether this motion was circulated and concurred with by all parties. If parties did not raise any objections at the time when the motion was being circulated, then, obviously, it becomes a problem when you come into the House and raise concerns here. However, if you did concur with the words of the ANC at the time ... Can we just get that clarity from the Deputy Chief Whip?
Chairperson, may I please address you?
Could the Deputy Chief Whip just respond to that first?
Chairperson, the motion was circulated to all parties and we did not receive any objection.
Chairperson, may I please address you on this matter? I also circulated a motion but, because of its sensitive nature, I actually went across the floor to consult with the ANC Whips. I would have expected them to do the same.
We certainly did not receive this motion, and we would have objected to it. We cannot support it as it is. We are, after all, talking about the Deputy President of the country. That is an office that is nonpartisan. The Deputy President is not only an ANC office bearer.
Chair, unfortunately the IFP did not receive this motion. However, we would support it if the clause read "this House" instead of "the ANC". Thank you.
Chairperson, the ACDP will also support the clause if it read "the House". Thank you.
Mr Chairman, I am really very sorry about this. I really had no intention of causing this kind of controversy here this afternoon. [Interjections.] I want to say that we did receive the motion. I am not suggesting for a minute we did not. I did err in the fact that we did not consult with the ANC beforehand. I am simply making a very relevant point that, when we have motions of this nature, we do not refer to parties in them. We will support the motion if the wording is changed.
Hon member, that point was raised earlier, in terms of the point of order. Hon Deputy Chief Whip, if there is no consensus, you know the rule is that the motion be reverted. If you remove the words "the ANC", everyone seems to be concurring ...
Chairperson, we would love this House to accept and support the Deputy President. It is very important that the Deputy President be supported. So we will move that the words "the ANC" be removed.
So the motion should read, "the House"?
It should read "the House". [Applause.]
So, there are no objections to the motion provided that the words "the ANC" be removed from it? The House therefore supports the Deputy President?
Agreed to.