Speaker, if I could begin with the statement made by hon Shinn, I certainly did not give her a response that satisfied her in the question that she sent to me.
I do not believe she is correct in saying that the satellite is a costly waste. We did indicate that this is a demonstrator satellite and that South Africa would not have the entire set of responses it seeks to achieve through the launch and utilisation of a satellite.
We will continue with our satellite programme. We believe we have the skills, the ability, and the technology to develop satellites not just for South Africa, but for the African continent as well. Therefore our plans are under way and they will continue to be executed to serve the innovation, technological and development interests of South Africa.
With respect to the statement and the excitement of the IFP on the book by Anthea Jeffery, I should say that, when I was a lecturer at university, I always taught my students not to use one source. Once you do, of course, you distort the work that you are trying to do. [Interjections.]
Now, we know many persons attempt to be revisionists insofar as history is concerned. Unfortunately, the glorious contribution of the ANC to the struggle for freedom in South Africa and the achievement of democracy we enjoy today cannot be changed by any historian ... [Applause.] ... and any attempt to create the image and pretend that only one organisation was involved in the violence which was visited on not just the people of KwaZulu-Natal, but on the people of Gauteng and other areas, is absolutely dishonest and untrue. Therefore I would say that what must be done is that we should look at a wide range of historical sources and tell the political truth in South Africa.
I also want to say that we wish hon De Lille well. We hope she spends less time on the streets and more delivering to the poor, as she promised in her statement last week. We were a little surprised that she has not joined the benches of the party whose card she so bravely held high at her recent conference. But, we understand hon De Lille's embarrassment in that regard, and we do wish her well.
Speaker, on a point of order: The hon member shows an embarrassing lack of knowledge of the Rules of this House.
Speaker, I think that hon member is the last one to tell me about the Rules of this House, since I was party to its writing. [Interjections.]
Order, hon members! Order!
Furthermore, the hon Chief Whip - I understand he is the Chief Whip of the largest opposition party - certainly does know that the hon member of his party joined his party a few weeks ago. Therefore I don't know why he has to deny this.
Speaker, the member should know that the Rules of this House do not permit that party to join this party in this House at this point in time. [Interjections.]
It is possible that the hon Chief Whip of the largest opposition party does not understand the distinction between member and party. I referred to a member joining the party to which he belongs. [Applause.] [Laughter.] But we understand his difficulty.
I do not recall from the committee meeting that discussed the arms deal that there was any reference to a politician by the persons that were making statements in that committee meeting. There is, of course, always an attempt to try to hang this on the ANC. Perhaps the hon member who made the statement on behalf of Cope - since she was a member of the party at the time - may know more than some of us, but there is no member of the ANC that is a beneficiary of this particular deal. Therefore we do not understand why there is a continual attempt to keep this going.
We also negotiated in absolute good faith during the negotiations on salaries. We made the best offer that government is able to make in terms of the resources available to it and we hope that once the 21 days' suspension is over, we will have signature to what we think is a very good offer for public servants and workers in the Public Service domain. If the hon member of Cope disagrees that this is a good offer, perhaps he's in the wrong place and should be assisting the workers and government to secure something even better. Thank you.
Speaker, I wonder if I could appeal to you, Sir, to try and make sure that more Cabinet Ministers attend the meetings so that we don't have to have this diatribe from the hon Pandor every time on behalf of a wide range of Ministers. Really, that was atrocious! [Laughter.]
Hon member, that is not a point of order.