Thank you, hon Maziya. Before I call upon the Minister to reply, there was a point of order raised earlier by the hon Watson on a matter raised by the hon Maziya: referring to the hon Maynier as a security risk. We think that is a very serious allegation, and if you make that allegation against any member you must be prepared to submit a very substantive motion because you may have impugned the integrity of a Member of Parliament who has taken an oath. As such, hon Maziya, we request you to withdraw the allegation.
Chairperson, the hon Maynier must count his words. I withdraw. [Interjections.]
Thank you very much ... [Interjections.]
May I address you on a point of order, sir? The hon member must withdraw unconditionally. [Interjections.] He has prefaced it with a statement, saying he must watch his words. That, in itself, also impugns the integrity of the member. I ask that he withdraw unconditionally.
It should not be difficult for the hon Maziya to withdraw.
Chairperson, I am surprised that the DA is so concerned ... [Interjections.]
HON MEMBERS: Just withdraw!
Hon member, sit down for a little while. Hon Maziya, let us not delay the House.
I am not delaying the House, but I am surprised because the hon De Lille did the same at one point, and they said nothing. [Interjections.]
He must withdraw unconditionally!
Hon Maziya ...
I've withdrawn, Chairperson.
Thank you, hon members. Of course, it would not be advisable for any member to impugn the integrity of any member of the House. I think we should avoid doing that. I think, hon Watson, your team must avoid that. I think it is important that we do that within the decorum of the House. We really should do that. Of course, it is a political debate, but we should also respect Members of Parliament. I think we agree on that. We should proceed then. Hon Minister, you may take the floor. [Applause.]
Thank you very much, Chairperson. I would like to thank Members of Parliament who have contributed to this debate - those that said anything worth listening to. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing Interim National Defence Force Service Commission for the sterling work that they have done since 2009, when they started off as a short-term interim appointment. Their term comes to an end at the end of June. I would particularly like to thank Judge Bosielo for ensuring that we are where we are now. Thank you, Judge Bosielo. [Applause.]
My gratitude goes to the nominations committee, headed by Dr Ralph Mgijima, who spearheaded the nomination of the current Review Commission, which was accepted by Cabinet yesterday. And we will provide those details when Cabinet is ready to release them. I would like to thank Major General Roy Anderson who, together with the Deputy Minister here, headed a task team that reprioritised the department's budget and assisted us to manage our budget in such a way that we saved considerably. [Applause.]
At this point I would like to thank Lieutenant General Carlo Gagiano, who will be retiring as Chief of the Air Force at the end of September 2012. He has served with distinction, an officer and gentleman in every sense of the word, a man of honour who, when things went wrong in the SA Air Force, knew that he would have to pay the ultimate price when he offered to resign last year. I refused to accept his resignation. I need to repeat: he is an officer and a gentleman. Thank you, General. [Applause.] We hope you will accept staying in the defence family.
My sincerest gratitude goes to the Defence Review Commission headed by Mr Roelf Meyer. The Defence Review is before the country now. Exceptional in- depth research has been done, and the rest is up to us South Africans to have the opportunity to shape the future of the Defence Force. We have concluded the Defence Review in so far as putting together the necessary infrastructure and the necessary research.
I hope that in the middle of August - and towards the end of September - those in Parliament who might be responsible for this, might take a retreat so that perhaps we could have a four-day workshop to go through the review one page at a time until we are all in agreement on the contents.
I believe some hon members somewhere have been making some lame threats that they will write their own defence review. Banish any such childish tantrum. The Defence Review is a constitutional responsibility of the Minister of Defence. That perhaps might explain, hon Maziya, why there was such a performance, because the same rumour mill that hon members feed, comes back to us. It has been reported how much in trouble you have been for those childish tantrums. You have no authority as the DA over the Defence Review.
I would like to thank the hon Groenewald ... [Interjections.] I would like to thank the hon Groenewald. I would like to say to the hon Groenewald: I too have been very disappointed by the content of this debate. We invited our honourable guests, veterans, some of whom who have lost husbands ...
I rise on a point of order, Chairperson. Sorry, Minister.
No, I won't.
I rise on a point of order. [Interjections.] Somebody else has shouted "Shut up" from across the floor. [Interjections.] We have had a ruling today, Chairperson, that it is unparliamentary. Thank you. [Interjections.]
[Inaudible.]
Well, Chair, maybe they should stand up and admit it. [Interjections.]
Minister, please proceed. Hon members, you mustn't say "Shut up" to any member. I don't know which member, but the member is raising that. Hon Minister, please continue.
I hope you will be able to recover my time. Thank you. We have invited honourable veterans here. Some of them have lost husbands; some of them have lost children. Mme Ruth has lost two children to the struggle, to this cause. Chris Hani's wife is here ... She lost her husband. [Applause.] We have the wife of Joe Modise here. All of these people have given so much to us, so that we can sit here. [Applause.] And they sit here and what we have given them is shocking. My sincerest apologies; I want you to know that we are terribly sorry about this. We honour you every day; we honour your loved ones who have passed on.
I would like to say to the hon Esau that it is a breath of fresh air that from your party should come somebody who is able to talk sense on these matters. For the past three years, hon Esau, your party has been done a severe disservice, because all that our soldiers in the country have heard from your party is negativity, talking down the Defence Force, calling them useless and using all manner of hate speech. I wonder what the Defence Force thinks of you. [Interjections.]
I know that the one thing they would never contemplate is that you care. On a number of occasions we have warned the man next to you - the hon man next to you - that he is doing his country ... [Interjections.] I couldn't care! That man next to you. But what I can tell you, what I can tell you ... [Interjections.] No. Chairperson, I called him the hon member next to him and ... [Interjections.] No, I won't. It is not necessary. It is not necessary. [Interjections.] But I can tell you ...
Chair, may I address you on a point of order? The Minister is being deliberately disrespectful to the hon Maynier, and she is misleading the House. [Interjections.]
I am not misleading the House within the confines of this House. I am not disrespecting the hon member, but beyond that, I have absolutely no respect for you. Absolutely none. But I can tell you, hon Esau, that every soldier in this country knows that the ANC cares. [Applause.] That is why we have given everything we have so that they get what they have. That is one thing you ought to know. [Interjections.]
Hon Minister, please conclude.
I would like to thank the hon Maziya for touching on the National Youth Service. This is an important inclusion in the Defence Force. From henceforth there will be a new service called the National Defence Force, and we hope that by next year we will be able to remove 20 000 unemployed youths from the streets. [Applause.]
Chairperson, finally, the hon Groenewald said words of wisdom, to me that I am a general. I like the analogy. He says I am a general. I should not get down from my horse to heed the barking of the half-crossbred dog. I wonder who the half-crossbred dog is that is barking at them.
I want to say to everybody here in conclusion, that Albert Einstein said: Stupidity is doing the same thing every time and expecting a different outcome. What he didn't say is: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and being surprised that the outcome is not different. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.