Speaker, last term the ANC was understandably worried about the DA's Know your DA campaign. The desperate reaction to continue a deceptive narrative came as no surprise. What was a surprise was the hon Naledi Pandor's announcement that "Helen Suzman was never a member of the DA, she could not have been."
Speaker, I was the Chairperson of the Johannesburg North branch of the DA until 2008, and went back to our party membership records.
The ANC government should have learnt by now that inconvenient truths will come to light. I have in my hand the branch membership records from May 2008 of the Johannesburg North branch. Let me read for you an extract, "ID number 1711070014080, Mrs H Suzman, DA membership number SND 100". [Applause.] Helen Suzman renewed her membership by debit order on 2 January 2008. Helen Suzman was not just a member of the Progressive Federal Party, PFP, and the DP, but also very much a member of the DA in my branch until her death in January 2009.
Speaker, we respect the hon Naledi Pandor's and the ANC's right to free speech, but that right does not extend to making up or denying the facts. Helen Suzman fought for freedom in South Africa. For example, she fought for the right of women in Alexandra Hostel in Johannesburg to get hot water. Under the ANC government, for the past two months, there has been no hot water in the Alexandra women's hostel. We should be celebrating the work that Helen Suzman had done for 36 years. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]