Thank you, Chair. I note that the DA do deserve a position in the committee. House Chair, one of the first things that President Ramaphosa did when taking office during the first term as he joyfully said that the departure of the thief in chief was to merge the Departments of Communications and Telecommunication and Postal Services into one. This was a good and positive move and he didn't have to wait until the sixth term to do it because it was

obvious. It made an absolute sense and we welcomed it at the time and we still do.

In this spirit, we remember the regular attendance at our committee meetings of former Telecommunications Minister, Dr Siyabonga Cyprian Cwele, who seldom felt to miss a meeting even if he had to excuse himself and leave early. I will contrast this with the current Minister, Stella Ndabeni- Abrahams. Her appearance before the committee is once or twice, that's it. We trust she will attend more so that she could hear first hand of issues that her department and portfolio are facing, rather than from the officials whose first priority is to take care of their positions rather than to deliver accurate and reliable information to the Minister and this Parliament.

Part of this accurate and reliable information is to answer to written questions. I was assured that the Mondeor Post Office would be refurbished and upgraded by November and in not in one written question, but two, that was the answer given. My regular correspondent, a resident and Sapo customer, Mr Daseau Jos of Mondeor tells me that to date no one is onsite and nothing is happening. Someone is misleading Parliament and we trust that it is

the officials and not the Minister, but we will not let this matter lie. And that is an intended pun.