Chairperson, Minister and Deputy Minister of State Security, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and hon members, as we celebrate Mandela Day let us remember what he said: "After climbing a great hill one only finds that there are many more hills to climb." The ANC supports the Budget. The purpose of this debate should at the outset be understood for what it is and not for what individuals in the opposition want it to be.

This is a debate about financing policy directives providing policymakers, and those who have been tasked with the onerous responsibility of making decisions on behalf of the state, to assist them in informing their decision-making based on strategic

information that can impact on the functioning of the state and bring harm to the broader society, both internally and externally.

We as Parliamentarians, have in the debate a unique responsibility of ensuring through all the sensitivities to assist with oversight in the interests of good governance, assessing critical intelligence, assessing from the legislative arm of state what would be in the best interests of good governance and accountability in so-far-as the law requires.

This is not a debate about personalities or the ad-hominem, which many the debates degenerate into. It is a debate in which openness and transparency has its obvious limitations. Safeguarding the Constitution in this context is every patriot's responsibility and we should, through our oversight ensure individual rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights in the context of what we are dealing with is secured whilst we oversee the interrelated elements of security, stability, co-operation and development, both within South Africa and in Southern Africa.

All of what we do takes place in a broader context of an ANC-led government committed to global peace and globally defined priorities for the wellbeing of humankind, and in the interests of the country.

We are conscious of the fact that this position is globally contested and these powerful global forces consciously seek to bring influence on our government to take decisions for us, which would be the antithesis of what our Constitution calls upon government to do.

The State Security has been the subject of discussion and debate, it relates to the perceived failures in its governance and operational capacities. The President has reflected on the need to restore the integrity and credibility of public institutions which are charged with critical mandates in our country. Any structure of the state whose operational and governance capacities are complex and involve other entities with which they directly work, will require a thorough going assessment and review where concerns have been raised and this is true to the State Security Agency.

The systemic, structural and governance weaknesses that require urgent attention is where our oversight must be focused. But oversight must be informed, assess the balance of evidence and be informed of its decisions on what their real challenges are and not perceived challenges.

We welcome the 2018 decision of the President to appoint a review panel that will assess the structure of the agency. This is part of

the ANC policy and government's commitment to strengthen the public institutions. We look forward to the output and outcome of the appointed panel of experts in the field of intelligence restructuring, security governance, ICT development, organisational design, change management and critical strategic thinking.

We are encouraged that the review extends the Intelligence Academy, the relevance of the training curriculum content of our Intelligence Academy, so that our officers receive the highest standard of training to ensure competence in fulfilling national requirements. As part of the review of the Intelligence Oversight Act and Regulations to give effect to this, is the issue of having a deputy inspector-general. We welcome the new vetting regulations and we wish that there can be more money in this regard. This has been overdue and more resources need to be looked at.

Finally, with regards to security, stability, co-operation and development in Southern Africa we believe that issues around the Border Management Authority have now been resolved at that in the sixth Parliament we can give effect through legislation to improve our border security. Hon members, Minister and Deputy Minister, the ANC supports the vote. Thank you.