House Chair, there can be no doubt that we, as a country are at the crossroads. When faced at the crossroads, Folly, wrote historian Barbara Tuchman, is when leaders knowingly choose the wrong path. The previous Zuma administration chose that wrong path a path of economic mismanagement and policy uncertainty, during which the country staggered under the dead weight of state capture and corruption and we are reaping the consequences.
Now, as we debate Parliament's Budget Vote, let us be mindful that Parliament is tasked not only with only with the legislative function, but also the vital oversight function and duty. It is a severe indictment that the Constitutional Court found that the Fifth Parliament failed to fulfil its constitutional duty by not holding President Zuma accountable.
This was undoubtedly a low point of the Fifth Parliament.
However, the Eskom Oversight Inquiry during which MPs across political alliance stood resolute and determined against intimidation and even death threats to expose corruption at Eskom, stands as beacon of hope.
Today, we have a choice. Let us in this Sixth Parliament choose a new path of accountability, honesty and integrity. Let us ensure that the highest court of the land will never again find that Parliament is so wanting.
We in the ACDP, as the ACDP's elective representatives choose that path. We choose to be salt and light in this House. We
choose to play our role as constructive opposition, and to seek Godly solutions for the many challenges facing our nation.
We choose to build and not destroy, to speak life and not death; to love and not hate. We choose to stand for justice for the poor and oppressed, to promote peace, reconciliation, and nation-building. We choose to maintain the decorum of this house in what we say and how we conduct ourselves. Those who have elected us expect and deserve responsible behaviour from us as leaders.
The learners watching us today deserve better. We choose to be honourable men and women who seek the common good of all South Africans. Will you choose to join us as responsible public representatives in this Sixth Parliament? Then, as the prophet Isaiah says:
Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall rise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets to dwell in us.
Join us in the ACDP as we build the walls of our nation in this Sixth Parliament. I thank you.