... and it must be big for those staff members who serve you and wait for you until you are nice and sozzled before you agree to drive your cars.
Yes, there are a number of things that we have done. There are a number of things we still need to do. I am proud that we tinkered with our
programmes. I am proud that we tinkered with the programme of Taking Parliament to the People. I am proud that we have had more consistent reports coming from the committees.
I am still worried that, in fact, we have not quite gotten into how we get provincial mandates into the House on Bills that need provincial votes. So, I want to say to the provincial Whips that you are only a provincial Whip because you come and serve members that come from a particular province. We pay you that salary to serve all members who come from any particular province. If it is province X, it is all the members. It doesn't matter what colours they wear, because it means that, provincially, the Whip is the leader of that province, here, in a foreign place called Parliament.
I want to say that we would do very well to negotiate amongst ourselves, as parties, to create better camaraderie and congeniality if we began with entrusting the discipline of our members to whom it belongs - the Whips. The Whips have the responsibility to keep us on time, in the House, knowing our work, and delivering. The chairpersons have the powers to run the committees undisturbed. It is unfettered because the Constitution and the Rules of the House do not see the co- chairing and the co-responsibility between the Whip and the
Chairperson. So, chairpersons must not delegate their responsibilities of making sure that matters before them are fine.
I have had quite a quarrel about making a distinction - simply because the NCOP is quite distinct from the NA - in terms of the budget. It is a battle I am fighting and a battle I agree with you, hon members of the NCOP, that I think I have lost. It comes in one way and goes out another. They cannot make a distinction. However, the distinctness of this House must show in the actions and the programmes of this House. It must be reflected in the budget.
I do know that we have taken issue, at presiding officer level, over the allocations of the funds for Parliament on study tours. The NCOP has not had its fair share. I hope that, in future, the chairpersons will get programmes adopted by their committees. It is very important for you to do that because then your committee can hold you to account for that which they have adopted right at the beginning of the term if you do not deliver. That will also help us with planning and fighting for the resources for the