You have a tiger to worry about. [Laughter.]
Deputy Speaker, the DA welcomes the revival of these Bills that lapsed after the Fifth Parliament. Amongst its other duties, the House has an obligation to South Africans to pass legislation, as prescribed by the Constitution.
We are, however, disappointed that it has taken this House five months to revive these important Bills that are before us today. Further to this, we are not in favour of all these Bills. The Road Accident Benefit Scheme, Rabs, Bill ... where the DA submitted a comprehensive view of all the shortfalls and appropriateness of the Rabs Bill ... has a relevant solution to the current Road Accident Fund Act. Sadly, these views were removed from the draft committee report and excluded from the report that was tabled in this House.
The purpose of committee reports is to facilitate debate and equip members of this House with adequate content to
make a decision. The Rabs Bill failed and the report which facilitated the debate was flawed in its reflection of what transpired in the committee.
Furthermore, in its current form, the Hate Speech Bill would criminalise the causing of offence. It is an ill- fated attempt to address the growing culture of intolerance through legislation and which will, in all likelihood, exacerbate the culture of intolerance in our country. Most importantly, the measures proposed in the Bill will certainly have the effect of eroding freedom of speech in an unjustifiable manner.
The International Crimes Bill, for instance, is a bad piece of legislation which typifies the legacy of the Zuma administration, when the ANC acted on all of its worst instincts. It's an attempt to gloss over the ill- fated decision of the Zuma administration to aid and abet the international criminal by the name of Omar al-Bashir, in the process diminishing our status as a responsible member of the international community.
We will argue further in committees and, needs be, we will oppose some of these Bills when it comes to the House. Nonetheless, we are in favour of the revival of these Bills, with the concerns mentioned. Thank you. [Applause.]