Madam Deputy Speaker, hon Deputy President, Ministers and hon members, not that I have been undermining the language profession but when we conducted public hearings on this Bill, I realised how much more important this profession is than I had thought. Members of the public and language organisations responded very positively to the invitation to the public hearings and made massive contributions to the Bill.
I can say without fear of contradiction that with this Bill the Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture complied fully with the provision of section 59(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa in that it facilitated public involvement. I can confirm that it was not a mere question of compliance. This is not the same Bill as it was before we conducted public hearings. We took very seriously the inputs of those who gave their submissions orally and in writing. Those inputs are included in this Bill.
Because of the importance of this language profession, the UDM believes that the establishment of the Language Practitioners' Council is long overdue. Therefore, we verily believe and trust that this juristic person that this Bill seeks to establish will take its objectives and functions very seriously. The UDM supports the Bill. Thank you.