Hon Speaker, hon Deputy President, it is a privilege for me to convey the condolences of the FF Plus to the family of the late Prof Kader Asmal, as well as to his party.
Prof Asmal was 'n lid van hierdie Parlement sedert 1994 en het in daardie opsig 'n reuse bydrae gelewer tot die grondwetskrywende proses van die Grondwetskrywende Vergadering, en ook tot die debatte wat daarna plaasgevind het. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Prof Asmal had been a member of this Parliament since 1994 and has, in this capacity, made a huge contribution to the constitution-writing process of the Constitutional Assembly and also to the debates that took place thereafter.]
I would like to share one incident that happened in this very House in which Prof Asmal was involved at the end of his career. After he left the executive, he was a senior member of the ANC, a front bencher, and also for a while served as chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence. My colleague the hon Groenewald is a member of that committee. So one day Mr Groenewald went to sit next to the chairperson, Prof Asmal, to speak to him about something. Before the discussion started, the hon Asmal said to Mr Groenewald: "I have a problem and I want to talk to you about this. The hon Groenewald is causing a lot of problems for me." He was complaining to the hon Groenwald about the hon Groenewald, being under the impression that he was speaking to the leader of the party. [Laughter.] Mr Groenewald did not think it was necessary to indicate to him that he was talking to the wrong person.
Prof Asmal het vir ons ook 'n voorbeeld gestel in hierdie Parlement in terme van debatvoering. [In this Parliament Prof Asmal was also an example to us when it comes to debating.]
He was never afraid to go into real debate and to debate argument against argument. I think we can all learn from that reality. That is the way to do things in terms of putting argument against argument.
Ek wil graag ons medelye aan die familie van prof Asmal betuig. U gaan agterbly met mooi herinneringe van hom en sy lewe. Aan die ANC, as 'n party, u het 'n sterk staatmaker van die party verloor. Ons innige simpatie. Baie dankie. [Applause.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[I would like to convey my condolences to the family of Prof Asmal. You are going to be left with beautiful memories of him and his life. To the ANC, as a party you have lost a powerful stalwart. Our heartfelt condolences to you. Thank you. [Applause.]]