No, I can't take a question; I am talking about something very serious. [Laughter.] Let me speak to the Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. I'm pleading with you: This Bill has been with the department for four years now but the Khoi-San people are still not getting recognition. How long are we going to wait? These people are the first indigenous occupants of this country! It is their right to be recognised in this country and not be subdued by other people because there are so few of them. They were the first owners. They were living in this country and were found here in this country. They did not come from another country to live here. These are the issues that we need to take seriously.
In conclusion, Minister, you can change the systems in local government - that is fine. However, make it a community- participative system and not these ward-based systems where councillors can have their own buddies on the ward so that they can run them like a political party. No! Local government belongs to the people. A municipality belongs to the people. Municipalities cannot exist without the people. This is where our problem lies. The community must participate and it must have a say in the budget of the local municipality, so that their needs can be met and services can be delivered. [Applause.]