Madam Chair, I give notice that at the next sitting of the Council I shall move:
That the Council -
(1) calls upon the Minister of Defence, with the disbandment of Western Province Command, to consider taking action to preserve the Castle and its valuable cultural heritage and contents, so that it may be protected and preserved in the interests of tourism and our military and cultural history at the Cape;
(2) also calls on the Minister to give consideration to the Castle being made available to be occupied as a Reserve Force garrison base occupied by the five Cape ``traditional'' units - the Cape Field Artillery, the Cape Garrison Artillery, the Cape Town Rifles (Dukes), the Cape Town Highlanders and Regiment Western Province;
(3) notes that the Castle is -
(a) a world-famous example of classic military architecture on which tens of millions have been spent on restoration over the past 10 years;
(b) South Africa's largest military building and functioning installation;
(c) a proclaimed national monument;
(d) the seat of the renowned William Fehr collection of Africana;
(e) the repository of irreplaceable historic and other treasures;
(f) a vital part of our long military heritage linking with most of South African folk histories; and
(g) an important part of South Africa's early social and political history because it was the focus of political and military history for more than 200 years; and
(4) therefore calls on the Minister to act expeditiously before the Castle falls into disrepair and becomes vandalised.