Speaker, it is always a sad time when we are called together to remember a fellow Member of Parliament who has passed on. But we should also see it as a time to celebrate a life well lived. Paul Harry Ditshetelo served his country, his party and democracy with such vigour and enthusiasm that it was difficult not to take note of the man. He was truly a man who lived by the values he espoused.
Oom Paul, as he was known, and the UCDP were synonymous with each other. He cofounded the then Tswana National Party, now known as the UCDP, with Kgosi Lucas Mangope. He was elected as its first Secretary-General after South Africa embraced a democratic dispensation in 1994. In 1999 he was elected Deputy President of the UCDP, a position he held with honour until January 2011. Unfortunately, due to his ailing health, he was unable to hold office this year.
Mr Ditshetelo was an inspired leader, a man of firm religious convictions and a distinguished Member of Parliament in his own right and a senior member of the UCDP.
Whenever a former Member of Parliament dies, our parliamentary democracy loses an important piece of its institutional memory. All of us carry the memory of what happened here and of the long journey that brought us here. In this sense, his passing impoverishes our democracy.
We of the IFP extend our most solemn condolences to Mr Ditshetelo's friends and family, especially to his wife, Celia. Hon member, always remember Psalm 23, which states: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."