So, do I understand you to say this is parliamentary? Thank you, Chairperson.
Chairperson, I wanted to start off with the question asked by the hon Groenewald of what relevance the input of the hon Maziya has on this Bill.
I was actually touched by the passion that the hon Maziya has for the Defence Force. I'm touched by the passion that he brings to his work; and I want you to compare it to the egotistic, vacuous rantings of some other member that we have in the committee.
Who could I be referring to? I wonder if Parliament allows me to be general. Just take any other, and if you feel worried about people who are vacuous then perhaps you have a guilty streak in you. However, I want to thank the hon Maziya for what he has said. I want to thank him for constantly reminding us that we are here because people sacrificed their lives for us to be here, at all times. [Applause.] This is what governance is about. We've promised our people a better life. In this particular case, we promised the Defence Force a better life. Thank you very much, hon Maziya.
I also want to thank the hon Mabedla on her maiden speech, putting a feminine touch on the fact that we have women in the Defence Force. I think it was a very good maiden speech. Hon Mabedla, keep it up; you make me very proud. [Applause.]
Hon Holomisa, we are seized with the matter of the review of the White Paper to ensure that we are in line with the concerns that you have raised. We are also very concerned about it and to make sure that our policies are in line with the issues that we have already taken on, especially the issues of a peacekeeping force. We worked very closely with the Defence Export Control Office, Deco, and we are attending to the matters that you raised as concerns.
Hon Groenewald, the definition we have for military command is not a thumb- suck. As I indicated to you, we came into a very sticky situation where the Constitution says the President shall appoint the military command. The Defence Act of 2002 is silent on this. In the absence of this, it means therefore that we fall back of what is provided by the public service.
What is provided by the public service is that we have to submit ourselves to putting up advertisements for people to fill those posts, something that, in fact, traditionally we do not do in the Defence Force. We had to come up with a definition that covered the problem and the lacuna that we faced. It was thoroughly discussed in the portfolio committee and this is what the portfolio committee agreed to. It is not a thumb-suck. You might not agree with it, but it is a three-star general who is commissioned by the President ultimately.
I wanted also to thank the chairperson and everybody else who has taken part in this debate. Finally, I was intrigued that here was a hon member from the DA, given the opportunity to express the position of the DA on an important matter such as this one. Instead, what he did was go off on something that sounded very much like a battle plan he had planned in his head when he couldn't sleep - he was lying half-awake because he always has these schemes - going on about: "This is what we did; then they did ..." That, for him, is more important than what we sit here to do: to legislate and ensure that the Defence Force in this particular case has a better life. [Applause.] This is what the ANC is here for.
We found a situation where it was necessary to move the Defence Force from where it is and put it in a situation where we can better attend to the uniqueness of this. What does he do? He goes on, on this egotistical trip: "This is what we did ..." In fact, it becomes quite clear that the battle scheme came from him. Feeding the media, he became dial-a-mania a day. Any media which wants any quote, David will give a quote. Dial-a-quote from David and he will give you a quote. It did not work, because the institutions of governance are very clear. They are very clear, and this is what we followed.
The matter will not serve until it has served before the Cabinet. Right now, when dealing with the situation where the report is being completed, the report will be given to me. It will be tabled in Cabinet. It will be brought to you, and you will see and the country will see that that report had nothing to do - nothing to do - with this legislation; and you know that. But it offered you a tangent; it offered you a platform to sell yourself at the expense of what you should be doing. I think this is the most extreme form of unpatriotism you could ever come across. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Bill read a second time.