Chairperson, hon members, hon Ministers, Minister for Provincial and Local Government, Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development, comrades and friends, this debate should reflect that section 103 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa recognises the boundaries of the nine provinces of South Africa. In order to alter a provincial boundary, a constitutional amendment must be enacted. The Constitution Sixteenth Amendment Bill seeks to alter the provincial boundaries of the North West and Gauteng provinces in order to reincorporate the Merafong City Local Municipality into the province of Gauteng.
The Cross-boundary Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related Matters Act of 2005 is also amended to facilitate the redemarcation of the Merafong municipality and other affected areas. I was surprised when hon Darryl Worth was talking like that, because the DA did not attend the briefings when we were briefed about the reincorporation of Merafong into Gauteng. They were not there. They just disappeared. And I wonder, because the Minister has apologised, and our chairperson, Kgoshi, has apologised for what happened, but he continues.
What he must know is that when we were conducting the public hearings, we were not conducting referendums. The member wants to imitate hon Thetjeng who is no longer here. Maybe he wants to follow him. [Laughter.] [Interjections.]