Madam Speaker, I have no doubt that history will refer to the Polokwane congress and its aftermath as the season of madness. It was a season of madness in which the serving President of this country was insulted by an unruly youngster who should rather have furthered his studies. It was the season of madness which saw the same President being thrown out of office. It was the season of madness which saw Premiers being kicked out. It was also a season of madness which saw an emotionally charged congress taking a decision that the Scorpions should be disbanded, and that decision is implemented today by ANC members in this House, albeit very reluctantly in some instances.
An effective crime-fighting unit is rendered obsolete. What a tragedy! What a shame! All along, it was an accepted principle in the committee that the crime-fighting unit for serious offences should retain the necessary independence. These principles were enumerated by the committee. But the Bill, as it stands today, falls short of the committee's own principles under instruction.
There is a lot of window-dressing in the Bill. But that, however, does not cure the basic deficiencies. First of all, the new unit will lack the independence to act against any person whatsoever. The unit's head will be a deputy commissioner in the SAPS. In other words, he will be a line functionary - a police officer. Although he is given the authority to take certain decisions, there is nothing to indicate that he cannot be overruled by the commissioner like any other police officer under his command.
Secondly, the budget of the unit is controlled by the commissioner as the accounting officer. This gives him effective control over the priorities of the unit. Furthermore, the DA is deeply concerned with the reasons and motives of the ANC for introducing this Bill. Why were the alleged deficiencies in the DSO not rectified? Why were they not addressed at an earlier stage? It is clear that the ANC, in demolishing the DSO, is punishing certain officers for what they did and is protecting other persons on the other hand. This is a dangerous, dangerous route to take. A structure, especially a government structure, should never be created, changed or dissolved because of personalities involved because personalities change. That is exactly what is happening today.
The ANC is of the view that this Bill is work in progress and that the issue should be revisited in future. This is absolute proof that this Bill is a product of the ANC's season of madness which will be revisited - I am sure - once sanity returns. I honestly think that every ANC member who is going to vote for the Bill will one day say, regrettably: "What have I done? Was I really part of that season of madness?" I thank you. [Applause.]