Madam Deputy Speaker, in its 2004 election manifesto, that is the so-called "People's Contract", the ANC promised to strengthen the Scorpions. Today they are breaking that contract by dissolving the Scorpions. Morally, I think they should have gone back to the voters who had mandated them to strengthen the Scorpions and explain to them why it became necessary to go against their promise.
Let us again look at the motivation for dissolving the Scorpions. The resolution taken at Polokwane was based on the wrong premise that there was a constitutional imperative that precluded the Scorpions from existing outside the SAPS. I pointed out in the First Reading debate that both the Constitutional Court and Judge Khampepe have indicated that there was no constitutional impediment on the Scorpions being in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. We therefore know that constitutional issues were not the real reason behind the drive to dissolve the Scorpions.
What then was the real reason? In the approximately 150 hours that the two committees concerned deliberated on the matter, no compelling reason was put forward at any stage - and I'm underlining the word "compelling". The Minister for Provincial and Local Government referred to things here that were really not "compelling" reasons.
The motivation could also not have been to strengthen the fight against crime because the new unit in the SAPS will definitely not be as efficient as the Scorpions were. As a matter of fact, nobody accused the Scorpions of being inefficient. So, why fix something if it is not broken? The only logical deduction is that the Scorpions became a thorn in the flesh of senior ANC cadres who were being investigated by the Scorpions. But instead of taking disciplinary action against such members, they are being protected. Had these members been members of the DA, we would long ago have instituted disciplinary action against them because our code of conduct for public representatives requires the highest standard of ethical behaviour. Any incidence of corruption, fraud and so on, will lead to disciplinary action. However, it seems as if the ANC has a different code of conduct.
To paraphrase Attlee, one-time British Prime Minister: Democracy means different things to different people. To the ANC, it appears to mean that the resolution adopted by 2 500 delegates can be forced through a Parliament elected by 16 million people. I rest my case. [Applause.]