Chairperson and hon Minister, I must say that my life has never been as difficult as it is today, precisely because of you. If I had it my way I would have said, "Chair, we agree" and I would have sat down.
Nevertheless, it is quite as important that one must just re-emphasise a few aspects of what the Minister has already put before us. As a section 76 Bill, I think what came out of the public hearings that we had throughout the provinces was what seemed to be quite common - the excitement that was expressed by our people. As the Minister has already mentioned, the people who are mainly affected by the environment of rental housing in the main are the working class and the poor. This piece of legislation that we are putting before the House for adoption seeks to protect them and to ensure that they are not treated unfairly. What came out frequently was the question of the lockouts because, at times, you would be confronted with the way our people are treated, especially when there are disputes between the landlord and the tenants. The landlord would automatically have the upper hand and would just lock our people out and they would not have anywhere to go.
As a result, it is only fair that one must express the great appreciation that our people have for this. Of course, it did not also just come about without any serious issues of contestation from some other provinces but, out of the nine provinces that held public hearings and participated actively and vigorously in the development and finalisation of the Bill itself, six provinces expressed their support for the Bill. As a result, the committee was then given an overwhelming mandate to then submit to the House that this Bill be adopted. I thank you very much, Chairperson. [Applause.]