Mgcinisihlalo lohloniphekile, ngiyabonga kutfola lelitfuba lekuvalelisa njengobe sitawuvala nje Kulendlu Yemkhandlu Wemaprovinsi. [Hon Chairperson, I'm grateful for this opportunity to say farewell as the Council goes into recess.] [Laughter.]
From today there will be no need for leave applications until 17 January. [Laughter.] You are now on your own. You will negotiate that with your wives and husbands. [Laughter.] On a serious note, hon members, this year was very momentous and the busiest for all our hon members and committees in particular. It is a year in which our council demonstrated a strong resolve and commitment to come to grips with many challenges facing our people and to continue the advances of our second decade of democracy in our country.
The number of Bills and various oversight trips that we undertook are a testimony to what we are saying today. We have also seen the conclusion of the first round of our Taking Parliament to the People to the provinces as we visited the ninth province - the Western Cape - this last term of 2007 since we started with that programme in 2002.
We also had the very successful follow-up visits. We had two rounds of Provincial Weeks and a very successful intergovernmental relation summit which culminated in the tenth anniversary celebration in which, on 4 May, President Thabo Mbeki addressed us and I would like to quote what he said:
This important role of the NCOP in the evolution of our young nation is reflected in the advances we have made in the deepening of our democratic system.
Your outstanding work as members, particularly those who were really committed to work, is appreciated. I do not like to speak today about some members because we didn't even know where they were when our committees couldn't quorate.
Nevertheless, we want to thank those who were committed to their work, particularly our chairpersons who sometimes had to convene meetings at very late hours and we thank those members who co-operated with the chairpersons and the Whips to see to it that the work that we are here to do as hon members is done with distinction without being policed.
We are also grateful for the participation of various political parties so co-operatively. We have seen us coming closer to each other and taking off the horns that we started with in 2004. I think by 2009 it will only be the constitutional boundary that you cannot cross to the NCOP that will keep us apart.
I must also thank the leadership of our Chairperson, at the name of the hon M J Mahlangu, together with his lieutenants, the Deputy Chairpersons and the House Chairpersons for having ensured that we steered the ship in the right direction that it had to take.
I know that we had a very long day and a very long year. I don't want to keep you long here because there is nothing that we have arranged after the adjournment here.
However, I want to say that as we go to Limpopo, it will not be the issue of the positions that we would be concentrating on but we will be looking in terms of saying how the ANC is taking the country to greener pastures so that all of us, political and apolitical citizens of this country, can enjoy the better life that we all fought for for so long. Thank you. [Applause.]