Madam Deputy Speaker, Minister, colleagues, the rights of equality and dignity are enshrined in our Bill of Rights and contained in the 1996 Constitution of the Republic. As part of the right to equality, the Constitution holds that no one may be discriminated against based on his or her sexual orientation. In the past few years, the affirmation of this latter element of the right to equality has been the subject of numerous legal challenges in the High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and, ultimately, the Constitutional Court.
The Civil Union Bill is a result of a directive issued by the Constitutional Court to Parliament to rectify certain defects in our common law to give legal expression to the rights of equality and dignity.
However, the Bill before us today has, in many ways, been a headache and heartache for many South Africans. And, if the Sunday Times quoted the chairperson of the portfolio committee correctly, there is only temporary respite, as the Committee on Home Affairs would begin negotiations with "the Minister next year on a complete revision on the law on marriage, cutting the state's role to a minimum, while ensuring that all groups and faiths are equally catered for".
The conclusion - and the only conclusion - we can draw from this is that the whole issue is to be revisited and that, currently, we are attempting to satisfy the requirement of the Constitutional Court's judgment by 1 December. This is a duty we have.
Whether the version of the Bill before the House today will, in fact, meet the requirements of the judgment is open to debate, and one would expect that only the court would provide clarity on this matter. The issue of major concern for us is more or less the same as that for our colleague from the DA, which is the shortness of time. The issue is so simple, because in the judgment there was a hint of the separation of the religious and the civil aspects of marriage, which should have been considered. We feel that this issue should have been opened up for more in- depth discussion. However, there was insufficient time, as mentioned by the chairperson.
I would just like to say that the course the committee took in taking this Bill to the provinces was really what I would call public consultation. The Bill was put into the hands of ordinary citizens and we did not just listen, as we often do when we have public hearings in Parliament where we hear advocacy groups presenting their cases. We heard ordinary citizens speak and they spoke extremely well, and it was amazing how informed they were.
We as a party support strong moral values and the role of the family as the foundation pillar of society. We know that many colleagues across the political spectrum share this view. This, however, does not imply contempt of the Constitution or of the judgment of the court. Last week, and only last week, the ruling party presented the latest version of this Bill that is now before us. In all honesty, we have not been able to discuss it broadly enough, again, because of the shortage of time.
It would be the understatement of the year to say that the original Bill has caused tremendous controversy on a subject that we all know is very sensitive, as the chairman said, and it should be treated accordingly. When the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs took the Bill around the country in a comprehensive series of public hearings, it quickly became apparent that not only did it stir up emotions on all sides, it was also opposed by large sections of the communities on religious and moral grounds, as well as by the intended beneficiaries but for very different reasons.
This Bill is not supported by the IFP. I thank you. [Applause.]