Chairperson, as you have just heard, today we remember the passing of hon Frans Hlakudi Nkoana, otherwise known as Tommy. He passed away on 19 January this year in Pretoria after an illness, and I would assume that it was quite a long and protracted illness. He would have been 52 years old this year, which is quite a young age for a Member of Parliament and for a person to pass on.
As the DA, we associate ourselves with the motion of condolence. We would like to say to the family that we express our condolences and our sympathies to you at this difficult time.
On a lighter note, I have seen on a number of occasions that children always remember what one says at a funeral or a memorial service. They always remember if you have privately expressed concerns about a person but then you stand up in public at a funeral and say what a wonderful person he or she was! They remember. So, today I am not going to say a whole lot of things that are untrue.
I think Mr Nkoana was an honorable man, a hardworking Member of Parliament, a hardworking politician, a teacher and a member of his Sadtu branch. However, Chairperson and Members of Parliament, the truth is that I did not know him very well. He was only elected to Parliament in 2014 and he was only able to serve a couple of times on our committee as a full member before taking ill, so he was not around for a long time.
So, we cannot stand up today and say a lot of things about the member who was here in Parliament for such a short time, but we do want to express our condolences to the family. Hon Nkoana is survived by his father, his wife, Florah, and four children. We would like to say to you that we are sorry that your father, husband and son have been taken away from you so early in life.
Members of Parliament often look forward to their retirement years and to spending more time with their families because they spend so much time travelling as members. We travel to Parliament in Cape Town, we travel to our constituencies and then we travel to do oversight work, conduct public hearings and so on. Your relatives are not with you when you travel. Unfortunately in this case, he did not get the opportunity to retire after a long career and spend that retirement time with the family. We are aware of that; we are conscious of that and we express our condolences to you, the family, and also to his colleagues in the ANC.
Fellow Members of Parliament, as the DA we express our condolences to you and say, may his soul rest in peace. Hamba kahle. [Rest in peace.]