Speaker, it would have been very nice to see the Minister here today; we have not met him in committee yet.
Nonetheless, let me say this. The Deputy Minister wants to deal with fact; let us deal with fact, then. On 24 January this year a joint press statement was put out by your so-called "independent" Municipal Demarcation Board on a Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Ministry letterhead and its own letterhead, from which I want to quote:
The meeting noted and agreed that the Minister's public announcement to put the demarcation process on hold was in the interests of peace and stability.
Now, I will ask you, Deputy Minister, given what you have just said in this House: Do you regard that as the independence that we require from a board like this, when a Minister is able to interfere directly, go above the board, and put a process on hold when it suits the ANC to do so?
This demarcation board has itself to blame for the perceptions that there are out there. They have behaved recklessly. The fact that the so-called independent chairperson, Mr Mahlangu, can put a signature to a joint press statement like this with the Ministry is unacceptable, and he deserves the scorn that South Africans are pouring the board on and the light that it is now seen in.
However, let us be absolutely clear on what the impact was, because that is what the question asked. The impact was that the ANC have now gerrymandered the only municipality in Gauteng that is run by the DA - the best run municipality in Gauteng ... [Interjections.] ... into the ANC's clutches. That is what this demarcation process set out to achieve ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]