Speaker and hon members, I am in a quandary as to where to start so that this august House - actually, the entire institution - can realise why the UDM and the family members of hon Kganyago are so appreciative of and thankful for what has been done since Prof passed away. When Prof passed away, it was the first time a parliamentary member of the UDM had passed away.
As the Chief Whip of the UDM, I knew that I had to play a part as far as Parliament was concerned, and I didn't know where to start. I received a call from Members' Facilities, inviting me to come to Cape Town, because we were in the constituency period.
When I arrived at Parliament, Mrs Harper and one of her staff members came to my office. They took me step by step through what was going to happen. Indeed, things happened exactly the way they told me. I am so thankful to Members' Facilities, especially Mrs Harper, for the co-operation they have given us during this difficult time. [Applause.]
As I have said, we were in our constituencies during that time, and I didn't attend Prof's memorial service. It was on the Thursday, and he was buried on the Saturday, but I was informed by members of the UDM that there were many members of this House who attended Prof's memorial service.
On the day of the funeral, I was so surprised to see so many Members of Parliament, travelling from as far as the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and all over South Africa. There were no less than 20 members of this House present at Prof's funeral. We are so thankful for this. You have really shown us that we are treated as family when we are in this House.
To return to Mrs Harper again; she informed me that Parliament would pay the travelling and accommodation costs of a certain number of members. None of the members, my colleagues, who attended the funeral complained about accommodation and travelling, which means that Mrs Harper and her staff did what she said she would.
With regard to my colleagues, I am lost for words. As I have said, you were in your constituencies doing constituency work, especially with elections around the corner, but you left all that to attend our member's funeral. Thank you very much for that.
Last week I received a call from the Chief Whip of the Majority Party.
Mbamba, thina, nto zaziyo, asothukanga nto. [Mbamba [clan name], we, the knowledgeable ones, are not surprised.]
In this call, he said to me: Faku, all the parties that are represented in Parliament are aggrieved, but the truth of the matter is that the UDM is feeling the pinch the most and so we, as the ANC, felt that to give the UDM the time that it is entitled to, which is three minutes, would be unfair in this instance. As a result we, as the ANC, agreed to take 10 minutes of our time and to give it to the UDM. [Applause.] All of us here know how important time is in this House. To take 10 minutes of your time and to give it to another party really shows how much co-operation the ANC is looking forward to in working with other parties. [Applause.]
Ngoko ke, ngaloo mazwi mnt'akaMbamba, Krila, athi amaXhosa, amaqobokazana angalala endleleni yazini kunyembelekile. Somlomo ohloniphekileyo, Xhamela, ngaphambi kokuba ndizive sendibulela abembi, abatshakazi ezimbizeni nabamelwane abashiye izindlu zabo baza kusonga apha, mandiyeke ngelithi sibamba ngazo zozibini, sisithi ukwanda kwaliwa ngumthakathi. Ndiyabulela. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Therefore, with those words, I would like to say to you the child of Mbamba, Krila [clan names], there is a Xhosa saying that literally goes like this: should maidens sleep along the way, then you must know things are very bad, meaning the unthinkable has happened. Hon Speaker, Xhamela [clan name], I thank those who have dug the grave hole, the women who cooked and the neighbours who left their homes and came to commiserate with us. Let me finish off by saying we are most grateful. Thank you. [Applause.]]
Debate concluded.
Motion agreed to, members standing.