Thank you, hon Minister. [Interjections.] Order, hon members.
Hon Minister, we will deal with the matters, as you have raised them. With respect to the first Rule that you raised, it has never been applied in the House before. In terms of the second part you have raised, indeed, you are correct, as the hon Deputy Minister is also correct in that at the time that the vote is requested, there should be at least four of those members present. However, what has happened is that some of those members who were part of those four from that party are no longer in the House. At the time it was requested, however, they were indeed there, and ... [Interjections.] Order, hon members! It is a matter that will require further deliberation and decision.
However, in terms of the question that was put to the House, I wish to inform hon members that we do not have a quorum in the House. We are 21 members short of a quorum. As a result, I will therefore postpone the decision on this vote. We will monitor the situation during the course of this evening in respect of the other Bills that are also due for consideration. [Interjections.] Order!