Hon Speaker, Deputy President, Deputy Speaker, fellow members of the House, on Sunday the security Ministers made an astounding confession to the nation. They told us that the President is not in daily management of the affairs of our nation. They said that they did not know what the daily events in this country were, nor did they direct them. In fact, they announced that only appointed staff members, without their direction, were running the affairs of our nation - completely without direction from any one single member of the executive! [Interjections.] [Applause.]
They went further. They didn't end there. They told us that they did not know anything and were unable to enforce the law. The Immigration Act, Act 13 of 2002, explicitly states that no one may enter the Republic other than at a port of entry. If a person is to enter at a place that is not an authorised point of entry, then he or she must have a written and signed document from the director-general. This is a document that would let them into the country. If they do not have such a document, members of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster and their departments should make sure that those people are arrested.
But on Sunday the cluster of Ministers responsible for these functions quite brazenly appeared before the nation to announce, "We know nothing"! [Interjections.] [Applause.] "We are responsible for nothing" and "Nobody in the executive, starting with the President, knows anything about what happened." [Interjections.] Then, when they were asked who did all of this, they said that it was some appointed staff members - not even a director- general! Some unknown character for whom we, as voters, never voted exposed the security of the nation to this situation.
Astonishingly, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development asserted that name-dropping was solely to blame. This seems to suggest that our country is run by rumour-mongering. [Interjections.] Somebody comes and says, "You know, this is what so-and-so said," and then they act on that.
This is not the democracy for which Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail. [Applause.] It is not the democracy for which so many amongst the ruling party spent years in prison and in exile. This is not the democracy that so many of our people died in order to achieve. For this rumour-mongering, imagine an executive of the country saying, "It was rumours." These people were following rumours, not the directions of any authorised executive, as set out in the Constitution of our nation.
Now we are supposed to sit here and be grateful for this whitewash, for being fed hogwash. [Laughter.] To show further how farcical the situation is, the Cape Times reported today that 48 hours after Justice Minister Jeff Radebe announced that criminal charges were to be pursued against high- ranking officers, numerous charges were dropped and suspensions lifted! This is an executive that runs this country as if South Africans have a chicken's memory. You say this today and three days down the line you do something different, and then we will already have forgotten what you said on Sunday! The contempt with which the people of South Africa are being treated by this executive surpasses that of a banana republic.
The barefaced disregard for law and authority within this government - for the Constitution and basic law, together with other legislation - is astonishing, although it is not surprising, as it has been happening for so long now. Mostly the voters are lulled into indifference. But, in fact, this thing, including what has happened in the Central African Republic ...