Hon Speaker, for once, I think the Chief Whip of the ANC did the right thing by not taking the podium, and instead using his microphone so that we can face the honourable Mr Mansura. We should not stand with our backs to him when we say goodbye to him. Speaker, we live in an age of electronics, information and communications technology, ICT, and we are bombarded by Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn and heaven knows what else; not forgetting e-mails. You can actually by just pressing a button source information from a computer by using Google or any other search engine that is available to us through technology today.
When I took over as a Chief Whip of the DA, moving from the NCOP after my absence of approximately 10 years from the NA, I thought I should sharpen my knowledge. The first thing I did was to pay a visit to the Secretary to the National Assembly, Mohamed Kamal Mansura's office. I made a 15-minute appointment just to touch base and find out what is happening. Hon Speaker, I left that office after an hour and a half and he still had knowledge to impart to me.
When we say goodbye to Kamal Mansura, we are saying farewell to the parliamentary Google, because with him around, you did not need Google. He always had answers. We are very proud to have known you, Mr Mansura.
When I came to Parliament in 1994, you were already here. In fact, you joined Parliament in 1986. To the hon Van der Merwe, Mr Mansura is retiring after 27 years and I believe that you have been here for 35 years - take the hint. [Laughter.] Hon Speaker, it is not only his knowledge, but also the way in which he conducted himself - totally impartial at all times. I think every party in this House thought that he was on their side only by the way he conducted himself. He was totally impartial and a real example to many.
My personal assistant said to me when I left the office that she was going to call Mr Mansura's secretary to ask that a photo of him be taken in his Table dress so that she had that reminder for his last day in office. That is the high stand that you held in Parliament among Members of Parliament as well as staff. I want to say thank you very much.
There is a long list of accomplishments that Mr Mansura achieved, not only in South Africa, but all over the world. He served in universities as well. It is also very informative that he started to help with the Rules of the NA in 1994, the Joint Rules in 1996, the Rules of the NCOP, and was even involved in the writing of the rules for the Pan-African Parliament, to name but a few. These are the legacies that he leaves behind, from which we will benefit for many years to come. We salute him. We wish you and your family all the best for the future. I know he is not going to rest entirely. At least he confessed now that he wants to.
In saying goodbye to Mr Mansura, we also welcome the appointment of Mr Xaso. The one thing that I told caucus this morning that I appreciate in Parliament is that we can never blame Parliament for cadre deployment. People have to be experienced and work themselves up in the parliamentary precincts to get ahead. To Mr Mansura, rest well; and to Mr Xaso, work well. I thank you, sir. [Applause.]