Hon Athol Trollip, Shakespeare also said, and I quote, "I will challenge you to the battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed", and you have left the House. [Laughter.] In The Tempest, he also said, "Hell is empty and all the devils are here." Maybe I should remind you of what he said in The Merchant of Venice, and I quote, "You speak an infinite deal of nothing." I am sure Shakespeare had you in mind when he wrote in "The Fall of the WhiteXhosa-speaking Prince", and I quote, "Et tu Zille, why had thee moved thy lap, for I, your loyal dog, had fallen."
I was listening with interest to hon Holomisa, who was complaining about "ukugwinya nokugwinywa". The only difference is that when you "gwinya", it means you are processing and excreting the whole thing; therefore it has no effect on you. But "mawugwinyiwe" means you have no say at all; and to be "gwinyaEd" by the DA is the most unfortunate thing that can ever happen to a former democrat. [Laughter.]
Last week, we listened attentively to a state of the nation address of the most special type that has been delivered since the commencement of this Fourth Parliament. It was presented as both a government report-back on the five priorities, which is education, health, job creation, rural development and safety and security, and included a set of actions to be implemented this year.
The state of the nation address detailed practical projects that are being implemented since 2009 by this government. With all the projects in place, as detailed both by the President and eloquently by the hon Minister of Public Enterprises, Malusi Gigaba, it came as no surprise that some in the House and other social and political commentators had no clue how to respond to such complex progress that has been made by this government. [Applause.]
The state of the nation address was also a government programme of action that was not premised on mere promises, but gave hope where it seemed to be fading and, more importantly, was a clarion call for collective action by all our people to build a better nation.
Yours, Comrade President, was not an address clouded with fancy and flairful quotations from renowned scholars, but one intended to communicate the needs, interests and aspirations of the Grade 12 learners with whom you met in preparation for the address. [Applause.] We applaud you and the government for being frank about the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality, without paying lip service to these challenges.
There are those who deliberately choose to be blind to the intention of the address on the state of our nation, and quickly rushed to their pigeonholes of feeble criticism, whilst others desperately tried to score cheap political points, as we have seen in this weekend's newspapers and the showmanship displayed here today.
According to them, the crime of the honourable President was not the content of the state of the nation address, but the fact that it was delivered. In fact, I am sure if you were there when Jesus was walking on water. As Bishop Tutu would retort, you would have actually accused him of not knowing how to swim. [Laughter.] For example, the hon Lindiwe Mazibuko, in her blind charade in the Sunday newspapers, which she repeated here today, reflected this bankruptcy. Even tweets showed that it was expected that she was going to say that the President is a lame duck, a weak leader and all manner of things; there is no confidence; and there is Nkandla and corruption. [Interjections.]