Hon Chair, ... [Interjections.] ... I will keep it short! Hon Deputy President, hon Ministers and hon Members of Parliament, firstly, this debate takes place against the backdrop of the fact that this is an important day, the day on which the Cape High Court delivered a particular judgment. I will deal with this briefly at a later stage in my speech.
The second important factor that I want to mention is with regard to 2011 Statistics SA. The results of Census 2011 revealed that there had been a decrease in the use of official languages, except for three of them. One of those exceptions is isiNdebele, which is the language that I sometimes use in this House. Thus, some portions of my speech today will be in isiNdebele or isiKhethu.
Njengomaswaphela, gadesi umsebenzi engizowenza kuthanyela. Ekuthanyeleni kwami ngifuna ukutjheja ubujamo bamakhotho namhlanjesi. Abanengi sele bakhulumile ekulumenipikiswano le, kanti-ke okuvezwe mnqopho namkha ihloso yomThetholingwa lo, ngisazokukudzubhula. Kodwana ngifuna bona sitjheje iintjhijilo ezilanelako egade zibakhona lokha umThethomlingwa lo ungakabi khona.
Sokuthoma isitjhijilo kube kuphaphatha. Amakhotho nawasebenza nomNyango wezoBulungiswa nokuThuthukiswa komThethosisekelo bekubonakala bona kufanele bonyana aphaphathe, okutjho bona kufanele aphile ngokubawa. Kwesibili, sizwile nokobana eMangawung kwabakhona isilinghi eyapheze yawela phezu kwehloko yejaji.
Kwesithathu, mutjhiso okhona ngaphakathi kwemakhiwo yekhotho. Sizwile bona eThekwini kwabakhona ijaji elingakghoni ukusebenzela ngaphakathi komakhiwo wekhotho ngebanga lokurhagala komtjhiso obangelwa kungasebenzi kwemitjhini elawula izinga lokutjhisa. Kanti begodu sizwe nangesitjhijilo esibekhona eKhotho eKulu yeKapa, lapho kuthiwa lokha nakufanele kuthengwe iinsetjenziswa zangekhotho, kutholakale bonyana isabelo seemali sitlhayele. Alo-ke kumele bonyana kulindelwe isAbelo seeMali somnyaka olandelako.
Alo-ke, nawutjhejisisa umqopho namkha ihloso yomThethomlingwa lo, nanyana zikhulumile ngawo iinkhulumi esele zikhulume ngaphambili kwami kodwana, ngithanda bonyana nami, hlangana nokhunye khengidzubhule kafitjhani ngalokhu okulandelako: (Translation of isiNdebele paragraphs follows.)
[As the last speaker my work is to summarise, and in my summary I would like to look into the status of the courts today. Many have made their statements in this debate in respect of the aims of this Bill or what the Bill proposes, and I will quote. But I want us to look at some of the challenges that were encountered before this Bill was crafted.
The first challenge was that of begging. When courts were working with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development it was clear that they were supposed to beg, which means that they had to survive by begging. Secondly, we have heard that in Mangaung there was a ceiling that nearly fell on top of the head of the judge.
Thirdly, there is the heat inside the court buildings. We have heard that in eThekwini there was a judge that could not conduct the court proceedings inside the court building as a result of excessive heat that was caused by the malfunctioning of the air conditioners. And also we have heard about the challenge in the Cape Town High Court, were they say that when they had to procure the court resources it was found that there was insufficient budget. And therefore they have to wait for the next financial year.
Now when you consider the objectives or what the Bill proposes, other speakers that came before me spoke about this Bill, and I too would like, among other things, to shortly quote the following:]
Rationalise, consolidate and amend the laws relating to the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the High Courts in a single Act of Parliament; unite the various High Courts into a single High Court of South Africa; make provision for the administration of the judicial functions of all courts; and make provision for administrative and budgetary matters relating to the superior courts.
Angekhe ngangena ngokunabile ngombana selengitjhwile bona iikhulumi ezinengi sele zikubekile lokho. Alo-ke, njengesikhulumi samaswaphela begodu naleso umsebenzi waso kukuthanyela, bengisoloko ngilalele lokho okubekwa ziinkhulumi, khulukhulu lezo ezingesandleni sami sangesinceleni. Kodwana akakho ekhe ngamizwa akhuluma okulumelako engingakhuluma ngakho khulu.
Umhlonitjhwa uSmuts khewatshwaya kancani mayelana nendaba yoMnqophisimazombe okunguye obikako ngokuya ngomNyango wezoBulungiswa nokuThuthukiswa komThethosisekelo, kodwana umThethomlingwa lo ukhuluma ngoNobhalamazombe okunguye ozakuvela phambili kwePalamende azokubika mayelana nokusetjenziswa kweemali.
Boke bakhulume kuhle okufakahlangana nabomhlonitjhwa u-Adams. Kanti-ke, nakungu-Ambrosini yena, ngifuna bona khengibuyele kuye ngithi, ... (Translation of isiNdebele paragraphs follows.)
[I am not going to dwell on this much, as I have alluded before to the fact that many speakers have mentioned that. Now as a last speaker my task is to sweep. As I was listening to what was said by other speakers, especially those from the left, I did not hear any one of them speaking negatively about this Bill. Therefore I have not much to say.
Hon Smuts briefly said something about the issue of the director-general who is the accounting officer, and is responsible for reporting on behalf of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, but this Bill refers to the secretary-general who is going to come before this Parliament to report about the departmental spending.
All of them spoke very well, including Hon Adams. But, when it comes to Ambrosini, I want to go back to him and say the following.]
Hon Ambrosini said that the decision of the Cape High Court today is regarded as a failure of the court to make a ruling against the Speaker. I say, no, that is an incorrect interpretation of this decision. The effect of this decision is an assertion of the separation of powers. That is the principle.