Madam Deputy Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House -
1) notes with great sadness the death of South African Human Rights Commissioner, Gladstone Sandi Baai, who passed away on 15 August 2012 at the age of 69;
2) further notes that in 1966 he was accepted by the Cape Town Conference as a candidate for the Ministry of the Methodist Church of South Africa;
3) remembers that Mr Baai, after six years of training, was ordained as a Minister in Pretoria in 1973 and subsequently obtained a Bachelor of Theology Degree in Moral Philosophy and Missiology at the University of South Africa;
4) further remembers that in 1978 he was awarded the Christian Fellowship Trust Scholarship to participate in a political awareness programme about the apartheid policies in South Africa and in this regard visited Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Switzerland;
5) recalls that despite the several setbacks he had encountered in his education, he studied for a Masters Degree in Divinity, which was awarded with magna cum laude in 1984 and later obtained a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in 1988;
6) further recalls that Mr Baai was a hardworking pastor who remained committed to his vocation to the ministry throughout his life;
7) acknowledges that his illustrious career spanned many years and he occupied several posts as the first black lecturer in Pastoral Theology in the Faculty of Divinity at Rhodes University in 1990, as Director of Professional Ethics based at the Head Office of the Public Service Commission in Pretoria in 1996 and as Commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission in 2010;
8) further acknowledges that he made a significant contribution to the transformation of society when he led a team that developed the Code of Conduct for over a million public servants, which was made government policy and was included as Chapter 2 of the Public Service Regulations of 2000;
9) appreciates his deep compassion, humility, commitment and courage, which he proved in true selfless service to his people and the country;
10) further appreciates that he was a man of faith, courage, integrity and honesty; and
11) extends its heartfelt condolences to the family of Mr Baai, friends and colleagues.
Agreed to.