Mr Speaker, the high levels of corruption which continue to plague our Public Service not only undermine our service delivery for the poorest of our citizens, they also undermine public confidence, economic growth and job creation. At the heart of this problem is a lack of political will to tackle cronyism, to tackle corruption head- on, specifically when it relates to politicians themselves. In this House, on 22 May, the hon President of the Republic stated that politicians should not be disadvantaged from doing business with the state. He also implied that since it was not illegal, the ethics of the matter should not be relevant.
Will the Deputy President please use his response either to confirm or to repudiate the statement? Does he or does he not agree with the hon President? If so, how does he justify that agreement, given his own response to this House earlier this year that politicians should not benefit from public contracts? Thank you.