Speaker, first of all I would like to express my appreciation for the Deputy President's response, particularly his sense of outrage and revulsion at the violence that has taken place there. We on this side of the House likewise expressed our view as far as that was concerned.
In terms of what we can do, I wonder whether we have explored all the possibilities. We are a member of Brics. We are a member of an organisation that, seemingly, in the geo-political world, is on the rise and can exert some sort of influence. Within that context, I wonder whether South Africa, as a valued member of that organisation, can't exert some sort of influence on Russia and China to come around, to make sure that Syria actually does implement the six-point plan. In fact, Ban Ki-moon indicated that Syria had unfortunately not implemented every aspect of that six-point plan. I wonder whether we can't bring our influence to bear in that context.
In another context, violence is spiralling out of control simply because of the import of arms into that country, primarily from Russia. In fact, this morning it was reported that military helicopters were delivered into Russia for the Syrian government in order to prop up that government. I wonder whether we should not be promoting a ban on all imports of any type of armament into Syria. In that regard we need to exert our influence in Brics on our partners there - Russia and China. We need to promote a complete ban on the import of arms into Syria. I thank you. [Applause.]