Hon House Chair, colleagues, hon Speaker, it gives me pleasure, on behalf of the ANC, to stand before this august House to express our support for the Budget Vote for Parliament. Without the resources that are allocated in this budget to Parliament, as a nation we will not be able to achieve the goals set out in our Constitution, goals which have already been outlined, namely to be the tribunes of the people and to ensure government by the people through us. I think not to support this budget would fly in the face of that tenet of our Constitution.
Before I proceed with my contribution to this debate, which will focus on the need for increased support for political parties by Parliament, I just want to correct certain myths and misrepresentations that have been flying around this afternoon. Hon Kalyan, for example, who has just left the podium, now accuses us as the ANC of what the DA often refers to as cronyism - that we always put up our own people for opportunities and that we do not open up society, the so-called open opportunity society that they often refer to.
I just wanted to say it is strikingly interesting that these very same critics, when they took over power in the Western Cape, cleansed the Western Cape of anything that smacked of the ANC. [Interjections.] [Applause.] They unleashed senior counsel, who fired people left, right and centre to ensure ... [Interjections.]