Thanks. It is a pity that certain members have chosen to grandstand, but I suppose that is to be expected, particularly when the party bosses may be listening. [Interjections.]
To draw on some of the points that Ms Schfer raised, one of the frustrations in what certain elements of the DA raised seems to be that there are certain areas we cannot debate and discuss. I don't know why they want to project that we cannot discuss issues such as court judgments, the relationship between arms of government ... [Interjections.] ... or even amendments to the Constitution. I find it interesting that only two amendments to the Constitution were proposed in this debate and they both came from members of the DA. These referred to amendments in the appointment of the National Director of Public Prosecutions ... [Interjections.] ... amendments to the process of appointing judges and, in particular, the composition of the Judicial Services Commission.
We should definitely debate the Constitution. It is not cast in stone. As the head of the Constitutional Assembly, Cyril Ramaphosa, said in an article, the Constitution was not brought down from Table Mountain on stone tablets. The Constitution itself provides for an annual review, so we need to review it. Regarding the appointment of judges, we should also remember that before 1994, it was the State President who appointed them, without any consultation. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
Regarding the JSC, it was an international innovation, which some other countries have since followed. [Interjections.] Even in Western democracies, like Germany - which we are told we should be following - Constitutional Court judges are elected by Parliament, and sometimes they are former Members of Parliament and former politicians. We need to look at and debate all those systems. Let's not grandstand over this. [Interjections.]
The other issue I want to raise is that of budget cuts. [Interjections.] This is something the committee is united on.