Chairperson, hon Minister and hon members, we all know that the primary purpose of the Department of State Security is to protect the South African citizens. It has a constitutional obligation to discharge its duties in an impartial manner. Accordingly the South African citizens expect it to serve all of them with dignity and respect.
Fortunately, the policy of segregation of the apartheid regime, which never protected the security needs of the majority of citizens in this country, is a thing of the past. Today there is a fairly equitable distribution of the benefits of state security services. We, the majority of citizens, are no longer regarded as a threat to state security. However, there are a number of issues that should receive the department's attention.
The UDM would like to request that the vetting of all intelligence civilians receives the immediate and serious attention of the Minister of State Security. The purpose of this vetting is to build an efficient and effective intelligence service, capable of ensuring peace and security for all in South Africa.
We call on the Minister to carefully consider the public outcry on the Protection of State Information Bill. As we have said on many platforms before, the UDM is fully cognisant of the need for a reasonable level of state secrecy. However, we have made it clear, in many instances, that we demand the inclusion of a public interest defence clause in the Information Bill, because without it we run the risk of undoing the gains of our political freedom. We do not want to see this ending up like the floor- crossing legislation.
In conclusion, we are concerned about the reports and claims from various quarters that the resources of the department are used to fight party- political battles. We call on everyone in the department to work together to build an impartial and nonpartisan state security department. The UDM supports the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]