Chairperson, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, members of the intelligence community, and hon members, it is a general norm that a defence force in any country of the world represents or rather has, as its purpose, the defence of the ruling class. It is not for me to say who the ruling class is in South Africa. I can but talk with authority of the ruling party in South Africa, which is the ANC, my party.
We in South Africa are in a very unique situation in that our Defence Force is without doubt not the defence force of the ruling party, but of the country's citizens as a whole, without any discrimination. The opposition definitely agrees with me in this regard.
Having said the above, let us now look at the Defence Intelligence within the SA National Defence Force. The Defence Intelligence, DI, draws its mandate from the Defence Act, Act 42 of 2002, section 34(a) and (b) read in conjunction with the National Strategic Intelligence Act, Act 39 of 1994, section 4. Defence Intelligence must gather, correlate and use strategic intelligence for the purpose of ensuring national security, determining and formulating of defence strategy and policy, as well as assisting in the co- ordination of foreign military assistance.
It must use operational and counterintelligence for purposes of assisting in the execution of operations in line with the defence strategy. It must conduct and institute counterintelligence measures within the Ministry of Defence and the Armaments Development and Production Corporation, for example by supporting naval security, supporting deployments at the border line, etc. The core objective of Defence Intelligence is to provide intelligence, counterintelligence and a defence foreign relations capability and service. The other objective is to ultimately position itself to supply comprehensive cutting-edge defence intelligence at both strategic and operational levels, to afford decision-makers at all levels of command the fullest possible understanding of threats and opportunities.
South Africa is a unique country. It is unique, because, and only because, it is governed by a mature party, a party that has distinguished itself in the war for liberation, a movement that is known for its diplomacy, an organisation that is respected the world over for its foresight and its respect for democracy and human rights, and an organisation that is the oldest in Africa.
Whilst the ANC has been fighting for democracy since its inception, the opposition parties only started fighting for democracy in 1994. [Applause.] Let them prove me wrong. Was it because they were stupid that they couldn't see that there were some people, the majority of the indigenous population, who were denied democracy, or were they happy about the status quo? It therefore means that, if it were not for the relentless fight by the ANC, they would be still in the dark about democracy. [Applause.] The ANC liberated them from this stupidity. [Applause.] Are they, therefore, not naive and hypocritical to try and teach us about democracy and human rights - we, who have been on the receiving side of their past policies?
I think they need to be reminded. I want to go to the furthest extreme of trying to remind them, even though it might border on absurdity. One could suggest that, one day, for instance on the Day of Reconciliation - which, coincidentally, is my birthday - in order for us to never, ever forget, we may need to relive what used to happen. That is, we could theatrically call each other by the names we used to. [Laughter.] We could have separate amenities, hospitals and restaurants. We could move out of this Parliament building and leave them alone, and maybe attack Mozambique. [Laughter.] Maybe the horror of what used to happen might wake some of them up.
Although absurd in the extreme, this might teach us the heavy load of responsibility that we all have to bear in order to make South Africa work, because it tends to be the previously oppressed who are expected to make reconciliation work.
Whilst previously the function of Defence Intelligence was to plan the harassment, maiming and killing of our brothers and sisters in Africa and the world over, the whole of its vision, mission and objectives has changed and is now the direct opposite of what it was before. Defence Intelligence is used for defensive purposes. It is used for humanitarian purposes. It is used to gather intelligence information for the sake of defence policy formulation.
One must know how other countries are armed in order to know the design, quantity and quality that one's army must develop or maintain. An army doesn't have sophisticated armoury in order to attack other countries, but as a deterrent. That is, if a country wants to attack you, they must think twice. There is now oversight over what happens in our Defence Intelligence established according to the Constitution, the supreme law of the land. Our Defence Force has never attacked any neighbouring country. That one time they entered Lesotho, we had an Acting President who was not an ANC member! [Laughter.] Not that there was anything wrong with that; I just wanted everyone to note that. [Laughter.]
With limited financial resources Defence Intelligence still manages to execute an effective plan such as providing representation in countries where the SA National Defence Force, SANDF, needs to advance its interests through its defence attach. The DI forms the front line in defence diplomacy efforts. The DI is represented in countries across the Southern African Development Community, SADC, Africa, the Middle East and the rest of the world.
I always stand here and teach the opposition, especially the DA. If I could give you an example ... your marketing strategy is like that of a person who advertises and sells dog food. During the very first month they make millions but, during the second month, nobody buys their dog food and the company goes under. The problem is that they didn't ask the dogs! The dogs didn't like the food! [Applause.] And if you do that, you will never sustain whatever you say.
I like what the hon Msimang said. He simply said what is written in the papers. If we were to take what is in the papers, we would take this and that decisions. What hon Koornhof of Cope said is what always surprises me. They always talk about our voters as the ANC. They are saying we mislead our voters. Why don't they talk about their voters and leave ours alone? The ANC supports the Budget Vote. [Time expired.] [Applause.]