Chairperson, regarding Questions 30 and 31, I would like to say the following. This and the previous question are related, and we note with deep concern that the National Council of Provinces is increasingly asking questions pertaining to national security. These questions are relatively more than those we are asked in the National Assembly.
We are not saying that we don't want to answer questions, but that the law demands that we protect our sources and methods. So, I am just saying that that's why we have a Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, where we answer questions in full. Because these questions pertain to matters of policy and the Bills which are in the public domain at the moment, we have decided that we should try to answer them.
I would like to say that the hon member Lees put a similar question during the meeting with the Ad Hoc Committee on the Protection of State Information Bill in the NCOP, which is processing this legislation. This meeting was held on 24 January 2012. I provided a detailed response, and I wish to refer the hon member to the record of that meeting.
However, in a spirit of openness, I even said the following then in my speech in the National Assembly - I offer to give him a copy of the Hansard and, of course, I will give him a copy of what I said in the National Assembly, and I stand by it. I indicated that I did not call any organisation a proxy of foreign spies. That was in that meeting of the National Assembly.
I continued in said meeting and said that there was a group of categories of persons that were aggrieved by this Bill, but they wouldn't come into the public and put their view that they were aggrieved.
I said in that meeting that the first category was the corrupt official. There is no corrupt official who is going to come to the committees of Parliament and say he or she is against the Protection of State Information Bill because it's going to make it harder for him or her to continue with his or her corruption or corrupt activities. Nor will the lazy official.
I said another category was foreign spies. There is no foreign spy who is going to come to the committee of the NCOP to say he or she is against this Bill because it cuts his or her easy access to the critical information that this country has.
I said that the last category was the information peddler. You are not going to find any information peddler who is going to say he or she is a peddler by profession and this Bill is cutting his or her wellbeing.
So, it was in that context that we gave a full explanation. I therefore submit that, Chairperson. Thank you very much.