Madam Deputy Speaker, I have a suspicion that the failure of the voting system this evening is a pretty good reflection of what happens in Parliament generally and the way Parliament is operating.
The DA opposes this Vote. It is the first time that we have actually ever opposed the Parliamentary Budget Vote, but we do so today to express our serious concerns about the way that this institution is being run. In the first instance, we pass Rules affecting this Parliament which are never implemented and of course the best, or perhaps worst, example of this is the nonimplementation of the Financial Management of Parliament Act, which would effectively create oversight over ourselves in Parliament. This Act was passed for good reasons and its nonimplementation is certainly a sorry reflection of this Parliament.
Secondly, we as the DA are not satisfied that Parliament performs its oversight roles properly or fully. While much is said and written about oversight, the mechanisms for performing this essential part of our duties as MPs are underplayed and underperformed in Parliament. Certainly, even an important aspect such as question time, designed to allow MPs to really question members of the executive, is undermined by the executive itself, many of whom make a mockery of the process by either not answering questions at all or by answering them in such a way that, as I say, it makes a mockery of the system.
Finally, we are not convinced that there is a genuine desire on the part of the ANC to accept anything other than mediocrity in terms of how this Parliament is run. Parliament requires a very urgent shake-up and reorganisation but regrettably there is no sign that this is happening at the present time and therefore we cannot support this Budget Vote. [Applause.]