Chair, my five-year-old daughter is watching, so you had better be nice to me! Her name is Maya and she is sitting at the back. [Laughter.]
Minister, Deputy Minister, and the director-general, to whom I am also paying tribute after long years of service in this department, I am here to support the Budget Vote. [Applause.]
At the same time this speech is dedicated to the memory of the godfather of rap, Gil Scott-Heron, who passed away earlier this week. He was famous for his unique style of fusing music and poetry, which he dedicated to the liberation of his people. He was also a friend of Africa and a fearless anti-apartheid activist. He was famous for the anthem, The Revolution will not be Televised.
People say that things are not related, and that what happens in one place does not influence another. Yet the working class and the poor of our country will tell you that that is not true. What the state does, and what the bosses ask it to do, all lead to the same objective unless we resist them - more ruthless influence for more ruthless exploitation. Minister, your department is standing at the abyss, despite all your best efforts. Secrecy is the blanket that the corrupt, the exploiters, the bourgeoisie and those in power use to hide the nature of their nefarious activities. Secrecy is how they use and abuse, and take what is not theirs and never have to account for it.
Let us talk about the "national democratic revolution". If the government of the day has its way, the counter-revolution will not be publicised.
If the government of the day has its way, we will not hear about the workers of Grootvlei mine who have been ripped off by the families of the ruling elite, because the counter-revolution will not be publicised.
If the government of the day has its way, we will not read about the toxic mine dumps, where children go and play with radioactive material, because the counter-revolution will not be publicised.
If the government of the day has its way, we will not hear about the corrupt lawyer and his partner, who steal mining rights and sell them to the highest bidder or to the highest office in the land, because the counter-revolution will not be publicised.
If the government of the day has its way, we will not hear about the so- called liquidator, brought in to liquidate the working class, who had been convicted of fraud but was rehabilitated to do this dirty deed, because the counter-revolution will not be publicised.
We will not hear about the nationalisation of derelict mines, and about fracking and wrecking in the Karoo. We will not hear about Imperial Crown Trading, ICT, about Kunene, Sunelo, Kumba, Mutala, Aurora and Nersa, about radioactive Robinson Lake, about asbestos at Ga-Mopedi and Ga-Mshushu, about Siltek Investments and its directors, and about the case numbers 837/11/1978, 207/7/1989 and 85/3/2010. Minister, look them up. We will not hear about mine deaths, silicosis, and profits before workers' safety. We will not see Alexkor on TV, making its first profits in 10 years and then going to invest them in Zimbabwe, or a CEO who does not work at the mine, but shops in Sandton. We will not hear about this, read about it, or even see it, because if the government of the day has its way, the counter- revolution will not be publicised.
In terms of the Protection of Information Bill [B6-2010], the revolution will be over. Everything I have said here will be classified as secret. [Interjections.] The revolution will not be publicised. [Applause.]