Thank you very much, Chairperson. I will not take up that entire 15 minutes, but I am very grateful that my colleagues here have saved enough time for me to be able to respond appropriately.
As we commemorate 50 years of uMkhonto weSizwe, the outstanding "Spear of the Nation", we pay attention to the fact that we must pay homage to outstanding soldiers of a particular period of MK represented amongst us here. First and foremost, the hon Mlangeni, who was the first soldier trained by MK, is here with us today. [Applause.] When they talk of South Africa as a remarkable country, these are some of the facts that they overlook. We also have a trained soldier here following very close on the hon Mlangeni. It is the hon Diale, who also is a member of MK and trained. [Applause.] Following close on him is Comrade Mokopo, who is also here with us now and who will be making sure that we can honour these outstanding soldiers who brought us the kind of freedom that we today enjoy in this House. [Applause.]
I would like to thank all those members present here who supported the budget. I would like to thank and convey appreciation for the concern that most of them have indicated about the inadequacies of the budget. We have recognised this, and we are working on that. We hope that the next time we come back here, we will be talking a different story.
Indeed, the budget that we have is woefully inadequate, and for those members who have the opportunity, I am informed that Parliament has so transformed that we do have a word we can throw in to support the budget that we are requesting. Therefore, Chairperson, please think kindly of the words that were spoken during the time you spent with us here to make sure that we can have an increased budget.
Our soldiers are indeed the most valuable resource that we have. We will look after them. We spend our time looking after them. They give their lives for us, and they can be assured that we value that, and we continually make sure we are committed to giving them a better life.
To members who supported the budget, again, I want to say thank you. I want to thank you for your constructive input, and some of the concerns that you have raised we will take into consideration and ensure that we can respond and attend to them.
In particular, hon Ndlovu; you spoke so well. Hon Holomisa, you also spoke so well. You distinguish yourselves always in ensuring that you make constructive inputs in our debates. I was wondering if the two hon members would please consider taking a part-time job to coach some of the members of the portfolio committee here in how they can contribute constructively to this asset poll of the Defence Force. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
This is a serious responsibility that we have. It gets more serious as we have more problems on the continent, and perhaps you could take them out for coffee and just try to instil that sense of responsibility.