Hon Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister and hon members, the South African Constitution contains the Bill of Rights, which is a cornerstone of democracy in South Africa. It enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom.
This approach includes the notion that all individuals in a society accept rules imposed by a legitimate authority in exchange for security and economic advantage. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights prohibits all discrimination on one or more grounds, specifically race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth. This list is more extensive than the equality provisions in most human rights instruments. What is noteworthy is the distinction between gender and sex, and the inclusion of pregnancy, age and disability.
The constitutional law of South Africa declares that there will be no discrimination on whatever basis. I grew up in District Six, where I had the honour of attending St Phillips Primary School and being a member of the Eoan Group. The forced removals that laid District Six bare for so many years reinforces the remembrance and brings the scars of the removals to the fore every time I see the barren wasted land as I enter the city of Cape Town.
May there never in the future of our country be a repetition of any forced removal of any of its people from their place of birth.
Dit is my grondwetlike reg as Suid-Afrikaansgebore Wes-Kapenaar om in hierdie provinsie te woon en te werk, en dit is ook die reg van die miljoene ander mense vir wie die Wes-Kaap hul enigste tuiste is.
Die Grondwet stel dit onomwonde dat elkeen die reg het op sy taal en kultuur. Wanneer mense soos Mnr Manyi ligtelik na verwyderings verwys, besef hulle dat elke gesin en familiegroep interafhanklik is en verantwoordelik vir mekaar is? Die mense aan die Kaap van Goeiehoop het 'n eeue-oue geskiedenis, van lank voor Krotoa, tot ons wat vandag hier saam in die Huis sit om ons onderskeie gemeenskappe gesamentlik te kan verteenwoordig.
Die DA onderskryf die Grondwet van Suid-Afrika om aan elke individu die geleentheid te gun om hulself te kan ontwikkel en hulself uit te leef as gelyke, volkome, wettige burgers, en sodat elkeen se taal en kultuur die erkenning sal geniet soos in die Grondwet omskryf.
Daar is ses pilare waardeur die DA se begrip van 'n oop samelewing gerugsteun word: 'n Grondwet wat die gesag van die gereg, individuele regte, vryhede en die skeiding van magte voorop stel; deursigtigheid en verantwoorbaarheid, waarsonder 'n regering sy magte kan misbruik en die vryhede, soos in die Grondwet bepaal, in gevaar stel; veiligheid van die persoon en sy eiendom; 'n onafhanklike en vrydenkende burgerlike samelewing; 'n algemene verdraagsaamheid teenoor die verskille in die bevolking; en daarmee saam hang 'n ekonomie wat hoofsaaklik gekenmerk word deur die basiese vrye keuses van die individu.
Die DA is daartoe verbind om alle aanslae te identifiseer wat daarop gemik is om persoonlike vryhede aan bande te l, en om terselfdertyd die uitbreiding van die ruimte vir persoonlike vryheid te bevorder. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.) [It is my constitutional right as a South African-born citizen of the Western Cape to live and work in this province, and this is also the right of the millions of other people for whom the Western Cape is their only home.
The Constitution unequivocally states that every person has the right to his or her language and culture. When people like Mr Manyi lightly refer to removals, do they realise that each family and family group is interdependent on and responsible for each other? The people from the Cape of Good Hope have an age-old history, dating back to long before Krotoa up until today where we are gathered here in the House to collectively represent our various communities.
The DA endorses the Constitution of South Africa to provide each individual with the opportunity to develop themselves and to express themselves as equal, absolute and legal citizens, and so that each one's language and culture is acknowledged as defined in the Constitution.
There are six pillars through which the DA's concept of an open society is backed up: A Constitution that prioritises the authority of the law, individual rights, freedoms and the division of powers; transparency and accountability, without which a government could misuse its powers and endanger the freedoms as stipulated in the Constitution; an individual's safety and security of his property; an independent and freethinking civil society; a general tolerance towards the differences in the population and, in accordance with this, an economy that is primarily characterised by the basic free choices of the individual.
The DA is committed to identifying all onslaughts that are aimed at impeding personal freedoms, and to promoting the opportunity to create more room for personal freedom at the same time.]
With regard to human rights, the members of the NCOP must realise that they have a major role to play in recognising any impact that new legislation submitted to them may have on the exercising of those human rights embedded in the Constitution, and which are dear to us all, regardless of our political affiliations.
Do not only look to the possibly explicit clauses which one may identify, but also, through lateral thinking processes, to those which many seem innocuous but which, at some future time, may be extrapolated as so-called principles with regard to situations for which they were not intended by the drafters of the Bills.
The process of careful examination by the NCOP and informed referrals to address perceived problem areas is a most important one, and emphasises the watchdog role of the NCOP and its responsibility to present and future citizens.
Minderheidsgroepe soos gestremdes moet 'n betrebare samelewing kan ervaar. Daar moet opnuut na die toeganklikheid van die omgewing en werkplek gekyk word om alle geriewe aan alle burgers van die Wes-Kaap beskikbaar te stel.
Die DA ondersteun die Triangle Project, wat hul daarvoor beywer om 'n algemene verdraagsaamheid teenoor die verskille in die mense se keuses ten opsigte van godsdiens, kultuur en sexuele voorkeure, te bevorder. Die DA keur ten sterkste gedrag af wat daarop gemik is om 'n individu te straf vir sy of haar reg om persoonlike keuses uit te oefen. Regte wat in die Grondwet erkenning geniet, moet ook op grondvlak daardie beskerming bied aan elke burger. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Minority groups like the disabled must be able to experience a society that is easily accessible. The accessibility of the environment and workplace needs to be examined once again to ensure that all facilities are available to all citizens of the Western Cape.
The DA supports the Triangle Project that endeavours to promote general tolerance towards the differences in people's choices with regard to religion, culture and sexual preference. The DA strongly condemns behaviour that is aimed at punishing an individual because of his or her right to exercise personal choice. The rights that are acknowledged in the Constitution should also provide the same protection at grass-roots level to each citizen.]
Section 9(4) of the Constitution states emphatically that:
No person may unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds ... National legislation must be enacted to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination.
It is therefore necessary for the government to intervene on behalf of a minority group targeted for corrective rape.
Furthermore, Mr Chairperson, it is the constitutional duty of each citizen of South Africa to respect, protect, promote and fulfil those rights. We cannot leave it to the state alone to do that. I am therefore thankful to be part of the DA in the Western Cape that adheres unconditionally to these rights. Thank you, hon Chairperson. [Interjections.] [Applause.]