Hon member, this Bill was not tabled in Parliament yesterday. It was tabled in Parliament through the Office of the Speaker and the Office of the Chairperson. The members who comprise the joint tagging mechanism are the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces and they are advised by the legal team of Parliament. I believe that members of this House have the right to advice as early as possible. I don't think that, in reality, it is necessary to raise this issue now, because all Members of Parliament from all political parties participated in the debate and discussions. It is unfortunate that you heard that it was only the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Finance who was consulted on the matter.
In terms of the report, when the Chief Whips Forum agreed to continue with the process of this legislation they were informed that the committee had been consulted. Also, it was agreed that the Bill was to be part of the programme by the very same Chief Whips Forum of which the member is a part. This was also agreed to by the programming committee of which the member is also a member. If the intention was not to continue with this particular Bill, it was not supposed to have been agreed to at the Chief Whips forum and also not in the programming committee. Could we please allow the Minister to continue? I am not going to entertain any further discussion on this.