Madam Deputy Speaker, I rise on behalf of hon Coetzee. The Minister was quoted as having said that the young man concerned had apologised and so the matter should thus be considered to be closed and yet, what we saw here was reminiscent of apartheid-era policing.
Mr Maxwele was allegedly arrested at gunpoint, had a bag pulled over his head, was then subjected to a torrent of insults and intimidation from police and intelligence officials over a 24-hour period and NIA officers raided his house.
These are the tactics of a police state, not a democracy, and the so-called apology was released a week after the incident, but was part of his initial coerced statement. This is reminiscent of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, which of course the ANC is increasingly trying to emulate.