Madam Deputy Speaker, Deputy President, members of the executive, Members of Parliament, the views that we shared and those of the hon member Schmidt were different, and fundamentally so. However, it was not in an acrimonious way. We met him in June when he was allocated to serve on the Energy committee, and that was the first time that I got to know him.
Although he was in Parliament for a short time, unlike other members who had 30 to 40 years, through our interactions it was as if we had known each other for a long time. One could gather that he was a dedicated member and a very hard worker. He was always on top of issues that informed public discourse in the area of energy in which his party, the DA, had deployed him.
Although we were on different sides of the political fence, we both understood that we were there to ensure that we are building a nation united in its diversity. Hon Schmidt was a true patriot who believed and understood the founding principles of our constitutional democracy. He contributed immensely to escalating the debate pertaining to energy, especially with regard to Eskom and its centrality to our future economic growth and prosperity.
As members of this House, we are here to deal with the masses of our people who voted for us, and he did exactly that. As I then went through his CV, I learnt that he was a former deputy headmaster of Reseamohetse Primary School in Theunissen in the Free State. He was a community activist who understood the toil and suffering of the poor in Theunissen. He lived by principles and was able to ensure that he could deal with the issues first- hand.
On 1 February, Members of Parliament and members of the Portfolio Committee on Energy paid tribute; and some of them, like Mr Selau, said that they even remember the late Schmidt when they go to do oversight work outside the precincts of Parliament because he would always talk about work issues. Mrs Mathibela also expressed words of condolence and said that Mr Schmidt was a hands-on and pleasant person to work with. She will always remember him.
Mr Nchabeleng stated that when he met him for the first time, he looked at his face and he looked like a very serious person, and he greeted. They were smoking together in the smokers' room when Mr Nchabeleng asked for a box of matches. But before he even finished asking for a box of matches, Mr Schmidt gave him a lighter. Mr Nchabeleng then realised that this person really was very embracing.
By only looking at his face, you might have thought he would tell you to go. Mr Nchabeleng also said he will forever remember the first time he met him rather than what he thought of him. He saw that Mr Schmidt was a different person and a colleague.
Another member, Ms Moss, also explained that because of Mr Cobus Schmidt's input - he was always forthright and tacked issues head-on - she believed that we were supposed to have had more time to work with him, but we couldn't.
Some of the members expressed the notion that it is a pity that we don't tell members while they are still alive, even annually, that they've done very well during the year while serving on the committee. We keep quiet. When they are no more, we then say all the nice things about them.
With regard to his duties as a committee member, yes, I do agree. He was a very forthright person who spoke his mind, but I am sure that the former Speaker and the former Deputy Speaker, the one who left to be the Deputy Minister of Economic Development, will be very happy to hear that Mr Schmidt used to carry his laptop into the portfolio committee meetings. They were discussing issues and then did presentations much faster and raised their hands afterwards.
But, Chairperson, this is not a fact; here is the correct information about what he used to do all the time. He always used to encourage other committee members to use their laptops because they are very informative. He was the type of person who used to take his work seriously, with passion, even if he disagreed with you. As far as I am concerned, he was a gentleman. He was very humble but he would raise his issues very strongly. Even if he didn't agree with you, he did that with humility and very respectfully. I believe that we need such Members of Parliament because we are here for the one purpose of doing work and ensuring that we can work together.
He was a shadow minister for the DA with regard to energy issues. In terms of his research, Eskom was the major part of his work. He was even prepared to go and investigate the issue of coal that was disappearing at Eskom. He would then come back to the committee to say this is how we must do things, and this is how we can get rid of these problems so that Eskom can do good things.
He would ask me, as the chairperson, how we could deal with Eskom issues. It is a pity that he had to go before he could even deal with some of those issues.
He was very clear that the former chief executive officer must leave because he didn't belong there and had not done one, two, and three. He said so openly in the committee. The CEO came to explain the issues relating to overspending. After that, hon Schmidt was very happy that at least Mr Maroga came to the committee to explain, but Mr Maroga is a gentleman.
He accepted all the things that were explained and after that we were able to have a very positive way forward to take action. But our mission was not yet finished. He said that in a very good way, not in a negative way, and we will miss that good way in the committee because he was a very dedicated person. That is what I experienced in the few months that he was on the committee.
What I also experienced is that he used to talk about Eskom even if we were socialising. This also happened when we were on an oversight visit to Coega last year, where we held a formal dinner. People started talking about other things, but hon Schmidt and hon Selau were talking about energy issues. Then I said to him, "No, Mr Schmidt we are here to socialise a little bit. Just relax a bit. We will deal with the issue of Eskom and the coal later in the committee. We are in Port Elizabeth and Coega is saying we must relax. This is a relaxed dinner."
He could even stay until late; he liked a bit of that. We also went to Mozambique with him, through Parliament. We were visiting the solar. After the workshop and the conference, they went and came back in the early hours of the morning and he was not able to come when the meeting started! [Laughter.] He wrote a note to me saying: "Chairperson, I am very sorry, we went to another spot where we were just looking at the fish and when we decided which one we wanted, they toasted it for us. We enjoyed ourselves and we were able to dance to the music. I really enjoyed myself and I am here now, we will discuss everything else."
But then I learnt that he was not the only one and that he was with some members of the committee; it was a three-member delegation! [Laughter.]
When we went to Coega, I already knew what he liked to do after hours. So we relaxed and talked, discussed and danced and so on. I mean that is what we are going to miss about him because he was a jolly person. When he had to do his work, he did just that. When we had to socialise, he did so until the early hours of the morning.
However, I made him aware of my disapproval of his socialising until the early hours. I told him he could overindulge in fish or other stuff but he must ensure that at 9:00 or 10:00 he was in the meeting. Further, I warned him if he did not adhere to this, he would never be part of my delegation again. He promised me that it was the last time. He apologised and I accepted his apology.
Let me thank the committee secretary, Peter Mbele, for attending the funeral, and also thank the representative from the department, through the Minister, for being able to attend the funeral, and Mr Motau. Although he is our member, he represented the committee very well.
We hope that you will keep up the spirit because this was a real activist. I've never seen such a person. When you were looking at him, you would think he wasn't doing community work. He knew his story very well. But then I realise that he taught in that type of school, and that is where he learnt a lot about community work.
So he was not one to thumb-suck; he was talking about the real thing. And he was an activist to me and much more than a deputy headmaster. He was able to grasp the issues. He was a lovely and good person to work with. I know that we will miss his energetic inputs, robust and at times a little bit rough. However, he would say that those were the facts.
I hope that we will be able, as the committee, to ensure that we keep up that spirit in the committee. We will remember him all the time and he will always be in our hearts. We are not going to see him again but his work will follow him. He made a difference during a short stint. I thank you. [Applause.]