Mr Speaker, the President and Deputy President, members of the House, today we all wholeheartedly celebrate the 20th anniversary of the freedom of Nelson Mandela. That is why we remember his reference to the child Ingrid Jonker wrote about and who has been "present at all assemblies and law giving", peering "through the windows of houses into the hearts of mothers". What is the future of that child today?
Where the Mandela era gave hope to the people, this administration, under President Zuma, is shattering the people's hope. Where there was international acclaim for us, there is now doom. Where international investors were excited about South Africa, they are now worried about whether or not the moral high ground is still there.
We are now in a morally compromised position. Where there was a clear and decisive leadership, President Zuma is too distracted to provide any kind of leadership, as is clearly evident to everyone.
In the Mandela period we were in a positive space; not anymore. The new ANC has lost its moral compass. [Applause.] Today, anything goes. The high moral standards of the Mandela and Mbeki period are no more. This is an anything-goes regime.
Furthermore, it is now no longer the constitutional imperatives that leaders answer to - that which they solemnly swore to advance. Cultural imperatives can triumph over constitutional imperatives.
Mandela left an untarnished legacy. How will history judge this administration with its moral lapses, its failure to deliver services, its inability to discipline its host of members and officials charged with corruption, its failure to cut back on unnecessary expenditure, its dismal failure in pulling us out of the poverty trap? How will history judge President Zuma who has no sense of respect for gender equality and gender parity? [Applause.]
Mandela promised the following:
Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.
He swore to reverse the pariah status of South Africa.
This administration is taking us right back to where we came from. Space exists in the political sphere for every political leader to emulate Mandela, and for every party to pursue his legacy.