It is with great humility, a deep sense of honour and an unswerving resolve to honour your trust that I take the Chair as Speaker of the National Assembly.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng for graciously preparing and guiding us today.
As Speaker, I want to express my sincerest appreciation to Honourable Members for the confidence they have placed in me, and for the great responsibility that have been entrusted to me.
I am fully aware of not only the honour bestowed upon me but the responsibilities of leading this important institution of our young democracy. As Honourable Members are aware that I have been here in this august House before and even though I am not a “returning Member” but I am a “returning Speaker” which I think should bode well for our Parliament.
I assure Honourable Members that your trust is not misplaced and I will carry out my duties as Speaker in a manner that befits your trust and the letter and spirit of our Constitution.
I wish to take this opportunity to warmly welcome our new Members to this honourable House. I have been informed that almost half of the Members sworn in today did not serve in the Fourth Parliament. That is quite a high percentage, and for many of you it will be a fast-tracked learning process, and an adjustment to a new way of doing things.
However, I want to assure Honourable Members that Members of the previous parliaments have created an enabling environment in this House that will undoubtedly assist you in adjusting to your new surroundings and working environment in no time. I also wish to warmly welcome back the returning Members to the House.
Let me also take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the former Speaker, Honourable Max Sisulu for the sterling work he did over the past five years in entrenching democracy and uplifting the status of Parliament, both nationally and internationally. Let me also express my gratitude to the former Deputy Speaker, Nomaindia Mfeketo and all other Presiding Officers of the Fourth Parliament for their excellent work in managing this institution with such devotion.
Twenty years after democracy, we stand as a proud nation, a self-assured nation, confident of its own capacity and its own ability to mould its own destiny. Through the ballot box, the people of South Africa have once again given us, their elected representatives an unequivocal mandate and we dare not fail them.
We rise and fall as one nation, as one people. Let us therefore resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness that has taken root in our political landscape of late. Let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each one of us resolves to pitch in and work harder, smarter and faster, to ensure that our people have a better quality of life in their life time.
Robust debates and attacking each other’s policies are part of a lively parliamentary process. It is however important that Members remain conscious that their interaction with each other does not create a perception in society that would divide a nation into polarised political positions. I am not propagating for what is referred to as “sweet-hearts debates” in Parliament but I am raising the need to be aware of our influence on the public as their representatives.
Let each one of us therefore represent our people with dignity, purpose and honour. Let Parliament continue to be a living embodiment of nation-building, purpose, solidarity and unity.
Honourable Members,
I know we are all a little fatigued after hard fought election campaigns. There is however little time for a break, as there is much work that lies ahead of us.
Nelson Mandela cautioned us to always remember that, and I quote:
“What challenges us, who define ourselves as states-persons, is the clarion call to dare to think that what we are about is people – the proverbial man and woman in the street. These, the poor, the hungry, the victims of petty tyrants, the objectives of policy, demand change.”
In the coming days, months and years, I look forward to working with the heads of all political parties to ensure that Parliament remains a vibrant, robust, People’s Parliament. A guide-post for nation-building and transformation A Parliament that all South Africans are truly proud of.
I thank you!
