The following speech was delivered on the second day of Parliament’s debate of the 2019 State of the Nation Address.
Agbare Speaker, Lede en Suid Afrikaners;
Die staatsrede van 2019 was om die minste te sê teleurstellend en verbeeldingloos. Die indruk wat dit in baie Suid Afrikaners se gedagte gelaat het was dat onder die ANC regering is ons soos `n nasie op `n verlate stasie.
Net soos verlede jaar het ons weereens gehoor hoe President Cyril Ramaphosa en die ANC Suid Afrikaners belowe vir nog vergaderings sonder veranderings, berade sonder dade, direktorate sonder kragte, konferensies met meer wensies en seminare vir al die jare. Die mense van Suid Afrika wil aksie sien. Aksie wat hulle lewens sal verbeter.
Hulle is moeg vir leë beloftes en klets winkels.
It was disappointing to note that, while the President spoke of South Africa advancing peace on the continent, he completely failed to mention the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.
The President also missed an opportunity to address South Africans on the issue of illegal immigration during his SONA speech this year. This is an issue that millions of South Africans are complaining about on a daily basis and the ANC government chooses to ignore it. Ignoring this issue will not make it go away.
That is why I am proud to say that the DA is the only party brave enough to take on this issue. No country in the world can allow its borders to be a free for all. Whether you are from Swaziland or Switzerland, you must be documented if you want to stay in South Africa.
It is not a priority for the ANC, although the Health Minister warned in November that Foreign Nationals are placing an extra burden on the already overcrowded hospitals.
Our borders are so porous, you might as well say that we do not have borders at all. People are coming in and out of our country as they please. Among those crossing our borders undetected are drug smugglers, illicit goods, human traffickers, the list goes on.
Our Home Affairs offices are so poorly equipped that our poor officials cannot do their jobs to the best of their abilities. They do not even have uniform or appointment cards for almost eight years now.
Our SAPS members at border posts feel their lives are in danger because they have to face syndicates with far more advanced weapons. I feel sorry for these government servants. Most of them try their best under the worst circumstances.
The President failed to make mention of the Department of Defence, the South African National Defence Force, and the issue plaguing these institutions. Our defence force members must patrol our borders with very little resources and technology. All they ask for are drones, cameras and other surveillance equipment to support them in their efforts to properly secure our borders with limited human capacity.
Our communities next to border posts are living in fear. Syndicates threaten their livelihoods. They fall prey to hijacking syndicates running cross-border operations. This government is well aware of these problems but chose to do nothing about it.
We have hotbeds of drug-related crimes, notably Kempton Park, which has seen drug related crimes spike to six times the 2010 levels.
The president spoke of the impact of substance abuse, drug trafficking and crime on communities. We cannot discuss drug trafficking and the impact of substance abuse on communities without a frank conversation about where the drugs flow to and from, how they get into and out of the country, or how they are related to human trafficking and international criminal syndicates running cross-border operations.
Understandably, to a billionaire President, stock theft might appear a minor crime. But to the farmers affected, stock theft has a significant impact on their businesses. It threatens their livelihoods. And the livelihoods of their employees in a country short on alternative work opportunities.
The Zondo Commission of inquiry has highlighted to us that criminality is not limited to drug kingpins or human traffickers. This government has placed the care of detained undocumented immigrants in the hands of a crime ring linked to President Ramaphosa.
Perhaps that is why the President failed to make mention of human rights abuses against foreign nationals at Bosasa-run Lindela Repatriation Centre which have long been reported by civil society. Human dignity and human lives have been lost in order for Bosasa bigwigs to eat, for ANC cadres to enrich themselves and the President’s campaign machine to get its funding.
Die ANC regering is soos n luis kombers wat onse regering bedek. Hulle byt ons, hulle is parasiete wat die laaste bloed uit ons suig. Hulle suig die laaste sent uit ons en onse regering. Ons moet van hierdie luis kombers ontslae raak. Ons kan nie aanhou so gebyt en droog gesuig word deur hierdie parasiete nie. Jy kan nie n luis kombers was nie. Daai luise sal nie heeltemal weg gaan nie.
Die enigste ding om te doen is om daai luis kombers veld toe te vat en daar te los.
Suid-Afrika, ons het nog ‘n kans. Wanneer julle stem op 8 Mei, help die DA om daai luis kombers van ons mense en die regering te vir eens en vir altyd te verwder.
Stem DA vir ‘n skoon regering wat vir jou sal werk!
Baie dankie.