THURSDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2008

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PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

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Dr P W A MULDER: Madam Speaker, on behalf of the FF Plus I wish to congratulate Mr Motlanthe on his election as President of the Republic of South Africa. South Africa is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, with incredible potential. We all love this country.

South Africa, however, is also one of the most difficult countries in the world to govern. President Motlanthe can ask his predecessors about this. The FF Plus wishes him wisdom in these difficult times. All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing, as Edmund Burke said. That is true for all of us as leaders in South Africa. Experience is important, but in the end all that we really need from leaders in South Africa is common sense. I must be honest with you; over the past year I’ve been worried that common sense is no longer so common in South Africa. [Laughter.]

I, like Mr Seremane, we both come from the same place, Randfontein. The FF Plus abstained from casting a vote today in this election, not because we are angry with Mr Seremane, but we thought it opportunistic of the DA to nominate Mr Seremane … [Applause.] [Interjections.] … as President of this country while from the ranks of the DA, during the recent election of a new leader for the DA, Mr Seremane could only obtain 6% of the DA’s vote. [Applause.] [Interjections.]

As for Mr Zuma, I want to tell him a story. [Laughter.] Two Afrikaners in the olden days were on their way with a wagon and eight oxen. That evening they unharnessed the oxen and went to sleep in the bushes next to the road. At midnight they heard lions roaring around the camp. Quickly and anxiously they harnessed the oxen and dashed off. When the sun rose that morning they saw that in their haste they had harnessed seven oxen and one of the lions. [Laughter.] The two looked at each other and said, “It was easy to hastily harness the lion in the dark, but how do we now unharness it?” [Laughter.]

Now sir, the ANC has harnessed Mr Motlanthe as a lion today during the dark and current crisis, and we really wish him well in this position. Does the ANC, however, also know how to unharness a lion, should it be necessary? [Laughter.]

It seems that we will not have the opportunity again today to thank Mr Mbeki. The FF Plus often disagreed with Mr Mbeki, but in our opinion he served his country to the best of his ability and he was always a dignified President. We wish him a peaceful retirement. Thank you. [Applause.]