Agbare Speaker,

Volgende week herdenk Suid Afrika Erfenisdag. ‘n Dag waarop ons moet besin oor ons erfenis, dit wat ons as Suid Afrikaners van geslagte voor ons “ge-erf” het en die erfenis wat ons aan ons nagegeslagte wil nalaat.

Die titel van vandag se debat is egter misleidend en fokus geensins op die erfenis van ons land en sy mense nie, maar wel op die ANC se poging om verlore stemme by die 2014 stembusse te prober herwin deur voort te gaan om Suid Afrikaners te indoktroneer met hul “goeie storie om te vertel” verkiesingsboodskap – dus op hulself gerig.

It is upon us, the public representatives of the people, to ensure the heritage we leave behind is of a well- educated and skilled people who will be able to economically achieve their own dreams and be able to look after themselves and their families economically instead of being dependent of the state.

Quality education is the heritage we should leave our future generations.

Bantu education and the Soweto massacre of 1976 is a painful part of our history where people were essentially disenfranchised and had little to no opportunities. We should honour our painful past but use the lessons we learnt to fiercely fight for a future of an open opportunity society.

More and more we experience school boycotts as learners, teachers and communities are dissatisfied with the ANC being unable to deliver  textbooks on time, school furniture to all schools, shortage of qualified teachers, and the list goes on.

The disregard for a Court Order to deliver school furniture by mid June and the broken promise made by the President during his SONA address on 17 June this year when he said that “furniture will be delivered in all Eastern Cape schools by the middle of August 2014” makes it clear: the ANC has no intention to leave behind a heritage of quality education, which is clearly enshrined in our Constitution.

Mr President, we want the desks you promised the children delivered – now!

In an attempt to hide the failures of the targets set for each financial year on the ASIDI school delivery programme, which targeted 510 schools since inception 2010-11 and only 75 build till date, government initiated the “school a week delivery” programme!

Great initiative if we could deliver on it.  But what are we really achieving if more and more abandoned schools worth millions are found across our country?

On Monday I visited Lebaka B Primary school in Greater Letaba area, a brand new supposed to be state-of-the-art school, but it has been empty for years! The donkeys are now roaming in the classrooms and yard; brand new desks are gathering dust in the unused classrooms, so is all the office furniture in the admin offices; many desks and office chairs are lying outside in all weather conditions; buildings are being stripped of their roofs. Why?

Why aren’t our children in this school?

Is this legacy the ANC wants to leave behind?

Honourable President and members of the House,

We, as the DA, want all South Africans to rest assured that the DA loves this country as much as you do.

We must all honour our past, but work together towards a better future. What we want, however, is that, while young people should be given every opportunity to honour their past, they must, even more so, be provided with support to allow them to own their future.

So we call on the Minister of Basic Education, Ms Motshekga, to be thoroughly transparent in her handling of the matter regarding SADTU’s proposal rewrite the history syllabus and make the subject compulsory to matric. If she considers the demand, to engage in extensive public and expert consultation before making any decisions.

It is important to note, from the outset, that the DA cannot support history being compulsory through to matric. This runs counter to the principle of choice which should be available to every child, based on their skills and their aspirations.

But let us ask ourselves:  What heritage is it that this fifth Parliament will leave behind?

Will we be remembered as a Parliament where hooliganism reigned?

Will we be remembered as a Parliament where a President refused to answer questions?

Will we be remembered as a Parliament where the majority party tainted the office of the Speaker with a deployee?

Will we be remembered as a Parliament that ignored the big matters of national importance:  unemployment, corruption, service delivery?

I am very worried, fellow honourable members, that we are walking on a path to a rotten heritage for this fifth Parliament.

It does not have to be this way. We can engage in robust and constructive debate on the issues that really matter to South Africans.

We can work hard, sometimes together, sometimes disagreeing with each other, towards making our country a better place.

I would like to conclude my speech by appealing to all members to think about the heritage we are leaving behind in our term in Parliament. Think about how we are framing the national debate, and the example we are showing to our people with our debates.

Let’s take the time during this constituency period to think about the legacy we are leaving. I hope we can come back in the next term; and work on the real issues affecting our people.

Issued by the DA