ACDP calls for immediate strengthening of whistleblower protection

House Chairperson, The urgent need for enhanced protection measures for whistleblowers and witnesses—not only in high‑profile cases—cannot be overstated. South Africa witnesses a deeply troubling pattern of intimidation, harassment, and assassinations against those...

Bullying is a moral crisis that undermines the dignity of our learners

Honourable Speaker, The African Christian Democratic Party welcomes the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education's swift intervention and reporting on the bullying incident of the 16th of October 2025 at the Milnerton High School. The video footage widely circulated on...

In the case of Statutory Rape there is no question of consent!

House Chair, the ACDP believes that we are facing an absolute moral crisis—a legal crisis—when it comes to rape, and particularly when it comes to statutory rape in our nation. There are excellent laws, but they are not implemented. During 2024/25, there were 117,000...

Celebrating our mother languages strengthens democracy

Honourable Deputy Speaker, International Mother Language Day, reminds us that language is more than a tool of communication — the ACDP asserts that it is the heartbeat of identity, the carrier of memory, and the foundation of dignity. For South Africans, this day...

ACDP says NO to state regulation of the Church!

Madam Speaker, Chapter 9 of the South African Constitution calls for the establishment of six State institutions designed to strengthen constitutional democracy. One of these is the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and...

ACDP supports salary increases for the Public Protector

Deputy Speaker, The ACDP supports this report regarding the remuneration of the Public Protector and Deputy Public Protector.  The Public Protector plays a crucial role in the fight against corruption and maladministration. The Constitutional Court in the Nkandla...

ACDP supports salary increases for the judiciary

House Chair, the ACDP supports the salary increases for the judiciary. In order for the judiciary to be effective and retain its independence, it is crucial that judges and magistrates are properly remunerated. This is also necessary to draw the best legal brains to...

Investigate the CRL Commission Chairperson, Mr President!

Madam Speaker, Mr. President, Honourable Members, Yesterday, ‘The Star’ newspaper had as its top story on the front page, an article entitled, “Public and analysts warn of another SONA of lies.” It was subtitled, “Critics noted that the President has a history of...

MTBPS: We must address critical areas hampering economic growth

Chairperson, I dedicate this speech to the thousands of Iranian protesters who were killed by the despotic Iranian government and, in particular, to a 26-year old protester, Erfan Soltani, who is due to be executed tomorrow after a very flawed process with no appeal,...

ANC’s ill-conceived foreign policy choices are coming home to roost

House Chair, this Special Appropriation bill covers the additional allocation following the withdrawal of the PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, USA) funding. Now, let’s just put this into context. Our country received $8billion (or about R140billion)...

DIRCO is severely under-capacitated abroad

DIRCO is severely under-capacitated abroad

House Chairperson, The Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation is concerned that most of DIRCO's 2026/27 budget allocation of R7.23 billion will be swallowed by inflation and exchange‑rate pressures, enabling neither new programmes nor...

Industrialisation is the foundation of sustainable economic growth

Industrialisation is the foundation of sustainable economic growth

House Chairperson, The ACDP asserts that this Budget Vote 39 of some R11.7 billion for DTIC must be evaluated against one central imperative: whether it is building a productive, industrialised, and globally competitive South African economy. The economic indices...

Much has changed since February’s Budget Speech

Much has changed since February’s Budget Speech

House Chairperson, the ACDP said after the Budget Speech that the ship of public finances was starting to move in the right direction. That was in February. Much has changed since then, particularly with the dramatic increase in the fuel price since the outbreak of...