South Africa’s new Government of National Unity has grown to 10 parties – and more parties could still join. In this interview on the latest developments, United Independent Movement (UIM) President Neil de Beer says: “what is though going to murky the water and what will put more blood in the street is that now you have to accommodate it because the invitation was given as an open invitation and that invitation’s window is closing slowly but surely and I think the last cats are trying to get into this house before the thunder comes down”. De Beer looks at the impact this will have on the position of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the GNU, and dissects the argument between Helen Zille and African National Congress (ANC) SG Fikile Mbablula over the interpretation of the agreement signed by the two parties. He warns that the stability of the GNU is under much pressure – and warns that unless President Cyril Ramaphosa announces his Cabinet within the next 48 to 72 hours, “the matters that are now boiling up, the threats, the innuendos is going to cause everlasting damage on the way of the Government of National Unity forward”. De Beer also gives his opinion on the racism scandals that have hit the DA with two of its new MPs, Renaldo Gouws – who has already been suspended – and Ian Cameron in the line of fire.
Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.
Watch here
Listen here
Highlights from the interview
In an interview with Chris Steyn, Neil De Beer, President of the United Independent Movement, discussed the complexities and challenges facing South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU). De Beer emphasized the intricate calculations involved in forming this new government and likened the situation to passengers on a turbulent flight, uncertain about the competence of those in control.
He highlighted the recent controversies involving Renaldo Gouws and Ian Cameron, describing them as “stun grenades” that shifted public attention from governance to racism. De Beer stressed that such issues are often used to distract and create division, taking focus away from critical national issues.
Addressing his disappointment at not being in Parliament, De Beer expressed relief at having the freedom to speak openly without the constraints of political office. He shared an analogy of a mongoose in a pit of cobras, underscoring his resilience and commitment to truth despite facing political challenges.
In conclusion, De Beer called for unity and focus on rebuilding the country, emphasizing the importance of transparency and effective governance. He urged law enforcement to act decisively against those threatening national stability, regardless of their political affiliations.
Edited transcript from the interview ___STEADY_PAYWALL___
Chris Steyn
00:00:11:14 – 00:00:22:17
The new Government of National Unity has grown to 10 parties. We get an update from Neil De Beer, the President of the United Independent Movement. Good morning, Neil.
Neil De Beer
00:00:22:17 – 00:00:27:15
Yeah, good morning. It reminds me of a song, “Make the Circle Bigger.”
Chris Steyn
00:00:27:17 – 00:00:29:16
Apparently, it can still get bigger.
Neil De Beer
00:00:30:22 – 00:00:53:06
I think it’s the last desperate need of a seat before the music stops. And I think there are very few surprises about Rise Mzansi getting in because, I mean, they didn’t get what they needed to, but they still have to deliver. A lot of money was pumped in there, so you would expect something needed to be delivered.
Chris Steyn
00:00:53:08 – 00:01:11:17
So we’ve got the ANC now, the DA, the PA, the IFP, GOOD, the PAC, FF+, the UDM, Rise Mzansi, as you said, and Al Jama-ah. I think if I counted correctly, three of those parties defected from the Progressive Caucus of the Economic Freedom Fighters.
Neil De Beer
00:01:11:18 – 00:01:49:05
Yeah, I think power makes a person dilly. I think what we’ve got right now, which is interesting, is to see the parties that are now joining and look at their representation in the National Assembly. It looks like a terrible score on a very dull and dundrum cricket match. One, one, one, three, two, one. So a lot of power-mongering getting onto the base of saying, we have no say in Parliament because of the seat allocation.
Neil De Beer
00:01:49:06 – 00:02:22:08
Let’s get into the Government of National Unity and let’s see what we can do there because, at the end of the day, that gives them a better platform. The UIM itself, as you know, when the Multi-Party Charter came to the forefront, that was one of the reasons that I steered us into it is because if you join the collective of a bigger entity, then obviously you get the spotlight, you get the media, you get the coverage, you get your voice heard.
Neil De Beer
00:02:22:10 – 00:02:53:01
And I think there’s nothing different to this. I think the smaller entities are getting on. What is though going to murky the water and what will put more blood in the street is that now you have to accommodate it because the invitation was given as an open invitation and that invitation’s window is closing slowly but surely, and I think the last cats are trying to get into this house before the thunder comes down.
Chris Steyn
00:02:53:11 – 00:03:14:09
But the more parties joining the Government of National Unity, the less power the Democratic Alliance is going to have in the end. Surely that’s not what they envisaged when they signed. And surely that is not representative of what Helen Zille stated subsequently.
Neil De Beer
00:03:14:11 – 00:03:42:01
I always say it’s great to train on the target practice platform because the target doesn’t shoot back. You know, I come from a situation where when you train, you train as if you are alive. So, when you go into a system of combat, you can only for so long shoot at a plastic or a paper target.
Neil De Beer
00:03:42:03 – 00:04:21:22
Because when you go into combat, that person shoots back. It’s a totally different pressure because when you are training to get into a combat situation, that’s level one. But when you get into a combat situation, trust me, your life changes. If I can use the same analogy, speaking about a government of national unity, talking about sharing of power, who gets what is one thing, but when you actually get into the actual operation of the government of national unity, then you better be right.
Neil De Beer
00:04:22:00 – 00:04:56:17
This country is sitting on a knife’s edge, waiting now for this president who is now being reappointed to appoint his cabinet and to bloody well get on with it, because what we as a country need is not a debate in the discussion about your power and my power and I get and you don’t get. It is about putting the right people into those seats that we need for this country to use a massive speedboat change.
Read more: Funding MK, Fighting the GNU… Russia’s Strategy for SA – Irina Filatova
Neil De Beer
00:04:56:18 – 00:05:21:06
And the longer we are delaying it, the longer the people of this country are suffering. It is from the inception already a circus. We have from the inception a couple of clowns that should be dead and a couple of clowns that were told that you will never come back, but they derogate. So it’s a massive circus and I remain a wolf.
Neil De Beer
00:05:21:08 – 00:05:28:20
And the difference between a wolf and a lion within a circus is I don’t see wolves acting in circuses.
Chris Steyn
00:05:28:22 – 00:05:35:07
Has. And now we have parties that vowed never, ever to work together stuck together.
Neil De Beer
00:05:35:09 – 00:05:59:12
That’s true because they’ve got their own circus. That is not a circus, dit is net ‘n lagwekkende tiranie… And what you’ve got is you’ve got from the inception of them calling the GNU, or as Helen Zille will say it, a “Gnu.” You are sitting and you are waiting for us to get to battle. But now what we see is that there is argument.
Neil De Beer
00:05:59:13 – 00:06:29:03
This past week, in the definition of the GNU document, there was a battle between Helen Zille and Fikile Mbalula, Mr. Fix-It-Nothing. I mean, if we can’t get to the interpretation of the contract that binds us, how are we going to work together in the contract that must make us develop ourselves?
Neil De Beer
00:06:29:03 – 00:06:58:10
So a rocky start already, not because of the intention. The intention of the GNU, I find nothing wrong with it. But I’m finding a massive problem with the people who are taking part in the negotiations of making the GNU work. And it’s really that point, you know, when you’re about to get the, “on your marks, get set,”
Neil De Beer
00:06:58:12 – 00:07:02:21
That last one, there’s been a couple of false starts as far as I’m concerned.
Chris Steyn
00:07:02:23 – 00:07:09:19
What would you say have been the biggest strategic mistakes made since that first agreement was signed?
Neil De Beer
00:07:09:21 – 00:07:32:05
Chris, in Afrikaans, hulle probeer hulle gatte cover. So point one, everybody’s trying to cover their ass. You know, sorry, Neil De Beer, straightforward….They are going to sit there to cover themselves. Then they’re going to sit there to ensure that what they are covering has got say. Then they’re going to look at the problems if this thing falls apart.
Neil De Beer
00:07:32:10 – 00:08:04:15
And lastly, everybody is covering their own wickets if it falls apart. So let’s quickly dig in. Number one, it is my opinion that Cyril Ramaphosa is hugely trying to cover his exit and his forward strategy. Now, when you look at the composition of this cabinet, you know, I’ve got 927 WhatsApps last night of a so-called leaked cabinet.
Neil De Beer
00:08:04:17 – 00:08:15:12
You know, this is one of the people, you know, that sends stuff to me, but he never looks at what he sends. You know anybody like that?
Chris Steyn
00:08:15:14 – 00:08:19:03
I also got it, Neil, that list does not make any sense to me.
Neil De Beer
00:08:19:08 – 00:08:39:23
No, there are two absolute problems with it. So if you have a little bit of IQ, EQ, AQ, and you go down it, you will notice that they’ve made Julius Frikkie Malema a minister and they’ve also included Herman Mashaba. Just those two things will tell you no, no, because the EFF and Action SA are not in the Government of National Unity.
Neil De Beer
00:08:39:23 – 00:09:14:14
So there’s already a flaw within that ministerial list. It’s speculation and it drives one mad. Anyway. I want to quickly tell you the two scenarios that they are sitting with. MK said something very interesting three weeks ago. They said, “We will not negotiate with the ANC of Cyril Ramaphosa.” They didn’t say they will not negotiate with the ANC. They clearly said, “We will not negotiate with the ANC of Cyril Ramaphosa.” Whoa, that’s interesting. So the question is, anybody else except Cyril? So anybody else within the line of power is Paul Mashatile.
Chris Steyn
00:09:26:16 – 00:09:35:22
But now the DA has handed a corruption dossier to the presidency to try and get rid of Paul Mashatile before that scenario can come into play, surely.
Neil De Beer
00:09:36:00 – 00:09:58:07
What a strike, what a chess move. Ek weet nie. Speel ons nou dambord? You know, the rules are different – except the pieces are less. Here’s the thing, some people try to play chess like dambord and then they fail. If you remove Paul Mashatile and you, for example, put a John Steenhuisen in as deputy, it won’t happen.
Neil De Beer
00:09:58:09 – 00:10:33:22
And the reason why is twofold. Reason one, if there’s ever the point where Cyril falls, and this is highly likely because he either doesn’t make it to the conference or he dabbles on and goes to the final conference, but then he’s out in any case because he cannot serve more than two terms constitutionally. So Paul Mashatile, according to tradition and the flow of ANC business, is the President-elect after.
Neil De Beer
00:10:34:00 – 00:11:04:11
But if you look at it, if the ANC wants to defend the ANC, not a personality, it will not allow the fact that a gentleman called John Steenhuisen, because he is from the DA, to become the Deputy President of this country. Because automatically, de facto, in all the Latin verbs, if the president is incapacitated, it means that factually, we then have a DA president running this country.
Neil De Beer
00:11:04:13 – 00:11:30:07
Now in any negotiation, surely the ANC that is not, remember what I told you, who is not fighting to govern but fighting to survive, they will never allow that. They cannot allow that. And you will always notice that the DA has not fought for the presidency, funny enough. Even in the Multi-Party Charter it was agreed that the DA was not fighting for the presidency,
Neil De Beer
00:11:30:07 – 00:12:00:13
they were fighting for governing the government for the day. So there’s this thing of the power scenario in the Top Six already, and you will notice that, as in my last video that was very well received, the Security Cluster is something which the ANC will not be negotiable about, and the Economic Cluster is something seemingly that the DA is not negotiable about.
Neil De Beer
00:12:00:15 – 00:12:28:16
So there you sit. Survival. Covering your backside, making sure you have an exit and actual strategy of running it, and then securing which ebb and flow this government’s power will apply. And it’s difficult, Chris, because it doesn’t just end at national partnership. It’s now moving into provincial partnerships, which will then have a de facto domino effect on local governments.
Chris Steyn
00:12:28:22 – 00:12:41:04
Neil, I’m just wondering what impact the hostile rhetoric between Helen Zille and Mbalula has had on what is happening with the GNU now.
Neil De Beer
00:12:41:06 – 00:13:29:22
Helen’s good. I mean, we can sit here and we can debate the relevance of Helen Zille. I know her. I have been around the table with her and I have seen her influence not on governance alone, but when she negotiates. Let me tell you something. I said to her one day, no matter what anybody says about Helen Zille. This woman, an iron woman, I always refer to her as the Thatcher of Africa, is a very, very astute negotiator.
Neil De Beer
00:13:30:00 – 00:14:40:13
But more than that, she understands the power of the word. Did you hear me? Helen Zille does not just ensure that the written word in an agreement is done. But before it is done, trust me, that lady understands every single enunciation of every word, every verb, every noun, and the implication of such. So when we’ve seen it, the minute that the ANC signed the prelim agreement of the Government of National Unity, it’s very clear and obvious that someone signed that didn’t read it clearly. Because when it came to battle, you automatically saw Helen get up and go, no, no, no, no, no, no, nay, nay. Section 24 of this agreement says
Neil De Beer
00:14:40:13 – 00:15:09:11
but you’ve got to read Section 17. And if you don’t, you’ve got to also understand what that section says. When she started reading the agreement, she wasn’t reading what the words said. She was telling you the interpretation behind it. So that is where you’re going to have the absolute breakdown, the fight, the argument in the GNU between the ANC and the DA.
Neil De Beer
00:15:09:12 – 00:15:24:00
The DA does not go into any agreement, trust me, without being 100% clear on where they go, and I don’t think the ANC has that capacity.
Chris Steyn
00:15:24:02 – 00:15:31:20
But what is that going to mean for the other parties that are joining now, some of whom are not welcome by the DA?
Neil De Beer
00:15:31:22 – 00:16:00:19
Sure, because they didn’t read the agreement. So, you know, again, I must tell you, ek lag my gat af. I’m sitting and I’m looking at this and I’m going, don’t you know who you’re dealing with? I mean, sure, these are supposed to be people that are astute. Astute? Listen, Chris, this is clear. Every single part of this GNU machine is trying to get this done.
Read more: South African political parties complete formation of coalition
Neil De Beer
00:16:00:19 – 00:16:26:14
They have to deliver. This is not something that can go on indefinitely. So, 14 days to present the government. Then a couple of days, not because of time pressure, but because of national demand, to get this going, to put the cabinet together. Five positions, seven positions, three positions. Maar ek wil ook hê.
Neil De Beer
00:16:26:16 – 00:16:53:22
And then you get this, you’ve got to deal with this. But at the same time, you have that thunderous dark cloud of the people that are not in this. MK, and this new breaking news, which is the same as this ridiculous, supposed cabinet list of Judge Hlope, who’s going to enter Parliament as a member of MK. Maar julle het ook nie gelees nie. You understand they can’t, it’s not possible.
Neil De Beer
00:16:54:00 – 00:17:21:04
So we get all of these little pieces of salmon thrown into this massive bowl of salad, and people are trying to tell you, maar dis ’n visslaai. No, it’s not. It’s a part of. So here’s the rhetoric. Not only does the Government of National Unity have to sort itself out, but the thunderous cloud is preparing itself to absolutely disrupt no matter who you put down.
Chris Steyn
00:17:21:06 – 00:17:26:15
Neil, what does this mean for stability in the country?
Neil De Beer
00:17:26:17 – 00:18:03:13
Well, it means nothing because from the outset, this country has been abused, Chris. It is an abused country because we have been abused on so many levels. South Africans are wanting, seeking, praying for sanity to prevail. But when you have every single move made by every single party scrutinized to the negative, not the positive, you cannot but feel doomed.
Neil De Beer
00:18:03:15 – 00:18:28:10
You know, it’s like when you go into a game of rugby, where I have been involved on many levels, as you know, and you are the underdog, but you’ve got the greatest players. But everybody tells you you’re not going to make it, you’re not going to win, you don’t have this. It must play a psychological role on the people that are going to run onto this field of play.
Neil De Beer
00:18:28:12 – 00:18:58:03
We have at this moment, may I call it, a bit of a sense of euphoria, a sense of this could work because it showed on the markets. No one can deny that this week on several IC interviews, on BizNews, with Alec, etc., that the market is reacting quite well to the news of the GNU.
Neil De Beer
00:18:58:05 – 00:19:41:03
But I’m telling you, that has got no asset bearing. It’s cosmetic. Because when you say this is going to happen, it will have a cosmetic blimp on the market. But that blimp will have to come down and settle when the news of the GNU factually gets into the front line. So yeah, euphoria, we are all talking, but the stability of the Government of National Unity in the South African context is under so much pressure that if you said to me, Neil, if you were involved as an advisor, what would you do?
Neil De Beer
00:19:41:03 – 00:20:10:07
I would say, get on with this, get on with it. There can only be so much time to threaten that we are going forward. We must go forward now. We must stop this now, because the rumor mongering, the talking, the WhatsApps, the messages, the fake news is adding to the pressure. I think of the people who need to conclude this Government of National Unity.
Neil De Beer
00:20:10:09 – 00:20:50:02
If he doesn’t, this is now Cyril Ramaphosa, if he doesn’t announce a Cabinet within the next 48 to 72 hours, the matters that are now boiling up, the threats, the innuendos are going to cause everlasting damage on the way of the Government of National Unity forward. And I’m sorry, I’ll add one more thing. It doesn’t help that people within the Government of National Unity are speaking out and using scenarios like, we don’t need the DA, we don’t need the DA, we don’t need this, we don’t need them.
Neil De Beer
00:20:50:04 – 00:20:58:12
If you are speaking like that, it means that someone in your group is already making the calculation of why they don’t need you.
Chris Steyn
00:20:58:14 – 00:21:07:15
Well, if we just look at the number of seats as they are, the formation of this new government of national unity may soon not need the DA.
Neil De Beer
00:21:07:17 – 00:21:32:06
Absolutely, Chris, absolutely. You can see the calculations going out on social media. You know, the 196 closer to the 201. We can put that one in, and that one, and that one. You know, when you start calculating the factual scenario of when you’re in an aircraft, you know, here’s something as a person that’s a frequent flyer. You know, when you get on an aircraft and you fly, you’re actually exhilarated.
Neil De Beer
00:21:32:06 – 00:21:57:18
But later on, you start to think about the fact that you are flying in a metal tube on something and with someone that actually got the lowest quote. What did they leave out? So, you know, we are sitting on this airplane called the Government of National Unity. GNU 1457 is wanting to take off. GNU 1457 has got a couple of captains.
Neil De Beer
00:21:57:18 – 00:22:17:06
It’s now choosing the stewardesses en hier sit ons, né. We don’t know in whose hands we are. All that we bloody know is I want my peanuts, I want my chips, I want my beer. En ons beter by die huis aankom. I have never seen a passenger walk onto an aircraft, go to the captain’s cabin, and say,
Neil De Beer
00:22:17:06 – 00:22:39:12
“May I see your pilot’s license, please?” Nee, o hel. So we’re on this plane, we are the passengers, we paid our ticket. Hey, we paid our ticket. Some of us paid so much that we have got people that represent us that are quite big. But at the end of the day, everybody on that aircraft prays to their own God that we get home safely.
Neil De Beer
00:22:39:14 – 00:22:58:08
This is a rocky start. This thing is, you know, it’s thundering up. We’re ready to go. All the passengers are clipped in and we are sitting and we see the pilots at the front and everybody kind of talking and saying, “Listen, who’s going to fly? Are you going to fly? I don’t know.” Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down.
Chris Steyn
00:22:58:08 – 00:23:03:13
We’re seeing what we think are the pilots arguing on top of it all.
Neil De Beer
00:23:03:15 – 00:23:30:06
And I’m telling you that if you’re the head stewardess on an aircraft, be the head stewardess. Because I would absolutely have a heart attack if those two pilots die and the head stewardess says, “I’ll fly.” You might be competent, but you’re not going to get the confidence from us. So here we are. Question: GNU, will it fly?
Neil De Beer
00:23:30:08 – 00:23:54:19
Will it fly? So are we going to get this Boeing up? Yeah, we’re going to get a couple of air pockets. We are going to get a couple of thunderous clouds and lightning. But I still believe, Chris, in the tenacity, in the hope, and in the will and this word, chutzpah, of the South African citizen.
Neil De Beer
00:23:54:21 – 00:24:18:05
And where we need to go is we need to go to a better country, a better attitude, and a better world. But if we are starting to sit down and start working out this chemical and this chemical coupled with this chemical, does it give you this? Then I think we’re going to have a very, very rocky flight.
Neil De Beer
00:24:18:07 – 00:24:42:03
I pray not. There are too many kinds of things that are currently adding to minus and plus. And I would say if I was an advisor to Cyril, an advisor to John, I would say the following: We bought our tickets. We’re on the plane. We want you to get into the air and let’s go on to this journey.
Neil De Beer
00:24:42:05 – 00:24:43:09
That’s our prayer.
Chris Steyn
00:24:43:11 – 00:25:02:10
Neil, but meanwhile, the DA is also battling racism scandals. And there’s definitely an upswell of anti-DA sentiment that perceives the party to be a white racist party.
Neil De Beer
00:25:02:12 – 00:25:31:05
You know, when we were in the military, we called it smoke grenades. So you get a smoke grenade, you get a stun grenade, and those things are used in effect to take you out of the battle, but they are quite effective. So when you’re in a combat situation and you are taking too much fire, you are taking an overwhelming counter from your enemy.
Neil De Beer
00:25:31:07 – 00:26:01:18
You employ things like stun grenades and smoke grenades, etc. If we use that analogy, the Renaldo Gouws matter was not a smoke grenade, it was a stun grenade. It went off, it got into the public view, and it automatically moved the debate and the discussion of the Government of National Unity and whatever was happening in Poland, to racism.
Neil De Beer
00:26:01:20 – 00:26:46:00
Not only were they done with Renaldo, but they let the smoke grenade off to say, “But there’s more.” Ian Cameron is now the secondary target. And then they publicly said, “If we are done with Renaldo, if we are done with Ian, then the third one is the current deputy speaker.” It was so blatant on social media, so blatant from my point of view and people sending it to me and saying to me what I said last week, where I told you that we have to be very careful and clear that they are going to go for each other in other ways.
Neil De Beer
00:26:46:01 – 00:27:30:06
They’re going to dig up dirt, did I not say that? They’re going to counterattack. They’re going to get intelligence and counter-intelligence on each other. I’m sure I said that. Our words, our video, our message was not cold. And it started. So, in this country, Chris, sadly, very sadly, when you put the word racism, it’s like a little piece of wagyu beef into a total pond of piranha.
Neil De Beer
00:27:30:08 – 00:28:05:11
They go wild. And it’s not like the detractors don’t know that. So you can call anybody anything in this country. But when you say the word racist, it’s a mega bomb. Each one of those has merit, but each one of those has a counter. So the past three days, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, nothing about the GNU was hitting the headlines.
Read more: The Economist – LEADER: The exponential growth of solar power will change the world
Neil De Beer
00:28:05:13 – 00:28:20:13
Everything about racism was getting the spotlight. My opinion, deal with it. I think maybe because people do listen to this program and what me and you say on a Sunday. Because…
Chris Steyn
00:28:20:15 – 00:28:23:06
You’re the one saying it.
Neil De Beer
00:28:23:08 – 00:28:55:13
Sure, but when we said last week Sunday that the only way to deal with the people that are the counter-revolutionaries is to suppress them, to put law enforcement down and to arrest. I’m very happy to note that again our words weren’t cold and this week The Hawks have arrested a man out of Nelspruit who on TikTok and social media was threatening this government.
Neil De Beer
00:28:55:13 – 00:29:25:00
And its president. They arrested him. And I hope this is not where that ends. Because I’ll say it again and I’ll say it every day that I can have an opportunity. The people of this country will not tolerate insubordination. We will not tolerate threats to our stability. We will not listen to people who want to sow such strife and such revolution amongst us.
Neil De Beer
00:29:25:02 – 00:30:03:13
We cannot allow it. We will not allow it. And we must ensure that those and those detractors of our stability, our democracy, that they feel the harshest point of law enforcement, no matter who you are. And this is where we sit now with a DA that is thunderously being attacked now because of its so-called racist insignia inside. But at the same time, we have to look at people that made the same utterances on the other side.
Neil De Beer
00:30:03:15 – 00:30:26:15
And I will say clearly as I am, I am not afraid to say, there seems to be a little bit of imbalance here. There seems to be a little bit of injustice here. That when you look at the one, the other one is not dealt with harshly on the same platform of hate speech, but some of them even threatening to kill.
Neil De Beer
00:30:26:17 – 00:30:43:07
So, ons is moeg vir altwee, man. We are tired of both and I hope that this will be dealt with in a very, very huge manner, but that it doesn’t take away the real target, the real focus of getting this country back to work, Chris.
Chris Steyn
00:30:43:09 – 00:30:53:17
Lastly, Neil, I know you were disappointed that you didn’t make it to Parliament, but with everything that’s happening now, surely there must be a sense of relief then?
Neil De Beer
00:30:53:18 – 00:31:35:09
Yeah, I think the upside, Chris, where I sit right now, is that I have an opportunity, without fear or favor, without being muted, without being silenced, to speak the truth. When you sit in it, and I’m going to give you a great cliché I heard from a guy from the security services. He said to me one day, “Neil, when a mongoose falls into a pit of cobras, the only prayer you have is that the mongoose remains a mongoose.”
Neil De Beer
00:31:35:11 – 00:32:07:11
I am sitting and saying I am disappointed that I can’t go add the value in this Parliament. That I can’t, what I give you every Sunday, go slap it to them and go give them the people’s opinion about the truth – without fear or favor. I’ve been in that pit of cobras. I am happy to declare I took a couple of nips,
Neil De Beer
00:32:07:13 – 00:32:30:05
I took a couple of bites, I took a couple of hissings, but here’s the thing: Neil de Beer remains a mongoose. And I am not scared of these cobras, no matter who they are, because some of them are just spitting cobras. En die ding van ‘n spuit-en-spoeg kobra, is that even when the twig goes up and down of a branch, it spits at that.
Neil De Beer
00:32:30:05 – 00:32:44:03
So I’m not, I’m not, I’m, I’m sitting in a classic position where we can give you the truth, where I can give you my opinion, but I’m not tarnished by being silenced. Not that I would have been if I was in any case.
Chris Steyn
00:32:44:05 – 00:32:57:16
Thank you. That was Neil de Beer, the President of United Independent Movement, speaking to BizNews after the latest developments regarding the formation of a Government of National Unity. And I am Chris Steyn. Thank you, Neil.
Read also:
