Smoke billows out of the National Assembly building after a fire at Parliament on 2 January 2022. Picture: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has once again called for Parliament to be relocated from the Western Cape to Gauteng.
MPs debated the budget and annual performance plan of Parliament during a mini-plenary session on Monday.
The national legislature has been allocated R4.43 billion for the 2024/2025 financial year.
This includes R500 million for the restoration and refurbishment of the parliamentary buildings as a result of the 2 January 2022 fire.
In the debate, EFF MP Omphile Maotwe indicated that her party rejected Parliament’s budget and expressed concern over the process of finding an alternative venue.
MPs have used the Cape Town City Hall as a temporary venue since the fire gutted parts of the National Assembly.
“The Parliament building burned down over two years ago and all that we are told is that they are removing rubble for two years.
“We still don’t have a plan for a temporary structure, whilst the rebuilding is taking place. The National Assembly building burned down because its health and safety standards were not in place,” Maotwe said on Monday.
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The EFF MP said the party believed that the rebuilding of Parliament, which was not insured, would happen with the “much-needed speed and quality”.
She called on the national legislature to be moved to Pretoria instead.
“We continue to call on Parliament to relocate to Tshwane in the capital city. The legislative and executive houses must be in one city, preferably Gauteng, which is much more accessible to the people across the country than the Cape.
“The advent of the fire should have given us the opportunity to relocate which will save a lot of money in running the house,” Maotwe added.
The EFF has previously called for the relocation of the Parliament from Cape Town.
According to the party, this would save taxpayers money in allocations of flights to MPs, their partners and dependents while bringing down the maintenance cost for parliamentary villages and homes of ministers in Cape Town.
The red berets had tabled a Private Members’ Bill in late 2022, but was later withdrawn by the party.
Other political parties shot down the EFF’s bill during a parliamentary debate in June 2023, citing costs and the implications for staff.
READ MORE: The failure to rebuild parliament is ‘a concern’ – analyst
The bill stated that government would spend just over R8 billion on travelling and housing for the relocation.
The proposed legislation also stated that it would cost at least R14 billion to retain Parliament in Cape Town.
“A new Parliament precinct in the City of Tshwane is estimated to require R7 billion, and the move will save the fiscus more than R7 billion in the short to medium term,” the now-defunct bill read.
The rebuilding of Parliament is expected to cost nearly R3 billion.
At least R2 billion was initially budgeted but increased by more than R900 million as a result of the modernisation of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure.
Construction will begin in August 2024 and end in February 2026.
It was initially expected to be completed in November 2025.
NOW READ: R1bn extra to repair Parliament buildings after fire, amount may increase even more
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