‘Let’s make Cape Town white again’ – Manyi not keen on relocating Parliament

Relocation of Parliament from Cape Town will only serve to make the city “white again”, according to African Transformation Movement (ATM) chief of policy and strategy, Mzwanele Manyi, who joined the debate on Monday morning.

The idea of Parliament’s relocation to Pretoria dates back to the 1990s, but the conversation has since been brought up again following a fire that broke out in Parliament on Sunday.

The fire has affected both the Old Assembly Wing and the National Assembly Wing of the buildings of Parliament in Cape Town, which house the chambers of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

Reacting to the incident, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) revived the calls for relocation of Parliament to Pretoria.

ALSO READ: Parliament fire: Expert explains why repairs could take ‘many months’

The EFF insisted that the money that will be allocated for repairs to the building should be spent on the relocation instead.

“If there is any appetite to curb wasteful government expenditure and cut all ties related to the colonial framework established by those who conquered this nation, this fire must serve as an opportunity to permanently relocate Parliament to Gauteng. This will allow government work to be synchronised,” the party said in a statement.

This is not the first time the EFF has suggested the idea of moving Parliament.

Also weighing in on the topic, Manyi suggested that Parliament’s relocation would enhance the culture of whiteness in Cape Town, which is South Africa’s legislative capital.

“Let’s make Cape Town white again. If the move to Gauteng finally happens, all the black members of Parliament [and] staff and their families will vacate Cape Town. For this reason, Parliament must not move to Gauteng,” he said on Twitter.

Explaining his comments, the Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson, who insisted that he “was not responding to EFF or anyone”, pointed out that majority of black people resided on the outskirts of the city.

“Most people when you [mention] Cape Town, it means different things to different people, but for me Cape Town is Cape Town the city center. That place is largely populated by white people. There’s a sprinkling of black people that live there,” he told The Citizen on Monday.

“The rest of black people are in the ghetto areas like Khayelitsha and all that. Those [areas] for me are labour centers. Those people look at Cape Town. They don’t live in Cape Town, even though they are in the vicinity.

READ MORE: Be grateful one city works, says Ramaphosa in Parliament fire address

“People mustn’t be confused here, the majority of black people live outside of Cape Town. Every morning people take the bus to Cape Town,” he said.

Manyi further said that some black people who live in the city were those associated with government.

“Parliament, which is comprised of members of Parliament and related staff members, all those people are people who can afford to rent flats and Airbnb’s in Cape Town. Those people are spoilers of the white [population] of Cape Town. So if you remove Parliament then it means the black nuisance in Cape Town is removed [as well]… then you have Cape Town white again.” he said.

According to a 2016 report, the cost to move Parliament would amount to R7 billion.

BusinessTech also previously reported that 1,400 parliamentary staff and their families would be impacted by the relocation.