The failure to rebuild parliament is ‘a concern’ – analyst

The failure to begin rebuilding the parliamentary building was symbolic of the failure to rebuild South Africa and the decline the country experienced over the past few years was disappointing, says political economy analyst Daniel Silke.

Is the symbol of South Africa’s democracy “still in ashes” and does it still represent democracy?

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These questions around the fire which engulfed the Old Assembly wing at parliament two years ago are still raging.

This will be the third year that parliament hosts the State of the Nation Address at Cape Town’s City Hall, after the January 2022 fire.

According to a report by parliament, the fire affected the Old Assembly and the National Assembly buildings of parliament.

These buildings house the chambers of the National Assembly and critical offices of parliament.

“The Assembly is one of the two houses of parliament, which occupies an important place in the history and evolution of our constitutional democracy.

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“In the National Assembly, over 2 000 transformative pieces of legislation have been passed since the dawn of democracy,” the report said.

Silke said it’s embarrassing for South Africa that two years after the fire, “we’ve been unable to expedite the broader investigation into the security lapses in parliament and commence on a rebuilding process”.

“It represents the broad weakness of the South African state; the slow and over-complex environment in which we are currently attempting to do business in South Africa,” Silke said.

He said parliament and the physical building were important. It was a symbol of South Africa’s democracy.

“The continued usage of the city hall does also represent, in a sense, the inability of the broader South Africa to fix up so many of its other key problems,” he said.

Parliament said it expected the rebuilding to be completed by 2025. The secretary to parliament, Xolile George, was pleased with the progress made in the repairs and upgrades to parliament’s infrastructure.

George said the second floor on the front wing of the Old Assembly building suffered major structural damage, including a complete collapse of the roof.

This exposed the building to further damage from the elements.

“The recommended option for the design concept is based on like-for-like repairs to conserve the heritage value of this building. Additions that were made later to the building departed from its original design and created noncompliance,” he said.

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“These now need a correction with minor upgrades and additions recommended to make the building compliant.”

Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo reported R2 billion had been allocated from the National Treasury to rebuild parliament.

Silke added while the symbolism of the building is important, what was probably more important “was rebuilding a government in South Africa, rebuilding ethics and honesty and service delivery and good policymaking”.

George also said the National Assembly suffered the greatest damage with the chamber, some committee rooms and offices completely gutted.

“There are various options for this building with retaining the envelope and demolishing internal structures that have been condemned,” he said.

The recommended approach was to retain the building facade and to achieve uniformity with the National Council of Provinces and the Old Assembly buildings, he said.

“And carefully cut out sections that were gutted by fire with the necessary control of the load distribution in the process.”

He said the plan was to “build a structure from within the retained envelope and introduce modern design and green building concepts, mainstream the South African cultural diversity and ensure compliance”.

Parliament alleged arsonist Zandile Mafe was arrested after the fire broke out and later admitted in court he was responsible for the fire.

He faced several charges, including terrorism, robbery and arson. Judge Nathan Erasmus ruled that Mafe’s psychiatric report complied with the Criminal Procedure Act.

The judge noted Mafe was diagnosed by doctors with a psychotic spectrum disorder which was likely to be schizophrenia.