Godongwana to allocate R118 million for Parliament repairs to host next year’s Sona

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is expected to allocate about R118 million to Parliament following a fire that left the Old and New Assembly buildings gutted.

With Godongwana set to table his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on Wednesday, the allocated amount will be used to prepare for next year’s State of the Nation Address (Sona), Budget Speech and offices of MPs.

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Briefing the Joint Standing Committee on Financial Management last week, Secretary to Parliament Xolile George explained that they had asked National Treasury for funds in light of the “unforeseen and urgent expenditure” as a result of the 2 January fire.

“Although we could not receive the amount we requested, we nevertheless received an indication that they will allocate us an amount of R118 million out of the total request we made to help respond to issues,” George told the committee.

Costs

National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who was also present at committee meeting, indicated that she had a “good discussion” with Godongwana regarding the restoration of Parliament.

According to Mapisa-Nqakula, restoring Parliament would cost an estimated of R2.2 billion, including furnishings and IT systems.

The Speaker said R300 million would be needed to restore the Old Assembly building, while the National Assembly is expected to cost R1.9 billion to repair.

READ MORE: MPs told about security upgrade failures leading up to Parliament fire

She revealed that Parliament had planned to build temporary structures, but have since abandoned this.

“When we did calculations we discovered that in fact the money to spend on the modular structure is money we could spend on restoration the Old Assembly building, which is more or less the same amount of money.

“Hence the decision, from our side together with the National Treasury, that we may as well look into the possibilities of restoring Parliament,” she said on Friday.

Watch the briefing below:

Relocation

On the issue of relocation of Parliament, Mapisa-Nqakula said this “was not an item on the agenda” at the moment.

“We still have an obligation in terms of the [SAHRA] South African Heritage Resources Authority to restore the current building of Parliament,” the Speaker said.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has long argued that the relocation of Parliament to “a central space” will save government money.

READ MORE: EFF’s renewed call for parliament removal a ‘massive’ waste of money, says expert

According to a 2016 report, the cost to move Parliament could amount to R7 billion, but it also expected to save the country between R500 million and R750 million a year in the future.

A 2019 study also found that the move would also mean uprooting 1 400 parliamentary staff and their families.

Funds transfer

Meanwhile, the Speaker also informed the committee that she agreed with Godongwana that the payments would be transferred to Parliament rather than Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

“We agreed with the minister that perhaps the transfer payment for this particular purpose should be given to Parliament so that Parliament, at the end of everything, accounts for the spending of this allocation for the refurbishment of its institution.

“We also agreed that obviously we would have to look at a procurement system which will allow for an on-time spending of money allocated for this but a procurement system which will ensure that it has proper checks and balances as we move forward on the matter,” Mapisa-Nqakula added.

Parliament, together with Public Works Department and Treasury, will monitor spending of finances allocated for restoration of the damaged buildings.

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