Africa-Press – South-Africa. As MPs are disappointed it has been slow going to restore Parliament after parts were razed in a fire more than a year ago, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula attributed the delay to the police handling Parliament as a crime scene for six months and a budget only being assigned in November.
The fire broke out on 2 January 2022. The rubble will only be removed in the coming days.
“Why has it taken so long to get started? It has been over year,” said the DA MP Tim Brauteseth at the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament’s meeting on Friday, where Secretary to Parliament Xolile George presented the plan to restore Parliament, which was announced two weeks ago, to MPs.
The timeline for the restoration project is two years.
Brauteseth was not the only MP expressing concern about the slow pace.
“It’s really not OK that two years after the fire, we are talking about the removal of the rubble, and when that is going to happen,” said EFF MP Natasha Ntlangwini.
“Are we getting Parliament back in 2025? So, it looks like, after the 2024 elections, members will be sworn in at City Hall. We must move away from City Hall; it looks like we have some alliance with City Hall and we can’t function at another place.”
DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube added: “I think we can all agree this has been a frustratingly long process.”
NFP MP Munzoor Shaik-Emam said: “I think what we cannot dispute is the urgency in which we need to move to ensure that we get Parliament to function fully.”
Mapisa-Nqakula said Parliament was declared a crime scene for the first six months after the fire, so the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure could not access it.
Also, the around R2 billion budget allocated for the restoration – which according to Mapisa-Nqakula “provided a green light for Parliament to begin talking about restoration” – only came in November.
“We are not talking two years here, I’m sorry honourable members. We’re talking one year,” she said in response to Ntlangwini’s assertion it has been two years.
Mapisa-Nqakula added no work could have been done without a budget, “and even if you had the money, you wouldn’t be able to go in while it was a crime scene”.
She said Parliament had now been declared a rebuilding site, which meant work could start with the removal of the rubble.
Last month, Parliament announced the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) would implement the project. Some MPs raised an eyebrow over this appointment.
“Nothing will happen which is underground here, in the context of DBSA,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.
ANC MP Bheki Radebe added while the committee had an oversight role, its job was not the “micromanagement” of the project, insofar as appointments.
Mapisa-Nqakula agreed.
George said the DBSA, a public entity, demonstrated the necessary capabilities for a project like this.
He added in the past 29 years, Parliament never required the capacity to manage large infrastructure projects – thus, this ability did not exist in the institution.
George said the Auditor-General would keep a close eye on the project and update Parliament regularly.
The site handover would go ahead as planned on Monday, he said.
“We cannot dispute the urgency of the matter.”
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