By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has renewed calls to move parliament from Cape Town to the City of Tshwane in Gauteng.
The party previously argued that such a move will help reduce costs, with members of parliament expected to maintain additional residences, vehicles and facilities in Cape Town, despite not living in the city.
While recent fire damage has renewed focus on a potential move, shifting parliament to Pretoria has been mooted for more than two decades.
Most recently, in February 2021, the Joint Standing Committee on Financial Management supported parliament’s move to Pretoria.
Co-chairperson of the committee, Dikeledi Mahlangu, said that although the committee is mindful of ‘certain onerous processes’ that still need to be followed before a move could take place, the committee is in full support of the idea.
“We share the same understanding with those members of parliament who hold a view that parliament should move from Cape Town to Pretoria, and we appreciate the fact that a commitment has been made on the side of the institution regarding this matter,”she said.
Mahlangu added that no further debate was needed on the issue but that a progress report on the move should be provided regularly.
The ANC first suggested moving parliament to Pretoria in the 1990s, but it was met with strong opposition from the provincial ANC body in the Western Cape, who campaigned against it.
At the time, the cost to move parliament to Pretoria would have been R237 million. Conversely, the cost to move the country’s administration to Cape Town would have been R23.5 billion.
A revised breakdown of the costs published in 2016 saw the costs to move parliament rise to R7 billion – but it was expected that this would save the country between R500 million and R750 million annually.
A 2019 analysis showed that the move would also mean uprooting 1,400 parliamentary staff and their families and would harm Cape Town’s economy.
EFF STATEMENT ON PARLIAMENT’S LACK OF COMPLIANCE WITH SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS pic.twitter.com/6VPbVlhibq
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) January 3, 2022
The renewed call to move parliament comes after a blaze at South Africa’s parliamentary precinct in Cape Town broke out early Sunday (2 January) causing extensive damage to the legislative buildings.