Parliament – President Jacob Zuma on Thursday night threw his weight behind calls to have Parliament moved from Cape Town to Pretoria, insisting it would reduce the administrative costs of government.
Delivering his State of the Nation Address, Zuma said the issue of having two capitals - Pretoria, as the executive capital, and Cape Town, as the legislative capital - "requires the attention of Parliament soon".
"The executive has looked into this matter and the costs is too big...because it means, particularly the executive, we must have two houses - one in Pretoria, one in Cape Town," Zuma said.
"We must have two cars, one in Pretoria, one in Cape Town."
Zuma bemoaned the fact that government had to fork out money for the travelling costs of its officials between the two cities, and often had to put them up in hotels.
"This is a matter to be considered on an urgent basis."
In 2013, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said the costs of moving officials between the two cities was concerning, but the then minister in the presidency, the late Collins Chabane, suggested his colleague's concerns should not be seen as a firm commitment to move the national legislature.
Earlier, Zuma announced plans to boost tourism, both local and inbound.
Zuma said: "We must take advantage of the exchange rate, as well as recent changes in the visa regulations to boost inbound tourism."
He announced that SA Tourism would invest R100 million a year to promote domestic tourism.
African News Agency