Pretoria - The Tshwane Metro is ready to permanently house the South African Parliament, but the city is not attempting hijack the responsibility of determining whether the legislature must be in Cape Town or Pretoria, Mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa said on Friday.
“The question being asked is ‘where to from here?’ It’s not our province to decide whether Parliament comes here or stays in Cape Town or goes somewhere else. We are simply saying if those charged with the responsibility come to a conclusion that the location must be Tshwane, we are ready as of yesterday,” Ramokgopa said at a media session following his state of the capital address in Pretoria.
Ramokgopa said “political significance”, not financial considerations should be the first and primary concern in the deliberations to geographically change Parliament’s location.
“When you make a decision of this nature, first it is the political significance of such a decision, then resolve the costs later. Otherwise I think we would be lost if we put the costs first, but I understand the president (Jacob Zuma) made the announcement in the midst of austerity and that’s why the costs are coming first. In the bigger picture, this is about a South Africa we want to construct,” said Ramokgopa.
Tshwane has identified Fort Klapperkop, near the seat of government, the Union Buildings and Freedom Park in the city, as the possible location for the legislature.
In February, during his state of the nation address, Zuma indicated government would want to cut costs by having both the administrative capital and Parliament in one city.
“A big expenditure item that we would like to persuade Parliament to consider is the maintenance of two capitals, Pretoria as the administrative one and Cape Town as the legislative capital. We believe that the matter requires the attention of Parliament soon,” Zuma said.
“We all have a lot to do to turn the economy around and to cut wastage. We will go through a difficult period for a while, but when the economy recovers, we will be proud of ourselves for having done the right thing.
“The executive has looked into this matter and the cost is too big… because it means, particularly the executive, we must have two houses – one in Pretoria, one in Cape Town. We must have two cars, one in Pretoria, one in Cape Town.”
Zuma bemoaned the fact that the 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,” he added.
In 2013, then finance minister Pravin Gordhan said the cost of moving officials between the two cities was concerning, but the minister in the Presidency at the time, the late Collins Chabane, suggested his colleagues’ concerns should not be seen as a firm commitment to move the national legislature.
ANA