Cape Town - Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has allocated R2 billion for the restoration of the buildings of Parliament that were gutted by fire earlier this year.
This emerged when Godongwana tabled the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on Wednesday.
“We are working closely with the presiding officers of Parliament to restore and rebuild our Parliament.
“Over the medium-term expenditure framework we have made an allowance for approximately R2bn for rebuilding Parliament,” he said.
He also said R118 million has been set aside for use by Parliament between now and the end of the financial year to cover their unavoidable costs.
These include preparations for the hosting of the State of the Nation Address, next year’s budget and offices of MPs.
Earlier this week, the Cape Argus reported that Secretary to Parliament Xolile George said the national legislature made submissions to the National Treasury for unavoidable expenditure that was occasioned by the fire that broke out on January 2.
“Although we could not receive the amount we requested, we nevertheless received an indication that they will allocate us an amount of R118m out of the total request we made to help respond to issues,” he said.
“Such an amount will help us go a long way with the restorative part of our work, including the enhancement of the digital infrastructure,” George said.
According to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the cost of restoring Parliament was estimated at R2.2bn, including furnishings and IT system.
The cost to restore the Old Assembly building was R300m and R1.9bn for the National Assembly building.
Mapisa-Nqakula said they had abandoned putting up a temporary structure in the form of a modular structure in the precinct.
“When we did calculations we discovered that the money to spend on the modular structure is money we could spend on restoration; for instance, the Old Assembly building 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 possibilities of restoring Parliament.”
Mapisa-Nqakula said she had met Godongwana to discuss how the National Treasury could come on board in the restoration of Parliament.
“We agreed with the minister that, perhaps, the transfer payment should be given to Parliament so that Parliament accounts for the spending of this allocation or refurbishment of the institution.
“We also agreed that we will look into the procurement system, which will allow on time spending of money allocated for this. It will ensure that it has proper checks and balances,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
There will be a trilateral arrangement of a project steering committee involving Parliament, National Treasury and the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure to monitor spending of monies allocated for restoration of damaged buildings.
Cape Times