Fire outbreak: South Africa opposition party wants parliament building moved to ‘central location’

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), an opposition party in South Africa, has called for the relocation of the country’s parliament building from Cape Town to Tshwane.

TheCable had reported how a fire outbreak on Sunday morning damaged parts of the building.

Moloto Mothapo, spokesperson of the parliament, had said the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and an investigation has been launched to establish the cause of the outbreak.

In a statement issued by Vuyani Pambo, its spokesperson, EFF said it had long demanded that the parliament building be relocated to Tshwane, which it described as a “central location”.

“The EFF has noted the ongoing fires at the precinct of the Parliament of South Africa. These fires, which are reported to have caused devastating damage to the Old Assembly, the New Assembly as well as numerous offices, has essentially turned the legislature into ashes,” the statement reads.

“The EFF commends all efforts to put out the fires and urges all firefighting personnel to act with caution and ensure none of their lives is risked for the sake of a building. As much as we note the fires with concern, the EFF has long called for Parliament to be relocated to a central location for political and cost-related reasons.

“Politically, the location of the legislature of South Africa in the City of Cape Town while the administration of the country is located in the City of Tshwane, was a deal brokered by British and Afrikaner settlers upon the establishment of the Union of South Africa. This came post the Anglo-Boer War, as a means of splitting the resources of this country between two settlers nations, at the exclusion of Africans.

“To maintain this colonial pact of how we organise our society is nothing but a betrayal of African people and a reaffirmation that white-racist spatial and political planning still over-determines our lives in this country.

“In terms of costs, the continued location of Parliament in Cape Town is a waste of taxpayers money. It results in unnecessary expenditure on both travel and accommodation for Parliamentarians and Members of Cabinet. If there is any appetite to curb wasteful government expenditure and cut all ties related to the colonial framework established by those who conquered this nation, this fire must serve as an opportunity to permanently relocate Parliament to Gauteng. This will allow government work to be synchronised.

“The EFF, therefore, calls for any money which would be set aside for repairs of what seems like irreversible damage, unless there is large-scale construction, to be used to relocate Parliament to Tshwane where the Union Buildings reside.

“This location is not only central, but will alleviate the burden of costs on the government It will undermine what the thieving founders of the Union of South Africa sought to achieve, in seeking peace amongst themselves by splitting the land they stole.”