Cape Town - Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will meet with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in the next two weeks to discuss a Special Appropriations Bill for Parliament after the destruction caused by the recent fire.
This comes as Parliament is considering alternative venues for its future sittings and refurbishment.
Parliament was gutted early last month and damage is estimated to be running into millions of rands. But a team of engineers is at the precinct to evaluate the extent of the damage caused by the blaze, which left the National Assembly and Old Assembly chambers destroyed.
Mapisa-Nqakula told the meeting of the joint standing committee on the financial management of Parliament on Friday that she will meet with Godongwana now that he has finished tabling the Budget in Parliament.
“We have agreed together with the Minister that we need to meet as quickly as possible. As you would know the Minister was preparing for a budget, he is new as well and he has been trying his best to talk to us sometimes on an informal basis,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.
“We may be having a meeting in the coming two weeks now that the budget presentation is done. One of the things we are agreeing on when we talk together is that there may be a possibility that the National Treasury may have to pass a Special Appropriations Bill for Parliament in order for us to do some of the things we are meant to do because of the destruction which was caused by the fire,” she said.
Earlier House chairperson Cedrick Frolick told the programming committee that the cost of hosting venues outside Parliament comes at a price.
He said there were committee rooms that MPs can use in Parliament, but there are very few of these.
He said the National Assembly can be ruled out because it was destroyed by the fire.
“However, there are committees which are physically meeting in Parliament. It is possible to do so, but it is very limited. Now you are asking yourself what is the other option. The other option is that we make use of facilities around Parliament, but those are private businesses and they run businesses, they have conference centres and hotels.
“ In the past when we made use of them they don’t only allow you to come in there for an hour or two to have your meeting. You must buy a conference package for all the attendees, which is costing a lot of money. A three-hour session for the morning can easily run between R60 000 and R90 000 per meeting and that is pre-Covid rates that I am talking about. The administration is fully aware of the challenges that we are experiencing,” said Frolick.
Political Bureau