Interim home for Parliament: construction begins

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has assured the new ‘home’ for Parliament in Cape Town will be ready before the State of the Nation Address in February 2025. 

The department’s Director-General Sifis Mdakane witnessed the site handover for the new interim home for parliament. 

Mdakane said the plans to provide Parliament with a new temporary home are beginning to take shape. He conducted the official site handover of the dome installation to the contractor in Cape Town. 

The dome will serve as the temporary home for Parliament for the next 24 months, while the Parliament building is being rebuilt after it was gutted in a fire two years ago. 

“The dome will be set up at the Niewmeester Parking Site within the Parliamentary Precinct. The project of setting up the dome is expected to take 24 days from today [Wednesday, December 18], which will be on time for the 2025 opening of Parliament and State of the Nation address,” Mdakane said. 

The project has the blessings of both the Honourable Speaker of the National Assembly, Thoko Didiza, and the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson.

According to the department, the erection of the interim structure is set to save the state a lot of money. 

“Today eight, twelve-metre containers, carrying all the necessary accessories and parts, which were transported from the Defence Force storage facility in Pretoria to Cape Town was handed over to commence construction,” Mdakane said. 

The project is being overseen by the Chief Professional Architect from the Prestige Unit of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and construction experts.

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure will provide regular updates until the completion of this project and the official handover to Parliament.

robin.francke@iol.co.za

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