AFTER THE FIRE
Lengthy and complicated construction lies ahead in R3bn Parliament rebuild
Some 28 months after the 2 January 2022 fire left the National Assembly and other buildings locked up and out of bounds, rebuilding Parliament is a step closer — if not yet off the ground. The target starting date is 10 May.
Rebuilding and reconstructing Parliament, as this bricks-and-mortar project is dubbed, was initially meant to start “in the first quarter of 2024 and conclude at the end of 2025”, according to the national legislature’s statement on the second anniversary of the January 2022 fire.
It also highlighted “progress” with rubble removal and erecting a temporary roof.
It didn’t quite happen that way.
On 8 March, the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament was told the new starting date was 18 April.
That’s when the demolition of the damaged buildings was scheduled to begin, with completion by 8 July, while the construction of a new National Assembly complex was scheduled to begin on 9 August with completion by 23 December 2025.
The handover of the new Parliament was scheduled, at the latest, to occur by 2 February 2026, just before the State of the Nation Address (Sona). This meant MPs would attend Sona in the parliamentary precinct, rather than the Cape Town City Hall, for the first time in five years.
But the 18 April 2024 rebuilding start date came and went without the sound of hammering, drilling or even scaffolding being put up. The start date had been moved to 28 April, according to the parliamentary grapevine, but again no building work began on that day. Or subsequently.
On Tuesday night, Parliament said the construction project was progressing “consistent with our commitment to begin in the first quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year. This timeline has remained steadfast since our initial announcement in March 2023”.
The difference between a calendar year and a financial year is key — the first quarter of the calendar year ends on 31 March, but the financial year runs from 1 April to 30 June.
Planned briefing
It is reliably understood that in the next few days, Parliament is planning a public briefing with full details of the extent of rebuilding, including plans and dates.
When that takes place, it will become clear if any changes have been made to the plans and costs presented to the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament on 8 March. Those plans included a daycare centre in the historic gardener’s cottage.
Repairs and upgrades to the National Assembly. (Parliament Design proposal dated 8 March 2024)
National Assembly design concept. (Parliament design proposal dated 8 March 2024)
While building costs were scaled down somewhat to R2.1-billion, the addition of R943-million for information technology (ICT) pushed costs to just over R3-billion. Investment in ICT was “necessary to modernise the operations of Parliament and to gain efficiencies”, according to the 8 March briefing documents.
The broadcasting and data systems and the National Assembly conferencing and voting system account for the bulk of the ICT expenditure. Not all of that has yet been secured from the National Treasury, which in 2023 allocated just over R2-billion to Parliament.
That delays had hit the fire rebuilding emerged in various statements and at the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament.
A “slight delay” in rubble removal acknowledged in August 2023 by Parliament ended up as a six-week delay until 14 November 2023. The reasons, according to the 8 March briefing documents to MPs, were “rain delays, movement of books and more heritage assets”.
Daily Maverick has reliably learnt that by late April not all items had been removed from the fire-wrecked buildings, including furniture and gifts given to National Assembly speakers that had been left behind in the presiding officer’s wing. Those gifts were not part of the arts, paintings and sculpture inventory, which had ensured the artworks were recovered, sent for restoration where necessary and to safe storage. Parliament is on public record as having lost artworks worth R5,234,179.97 in the fire.
Parliament told Daily Maverick, “All work contracted for in 2023 has been completed according to the defined scope of the work”. Listing rubble and debris removal, the temporary roof, “thorough asset identification” and distributing content from damaged offices, the institution emphasised health and safety.
“These tasks were conducted with full adherence to safety and contract specifications. It is important to note that the contracted scope specifically excluded areas designated as ‘red zones’ which are unsafe for access.”
Assets marked for auction, including chairs and computer stacks, were marked with orange stickers in “designated safe spaces within the precinct”.
The Parliament rebuilding project is headed by the Development Bank of Southern Africa as the implementing agent.
To date, a temporary roof over the Old Assembly building has been erected while a “demolition design package” has been finalised, the contractor appointed and the Labour Department’s construction work permit applied for.
“These steps confirm our adherence to the planned schedule and our commitment to a thorough and meticulous approach to this significant project,” Parliament said.
From the 8 March briefing documentation to MPs, it emerged that some events of the rebuilding timetable had been delayed, such as the “public and media breakfast” on the new design proposals, which had been scheduled for 13 March.
However, other scheduled events have occurred, including the appointment in December 2023 of “a team of multidisciplinary professionals” to work on a master plan to “give optimal spatial utilisation for the parliamentary precinct and improve the security arrangement”.
Looking at previous plans, including the controversial 2008 precinct extension plans that ultimately were not implemented, this team has delivered a preliminary report on what is called “a critical review” of previous parliamentary redesign proposals.
Also in progress, albeit at a snail’s pace, is the replacement of the heritage fencing with a significantly taller version. The SA Police Service has long complained about the need for fencing of at least 1.8m high in line with Parliament’s 2018 proclamation as a National Key Point. This taller fence will replace the ad hoc wire panels cable-tied to the existing fence and the hundreds of metres of razor wire that traps garbage and dead foliage.
For the incoming post-election MPs, the parliamentary precinct is set to remain a construction site for about 18 months into their term — if all goes according to plan. DM
I am sure the final cost is going to be well over four billion Rand as the pig trough money has not been included in the cost yet
In under 5 years the ancient and far more complicated reconstruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral following the fire, is more than 90% complete. But then that’s France, and not SA
Good point. Consider the refurbishment of Mostert’s Mill after the disastrous Cape Town fires of 2021. The private sector and dynamic and imaginative individuals got this done in a couple of years. A kilometer away, the Rhodes Memorial Restaurant, on State Land and under National Parks jurisdiction, remains a burnt out shell. But then, that’s the Private sector, not the Government.
Was the building insured? Have any insurance payouts happened?
The cost keep on increasing. It is ludicrous to spend that amount of money on a flight of fancy when there are pressing needs such as providing a decent standard of living for a whole lot of people living in abject poverty and squalor not that far away. It is sickening that the rebuild seems to be aimed at rebuilding some sort of a monument to SA’s inequality rather than a functional building within a fixed and limited budget
Parliament should be left AS IS – a fitting monument to what’s left of the Rainbow Nation, and the hopes & dreams of 1994.
Not sure if I am accurately understanding the design concept — will the National Assembly meet inside the champagne saucer? If so, might I propose that we name the part below it The Achilles Stem?
Also, could someone in ICT procurement give us an idea of what bundle of systems one could currently obtain for a cool R1 billion at competitive market rates?
Is the Dunning-Kruger Effect in play here?
It seems that there is a cognitive bias that is causing an overestimation of capability here.
R3(?)Bn taxpayer blood, sweat and tears later, has there been ANY political accountability for the total failure of security and gobsmacking lack of fire insurance as reported at the time. No, don’t be silly. Perhaps a 3rd tier clerk working in the admin dept has been fired, or at least given a good talking to.
I so wish that they would take the R 3 or 4 billion and go and build a new Parliament in Gauteng
The present state of affairs in the parliamentary precinct serves as a scathing indictment to the ineptitude and negligence of our present government. I do regular walks through the Company Gardens with foreign tourists and am deeply embarrassed by how this saga played itself out especially since there has been a deathly silence as to the fate of the officials responsible for the various tragic contributing factors from the security personnel to those who controlled the fire suppression system and fire doors to the cameras, gatekeepers etc that all seemed to work together in a comedy of errors allowing an arbritary person to walk into the hallowed National Key Point area to just cause this huge amount of damage which we, the tax-paying citizens, now have to cough up for. Anyone have an update on how many staff were charged or disciplined or promoted off to another cushy job after this obscene lack of care?
Hmm all those upgrades and nice pieces of concrete .
Give an architect a blank cheque 🙂
So sad I missed out on the tenders , a one man show , BEE compliant , the gardener and maid are a part of the company .
Get my Chinese buddies to come over , a win win situation as Xi says .
then no pesky labour disputes or quality checks .
Only 2 billion , do not pay , the PLA gets Simons Town 🙂
IT upgrades , Huawei might do it for free 🙂
Parliament , a symbol for the people , well , just for a well paid folk .
They have standards , even if they are beyond their voters .
How about that 2/3/4 billion of taxpayers money be spent on pit latrines , schools , hospitals .
Been spent , no result !
Maybe get a get a fire protection system in place , all BEEEE compliant , I have a new company .
As for the fencing , ask Ms de Lille , she has experience in border fencing .
The ANC voters are happy . As a single white guy who had his vote taken away , I do not really care !
I will suffer little , less than the masses that vote ANC or stay away !