Why does the ANC want to move Parliament to Pretoria? Who knows.

It seems like a massive waste of money, time and resources.

But wasting time, money and resources is what politicians do best so this, in a weird way, all makes sense.

The bid to relocate Parliament was announced back in February 2018. Now the Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi, has provided an update on government’s proposed plans, reports BusinessTech.

In a response to a recent parliamentary Q&A session, Nxesi said that the project is still a work in progress and is primarily the responsibility of Parliament – with the Department of Public Works playing a supporting role.

He added that the following steps have been taken after “various engagements” with Parliament over the years.

• A project steering committee consisting of the senior management of parliament and the Department of Public Works was established and it is chaired by the secretary to parliament, whose responsibility is to ensure the successful implementation of the project;
• The project mainly involves the production of a comprehensive feasibility study report relating to the socio-economic impacts of parliament remaining in Cape Town versus it relocating to Pretoria and project due diligence;
• Possible construction sites in Tshwane have been identified, but cannot be confirmed until such time that parliament accommodation requirements have been signed off by the secretary to parliament;
• For this to happen, parliament must give guidance and take the decision to move the parliamentary precinct away from Cape Town and also legally pronounce Tshwane as the seat of parliament, by way of proposing a constitutional amendment on Tshwane/Pretoria as the new legislative capital of South Africa;
• Parliament’s decision will be informed by a comprehensive feasibility study mentioned above.

There will be a number of socio-economic impact assessments conducted before anything happens, mostly because moving Parliament is going to cost the country roughly R7 billion.

Moving would also mean uprooting 1 400 Parliamentary staff and their families, and would have a negative impact on Cape Town’s economy.

On the plus side, it’s estimated that relocating parliament could save the country between R500 million and R750 million a year in the future.

I reckon we wait until after the election before getting too worked up about this one.

A lot can change.

[source:businesstech]