The 2 January 2022 fire left the National Assembly and the Old Assembly wing severely damaged, prompting Members of Parliament (MPs) to hold their sessions at the Cape Town City Hall.

Speaking to eNCA, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, noted that much progress has been made since the fire gutted the buildings.

This comes after the National Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) expressed concern about delays in finalising the report into the fire.

"We have the Joint Standing Committee on Financial Management, where on a regular basis it is expected that the presiding officers and the secretary of Parliament provide reports on what it is we are doing with regards to this particular issue of restoration.

ALSO READ: Firefighters battling to contain blaze at Parliament

"A lot of work has been done... if this were not the case, we would not even be talking about the money that has been allocated by the Finance Minister," she said.

It was previously revealed that restoring Parliament would cost an estimated R2.2 billion, including furnishings and IT systems.

R300 million would be needed to restore the Old Assembly building, while the National Assembly is expected to cost R1.9 billion to repair.

According to Mapisa-Nqakula, there is no fixed timeframe for the restoration process.

"We agreed that everything would be done in phases. The Old Assembly building would take about 18 months to restore, while the National Assembly would take 42 months. These are estimates, but the cost will be [around] R2 billion," she said.

ALSO READ: Alleged Parliament arsonist Zandile Mafe denied bail

Parliament’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, has since indicated that an update on plans to rebuild the facility’s fire-damaged buildings will be provided this week.

"As the nation marks this first anniversary of the fire, the presiding officers of Parliament, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces [NCOP], will later this week share with the nation details of the rebuilding programme, the project timeframes, and other relevant information at a press conference," Mothapo said in a statement.

Alternative venue

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on the government to find an alternative venue for Parliament.

The DA has argued that the Cape Town City Hall isn’t big enough to host all MPs.

"We are of the view that this is wholly unacceptable," the DA’s chief whip, Siviwe Gwarube, told eNCA.

ALSO READ: Parliament fire: Rebuilding National Assembly to cost over R1bn

Gwarube questioned why Parliament has yet to start its own investigations into the fire, adding that the DA was considering legal options on whether to hold the institution accountable or not.

"You would think that an institution of this magnitude that has something as big as this that basically destroys the building itself would be very quick to say look, let’s find out exactly what happened," she said.

Cape Town fire report

The City of Cape Town’s Fire Department last year released a post-incident report into the fire.

The report stated that the sprinkler valve at the National Assembly was last serviced in 2017.

The City said the valve appeared to have been closed, making it impossible to function during fire incidents. The report further revealed that the fire doors were latched open, which assisted in the spread of the fire.

The Citizen