National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza said that parliament and the department of public works had no choice but to spend around R25m to revamp the Nieuwmeester Dome after it was ravaged by Cape storms.
This is on top of the R30m that had been spend on first erecting the dome in 2024 to house sittings of the legislature following the fire that gutted the parliamentary precinct in 2022.
MPs are set to return next week to the gigantic marque in the Cape Town city centre to debate the State of the Nation (Sona) address due to be delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday night.
Ramaphosa will not deliver his speech at the dome as structural engineers put the final touches to ready it for the Sona debate, but will address the nation from the Cape Town City hall overlooking the Grand Parade square.
Hosting the Sona at the Cape Town City Hall will cost parliament at least R7m, including catering, broadcast facilities and other logistical arrangements.
Speaking after the dome was symbolically handed over to Didiza by public works and infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson, Didiza said the R25m spend on sprucing up the facility was not “excessive”.
“Remember that parliament is a legislative house, is a house in which parliament exercises oversight on the executive and it’s important that [it’s] functioning optimally — and what we are doing here is to make sure that public representatives are able to exercise that responsibility,” she said.
The revamped dome has been described as an improved version of the old one, with a lifespan of at least 10 years.
I think this refurbishment was necessary to contend with the climate in Cape Town but also to ensure there is access that is good for all our constituencies
— National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza
It’s been built to be more resilient against the strong winds of Cape Town, comes with a bigger 165-seat public gallery, a holding room for VIPs, improved acoustics and air conditioning which in the past have irked MPs.
Didiza said; “I think this refurbishment was necessary to contend with the climate in Cape Town but also to ensure there is access that is good for all our constituencies.
“The safety standards have been improved ... the acoustics are better but this is a tent — it’s functional, and it works as we would like it to,” said Didiza.
Macpherson said specialists from his department and the contractors worked seven days a week to deliver the revamped facility.
Also justifying the renovations expenditure, Macpherson said it was costing parliament at least R1m a day to hold a sitting at a venue such as the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
“Its money well spent, because every time parliament rents the ICC, it’s R1m+ (a day). ICC is expensive, 30 sittings completely negates that cost.
“And we have a full fit-for-purpose building that allows the public to come in, see their MPs at work. This is a hundred times better than the previous [one] and I think that MPs are going to better enjoy being here.
“This is good money spent, we have kept the costs as low as possible.”
Macpherson added that the dome will be kept intact even after parliament is rebuilt in the coming years, and will be used to generate income for government through events and conferences.
DA chief whip George Michalakis said the dome had to be revamped to allow for all 400 MPs to physically attend sittings of the plenary.
“It’s still more cost effective than alternative venues to have full sittings of parliament — and I do thinks that this structure will serve to be the home of parliament until the final building is completed, and also beyond.”
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