The DA will proceed with its legal case against Parliament to find suitable alternative venues for the institution to do its work

21 February 2023

Please find attached a soundbite by the DA Chief Whip, Siviwe Gwarube MP.

The DA has noted the announcement made by the Secretary to Parliament, Xolile George, that Parliament has finally decided to begin the rebuilding process.

While this was dubbed as a milestone, it is hardly something we can applaud when the fire took place over a year ago.

To announce that the rubble will now be cleared and rebuilding will start, is an expected move considering that the R2 billion for this project was allocated by Treasury last year already. Parliament has moved at a sluggish pace.

This announcement seems to have come at the back of the DA’s legal demand to Parliament a couple of weeks ago about this matter.

We will still be expecting the institution to respond to the DA’s legal challenge tomorrow on what the plans are for finding suitable alternative venues for Parliament to fully resume its functions.

This is not a nice to have. It’s a constitutional obligation that we take seriously.

Issued by Siviwe Gwarube, Chief Whip of the Official Opposition, 21 February 2023