EFF statement on ongoing fire at the Parliament of South Africa
2 January 2022
The EFF has noted the ongoing fires at the precinct of the Parliament of South Africa. These fires, which are reported to have caused devastating damage to the Old Assembly, the New Assembly as well as numerous offices, has essentially turned the legislature into ashes.
The EFF commends all efforts to put out the fires and urges all firefighting personnel to act with caution and ensure none of their lives are risked for the sake of a building. As much as we note the fires with concern, the EFF has long called for Parliament to be relocated to a central location for political and cost-related reasons.
Politically, the location of the legislature of South Africa in the City of Cape Town, while the administration of the country is located in the City of Tshwane was a deal brokered by British and Afrikaner settlers upon the establishment of the Union of South Africa. This came post the Anglo-Boer War, as a means of splitting the resources of this country between two settlers nations, at the exclusion of Africans.
To maintain this colonial pact of how we organise our society is nothing but a betrayal of African people and a reaffirmation that white-racist spatial and political planning still over-determines our lives in this country.