Secretary to Parliament, Xolile George says the reconstruction process of fire-damaged buildings will be completed within 24 months after it was gutted by fire in early January 2022.
Mr. George made the announcement during a media briefing on Tuesday, intended to communicate details of the reconstruction process of the sections of the damaged buildings of Parliament.
The fire broke out on 2 January 2022 and burnt for at least three days, severely affecting both the Old Assembly and the National Assembly buildings.
“It is envisaged that the Project will be completed within 24 months and allow a further six months for retention to deal with snags and challenges arising after occupation.
“Given the extensive nature of the damage it was envisaged that it would take anywhere between 42 and 48 months to do this work,” George said.
Last year during the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana allocated R2 billion to parliament for its reconstruction project.
George told the media that Parliament and the Development Bank of South Africa Limited (DBSA), through its Infrastructure Delivery Division (IDD), have agreed to collaborate in tandem with other stakeholders such as the DPWI and the Treasury, in respect of the implementation of the project.
According to the Secretary to Parliament, the areas of partnership between Parliament and the DBSA for the purpose of this project will include capacity development, technical support and implementation of infrastructure projects.
He further announced that the partnership with DBSA includes refurbishment of burnt Parliament buildings, the Old Assembly building, link building and National Assembly Building, also adding that this partnership will upgrade security infrastructure and conceptualization and redesign of the Parliamentary precinct.
He mentioned that part of the prioritization of the work would include clearing the site and making sure that they can determine what can still be secured and what is not possible to secure.
