ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina Believes SA Gov Can Persevere After Parliament Fire, Move to Tshwane Not Needed

• The African National Congress' chief whip Pemmy Majodina has criticised the Economic Freedom Fighters for suggesting that Parliament move to Tshwane
• Majodina said that the government must prioritise the socio-economic challenges facing South Africa
• The ruling party's chief whip said that the move would be expensive and require amending the Constitution

CAPE TOWN - Pemmy Majodina, the chief whip of the African National Congress (ANC), said earlier today (3 January) that the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)'s suggestion to move Parliament to Tshwane after the houses of Parliament in Cape Town experienced a fire is not necessary.

Majodina said that the socio-economic issues facing South Africa, such as underdevelopment and soaring unemployment, should be prioritised by the government.

Not only would the move to Tshwane require making amendments to the Constitution, but it would also be an expensive endeavour the ruling party's chief whip said, according to The Sowetan.

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Why does the EFF want to move Parliament to Tshwane?

Following the fire at Parliament in Cape Town, the EFF posted on social media that they think the solution is to move the seat of Parliament to Tshwane in Gauteng. The party said that this will be more cost-effective than the current arrangement, as MPs would not need accommodation in Cape Town and won't have the travel costs.

BusinessTech reports that various political parties have requested the move in the past and in 2019 a cost analysis was done, which determined that moving Parliament to Gauteng would negatively affect Cape Town's economy and cost the government more than R7 million and mean that 1400 staff together with their families would need to move cities.

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Majodina added that the geographical separation between Parliament in Cape Town and Pretoria being the administrative capital of South Africa is healthy for the government. She said that the government must persevere with the opening of Parliament next month.

Reactions to the ANC's chief whip's statement

@MGGumede2 asked:

"Chief whip: What is the priority?"

@Cdejuju believes:

"DA will not allow them to relocate it, so it is not by choice for them to say so however circumstantial factors propels them to do so."

@Zerubba77285969 remarked:

"Doing what is good for the country is not their priority."

@peter80680910 shared:

"True that the ANC never prioritises anything."

@TokoMasemola said:

"These utterances by the Chief Whip is just typical "we don't have political will" language. Is the same excuses they use for not bringing proper solutions to issues in the country."

SA responds to Zille calling out Mbuyiseni Ndlozi's comments on the Parliament fire

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Speaking of the Parliament fire, earlier Briefly News reported that Helen Zille, the federal leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), criticised Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi for calling the fire that damaged part of the houses of Parliament in Cape Town "beautiful."

Ndlozi added in his statement that the fire presents an opportunity for the South African government to move Parliament to Tshwane in Gauteng. Zille criticised Ndlozi, as she views his remarks as celebrating the fire instead of helping to fix the problem.

Parliament was scheduled to open next month with the State of the Nation address on 10 February. However, the fire has caused the government to brainstorm how they can work around the loss of venue.

Source: Briefly News