/ 8 September 1995

At last there D5s harmony in Parliament

Marion Edmunds

Despairing of the difficult conditions under which they work, a number of=

parliamentary officials are seeking relief from the long, hard days in song=

More than a hundred parliamentary officials have formed a choir, and have=

already had two practices.=20 The chairperson of the new choir, Hansard official Marina Griebenow, said=

she had thought that establishing a choir might help to bring the hard- pressed and diverse parliamentary staff together in a relaxed and informal=

Griebenow said that the choir would have its official launch in October and=

would then have to work very hard on a repertoire. Griebenow said that they wanted to sing songs that reflected all cultures i=

South Africa. In the meantime, the choir has already had one performance. In the first=20 week, one of its members died and the choir sang at his funeral. In the=20 spirit of the interim constitution, members sang the hymn, Abide with Me,=

in three official languages: English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. MPs and senators are not allowed to join the choir because they are not at=

Parliament all year round.