The African National Congress has placed the relocation of Parliament to Pretoria squarely back on the table.
Senior ANC MP Vincent Smith said during question time in the National Assembly on Wednesday that the fact that Parliament sits in Cape Town needed to be revised urgently, according to a Beeld report on Thursday.
“The decision to house the executive authority, the legislative and judicial authority in separate places was as a result of a political arrangement in 1910 by a white government,” said Smith.
He said that decision led to unnecessary costs for travel and accommodation, and had an effect on productivity.
The money could be better spent, he argued.
Congress of the People MP Graham McIntosh proposed that if there was a relocation to Pretoria, the Cape Town Parliament complex be used for the Pan African Parliament.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said travel costs for Treasury officials came to R5-million between April and October this year.
He said members of Parliament were welcome to discuss the matter. — Sapa