Parliament will not be moving to Gauteng because of Covid-19
National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise says the temporary relocation of Parliament to Gauteng due to Covid-19 pandemic was not on the cards, yet.
Modise said she would not request the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure to designate a venue to host the national legislature in Gauteng as suggested by the EFF.
“The Powers and Privileges Act gives us the authority to designate any place and venue as a precinct. If we consider it important and if we consider it as the last resort, we will do so,” she said on Thursday.
Modise made the statement at the programme committee meeting when responding to a proposal by the EFF that in the interim Parliament be relocated to Pretoria.
“We have as a matter of record not received the letter from the EFF asking us to relocate temporarily to Gauteng ” she said.
Her response took place as they prepare for an oral question session for cabinet ministers planned for next Wednesday.
EFF MP Ntombovuyo Mente said rules and regulations permitted Modise and the executive to move the national legislature on an interim basis.
Mente said there were few MPs that were in Cape Town, which has a high infection and death rate from Covid-19 and three of their representatives remaining in the city have underlying issues.
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