Parliament Allocates Up To R14 Million For Opening Address

Parliament has indicated that it has budgeted between R6 million and R14 million for the opening address scheduled to take place on Thursday at the Cape Town City Hall.

This event marks the official opening of the new five-year term of parliament and occurs once every five years following the provincial and national elections.

Xolile George, the Secretary to Parliament, explained during a media briefing on Wednesday that the budget has been set aside based on the nature and scale of the event.

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He noted that during the 2023 State of the Nation Address, the budget was R8.4 million. George clarified, “This is just a budget; the actual expenditure may be less or slightly more depending on the reconciliation that we will be doing.”

Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, the National Council of Provinces Chairperson, mentioned that the budget does not include a gala dinner, which has been cancelled due to financial constraints.

In June, George disclosed that parliament had almost doubled its budget for the seventh administration, setting aside R58 million. “In 2019, we budgeted R43 million for transition; in 2024, we budgeted R58 million.

The budgeting is to make transitions for candidates, for flights, accommodation, tools of trade, inductions, and more,” he stated.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Thoko Didiza, mentioned that so far, no members of parliament have indicated plans to boycott the opening address. This statement comes after the Umkhonto Wesizwe Party (MK) snubbed the first sitting of the National Assembly.

MK party members, disgruntled with the outcome of the May 29 national elections, claimed the results were rigged and demanded a recounting of ballots.