READER LETTER | Moving parliament to Pretoria will save us billions

When President Cyril Ramaphosa ascended to the top office in the land, I had hope that public administration would be conducted quicker and more efficiently because of his experience in the business world. Sadly, we are still married to the snail pace of bureaucracy. Pretoria is the capital of SA and all state departments are located around there.

It makes perfect sense that parliament should be moved to the city for proximity of administrative and legislative authorities. Ramaphosa is the driver of the ruling party and his influence in decision-making is undeniably immense.

The fire that gutted parliament has thrown a lifeline to the ANC, accused as number one in terms of corruption in state capture, to redeem itself by doing what is cost-effective and politically correct for our country. We can forgive but we’ll never forget that the Giyani Bulk Water Supply project for 55 villages in Limpopo started from R350m, now stands at above R3bn.

I can bet my last penny the estimated R2bn plus the additional R800m to refurbish the legislative institution will escalate to more billions due to latent structural defects and ageing of the building.

Save us the needed billions, build a new parliament fit for contemporary purpose in Pretoria.

Ramaphosa, please act with urgency!

Thami Zwane, Edenvale, Ekurhuleni