High winds in Cape Town forces National Assembly to abandon marquee & return to hybrid session

CAPE TOWN - High winds in Cape Town's city centre have forced the National Assembly to abandon its makeshift marquee chamber on Thursday afternoon and to return to the precinct for a hybrid plenary session.

The House has been sitting in a marquee erected on a parking a lot across from Parliament since August to allow all 400 members to attend sittings.

Since the January 2022 fire that razed through Parliament's National Assembly chamber, there’s no room big enough in its unaffected buildings to accommodate all MPs.

Following the Parliament fire plenary sessions were mostly held in the Good Hope Chamber, which can only accommodate around 200 members, while others had to join the sitting virtually.

While plans are being made to repair, transport and erect a dome used for Nelson Mandela's funeral in Cape Town, the marquee has become the new chamber.

But on Thursday, the National Assembly's programme committee heard engineers had expressed concern about MPs' safety due to the strong south-easterly wind expected to reach a top speed of 35 kilometres an hour.

The administration's Velwano Sipoko explained: "The biggest issue is the unpredictability of the wind and the disruption it causes inside the marquee itself and the fact that you cannot guarantee that it will stay intact should the wind suddenly change."

MPs have also complained that the wind makes it difficult to hear and follow proceedings.

Deputy Speaker Anneli Lotriet then hastily decided to return to the Good Hope Chamber and has informed parties they will have to reduce their physical attendance according to allocated quotas.

At Thursday’s sitting, the public works minister is due to deliver a statement on infrastructure development, while ministers in the governance cluster are due to answer questions from MPs.