The department of public works and infrastructure says the Nieuwmeester Dome will be a cost-saving asset to the state
The Joint Standing Committee on Financial Management of Parliament has heard that the Nieuwmeester Dome will only be ready for occupation in January 2026 and not this month as initially projected.
This is according to the progress report presented before the committee in a follow-up engagement meeting with the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, on matters related to the installation of the dome in Cape Town.
Dome to serve as temporary home for Parliament
The structure is being readied for use as temporary accommodation for Parliament‘s sittings while the Parliament complex in Cape Town undergoes construction after a fire damaged the facilities in January 2022.
Presenting the report on Wednesday night, the department’s director of projects at the Cape Town Regional Office, Thembeka Kolele, said the structure will be ready for sittings after the December Parliament recess.
“We have made provision in our plan for the dome that the dome can be there for 12 months, even up to 18 months… But the dome will be functional, and we as a department will be taking full responsibility for the functionality of the dome,” Kolele said.
From parking lot to Parliament chamber
The dome borrowed its name from the Nieuwmeester parking lot it’s currently set up on, opposite Parliament.
It was initially expected to be ready this month, but the project is currently in phase III –tenant installation – which includes fittings and furnishing.
The structure will be used until the rebuilding of the National Assembly is complete, which is projected to be by January 2027.
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‘Once-off investment’
Kolele said using the dome will cut costs currently being incurred from hiring venues.
“Parliament has been hiring venues to the tune of R48 million per annum, which covers all the items and the logistics that are included in that process,” Kolele said.
“But with the dome, it’s a once-off investment of R31.7 million, creating a secure, acoustically treated and compliant facility.”
The R31 million figure – which the department said was trimmed down by R8 million due to excluding non-essential features – covers mechanical installations, ablution facilities, electrical installations and a chamber for the National Assembly and joint sittings of Parliament.
A state-owned asset
Kolele said the strategic value of the dome is that it becomes a permanent home or a permanent venue for the duration of the reconstruction project, no matter how long that period takes, and becomes a state-owned asset.
The structure can be reused for other functions such as ceremonial events, conferences, and state funerals, she added.
“It can be transported into the various places with all the amenities, and it can be reassembled – at a cost, obviously.”
The dome has historical significance, as it was last used during former president Nelson Mandela’s funeral in Qunu, Eastern Cape, on 15 December 2013.
WATCH: Follow-up engagement on matters related to the Nieuwmeester Dome full video
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