Parliament fire: Over R500m already spent as restoration project now expected to cost R4.4bn

More than R500 million has already been spent on repairing Parliament after a fire in 2022, with the total cost of the reconstruction project now projected to reach R4.4 billion.

This was revealed during a meeting of the joint standing committee on the financial management of parliament on Friday.

MPs received updates on the investigation into the fire that destroyed parliament, which was not insured, as well as progress made in the ongoing restoration efforts.

The Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) provided detailed briefings on the restoration process, while officials from the auditor-general’s office dealt with the financial management of the project.

Sections of the National Assembly and Old Assembly buildings suffered major damage during the fire on 2 January 2022.

The reconstruction is expected to be completed in late 2026 following delays that have extended the original deadline.

Zandile Mafe, who admitted to starting the fire and was charged with terrorism and arson, was declared unfit to stand trial in December 2023.

Parliament fire: Restoration progress

Chuene Ramphele, DBSA group executive for infrastructure delivery, said during the meeting that work was initially stalled as the parliamentary site was treated as a crime scene and secured by police.

“Technically, the work actually started in March 2023,” he told the joint committee.

Ramphele said that significant progress had been made since work officially began, including the construction of 155 offices for MPs on Plein Street.

“At this stage, our focus is primarily on the refurbishment,” he said.

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He said that demolition works were completed in March 2024 and came in under budget at R73 million, saving R2 million in the process.

Due to design changes and necessary statutory approvals, the initial R2 billion budget had risen.

“When we concluded the detailed designs, you’ll see that we started to be very sure of what are the detailed costs,” Ramphele said.

“After the final approval and the designs, the budget for both the refurbishment of the National Assembly and Old Assembly buildings amounted to R3.6 billion.”

Watch the meeting below:

Ramphele also said the DBSA is applying a risk-monitoring approach to minimise the impact of unforeseen challenges, such as bad weather, given the tight timeline.

The revised total budget includes R900 million allocated for upgrading the information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure.

National Assembly construction

Ramphele said that Raubex Construction was awarded a R2.27 billion contract to work on the new National Assembly wing.

“The site was handed over in April after having appointed [the company] in December 2024,” he said.

He noted that the delay was caused by difficulties in obtaining a construction permit from the department of labour.

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“We could not start if we did not have the construction permit and also making sure that the occupational safety issues are intact to avoid any issues because our biggest risk that we want to mitigate is to ensure there is no fatality on the site or any particular kind of incident.”

Ramphele told the committee that guarantees are in place to manage the contractor’s performance in case of failure to deliver.

“Other things about the project contract management in place is how we are going to manage the penalties and the penalty regimes that are going to apply in that regard.”

Timelines

At the moment, work is focused on the basement and structural foundations, including support pillars for two additional floors and a new roof structure.

“At this point in time, the work is happening underground,” he said, adding that “we want a climate resilient Parliament”.

Ramphele said that once the three basement levels are complete, the team will begin construction of the first through sixth floors, including beams and slabs.

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This phase will take approximately 12 months, with the project expected to reach 40% completion by April 2026.

Interior finishes – including flooring, toilets, offices, committee rooms, the public gallery and a banquet hall – will require another 18 months, pushing projected progress to 75% by September 2026.

Ramphele said the full restoration of the new National Assembly is expected to be completed within 20 months.

“At that point, we will be looking at commissioning the building. In particular we are looking at November 2026. So at that time, the building will be practically complete.”

Old Assembly restoration

According to Ramphele, a contractor for the Old Assembly building was appointed last month.

The R1.3 billion project is expected to take 18 months.

Ramphele confirmed that the site has already been handed over to the contractor.

He concluded with an update on the overall cost of the parliamentary restoration.

“So far, we have already spent, with what has been happening and what we have done, R574 million.

“Ultimately, the entire programme of Parliament is at a cost of around R4.4 billion with the major items being the National Assembly and Old Assembly.”

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