City has the housing, transport and people to be parliamentary hub

IN HIS State of the Nation address, President Jacob Zuma alluded to the need to consider the relocation of Parliament.

I understood it to mean cutting the cost of having the administrative capital and the legislative capital in different parts of the country.

Everybody understands why we have that situation, and there is nothing wrong in putting our heads together to see how we can make governance of the country more efficient and cost-effective besides cutting the number of cabinet posts and reducing the bloated public service.

The Western Cape premier has suggested that consideration be given to moving the government administration to Cape Town. She is already looking to identify suitable spaces for the development of the government complex.

Just judging by the way the Western Cape provincial government and the City of Cape Town trample on all that is sacred in terms of public open spaces for profit-making development, I am sure this is not a big ask.

Cape Town can accommodate the required infrastructure, and although it is struggling to meet the affordable housing demand at the moment, such a move might just spur them on.

Cape Town is, in fact, ideally suited. It has a sea port, which Pretoria does not have, as well as an international airport.

Diplomatic visitors don’t have to land in another city and then drive an hour or more to get to the seat of government. And, by the way, Cape Town already has excellent accommodation for the diplomatic corps.

Another advantage is that we have military air bases close by for the special friends of the president to land plane-loads of their family and party guests. We have it all.

Of course, we have the most friendly people to welcome visitors and compatriots. We have it all.