Presiding Officers accept Mayor’s offer of Cape Town City Hall as venue for SONA 2022
Parliament’s Presiding Officers met to consider various options for venues to ensure that the work continues, including the hosting of the State of the Nation Address (SONA). They thanked the Western Cape Provincial Government and the City of Cape Town for offering various buildings in the city for Parliament to use, including the Cape Town International Convention Centre, the City Council Chambers and the City Hall. In this regard, after a great deal of consideration and following a thorough onsite inspection of alternative places, the Presiding Officers decided that the City Hall was the most suitable facility for the 2022 State of the Nation Address. This venue has the necessary technology and capacity for the event, and also has historical significance, as it was the place where the first democratically elected former President Nelson Mandela addressed the nation after his release from prison on 11 February 1990, with President Cyril Ramaphosa by his side. And again, on 9 May 1994, the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu introduced Tata Mandela to thousands of jubilant South Africans on the same balcony, after his
election as the first democratic President. President Ramaphosa will address the nation from the City Hall 32 years after the 1990 occasion. The City Hall was built in 1905 and now boasts a full-sized statue of Tata Mandela on the balcony where he addressed the people in 1990. The statue was installed in 2017. The City Hall also has a permanent exhibition dedicated to Madiba. The decision to host the SONA outside the NA Chamber is in compliance with the Joint Rules of Parliament that determine where a joint sitting may be held. The President calls this Joint Sitting of the NA and the NCOP annually to deliver SONA in terms of section 42(5) of the Constitution, read with Joint Rule 7 of the Joint Rules of Parliament. Since it is a Joint Sitting of the two Houses of Parliament, the Speaker of the NA and the Chairperson of the NCOP host the event, which is attended by the three arms of the state. The Joint Rules prescribe the venue for the Joint Sitting of Parliament thus: “Joint sittings are held in the Chamber of the Assembly”. The rules also provide for the procedures for the sitting and the conduct of Members of Parliament. Rule 2 of the Joint Rules provide for unforeseen matters. In terms of Rule 2(1), the Speaker and the Chairperson, acting jointly, may give a ruling or make a rule in respect of any matter for which the joint rules do not provide. In this regard, a joint rule made by the Speaker and the Chairperson will allow SONA to be held in a venue other than the Chamber of the Assembly. The rule will remain in force until the Rules Committee decides otherwise. Section 2 of the Powers, Privileges, and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act defines the precincts of Parliament as any area of land and every building or part of a building under Parliament’s control, including “the chambers in which the proceedings of the Houses are conducted and the galleries and lobbies of the chambers”; and include all other parts of the buildings and committee rooms and other meeting places used for Parliament’s business and in connection with the proceedings of Parliament, while so used. Section 2 (2) provides that “where a House or committee convenes beyond the seat of Parliament, this Act applies as if the premises where the House or committee is sitting were within the precincts of Parliament”. Therefore, section 2 of the Act makes allowances for any business of Parliament to be conducted elsewhere. Section 3 of the Act reinforces that the precinct’s control vests with the Speaker and the Chairperson, irrespective of the venue. The Presiding Officers are looking forward to a successful SONA.