Cape Town - MPs, who are sometimes unfairly portrayed as faking sympathy with the hardships of their compatriots, will be feeling their pain more acutely at this year’s opening of Parliament.
Secretary to Parliament Gengezi Mgidlana disclosed on Friday the budget for the glamorous affair, which coincides with the State of the Nation Address on Thursday, had been trimmed to a miserly R3.6 million.
This follows hard on the news the gala banquet which usually follows the president’s speech had been cancelled this year in a nod to economic strictures facing the rest of the country.
Even the Presidency was forced to issue a demeaning advisory to those clamouring for an invite, indicating the president would not be able to accommodate more than the 20 guests allocated to him by Parliament “due to the depressed economic climate”.
Mgidlana said Parliament’s budget for the address had been slashed from R9.2m in 2014, to R4m last year, and was now down to R3.6m.
Costs included R475 000 on facilitating media access, sound and visuals, as well as branding for the event and transport for schoolchildren and members of civil society who traditionally form the civilian guard of honour.
Parliament would not be serving any beverages and was not expecting any hiccups, but the two were not necessarily related, quipped the legislature’s spokesman, Luzuko Jacobs.
Substantial cuts appear to have been implemented even before the official opening of the parliamentary calendar, with noticeably spartan catering on offer at meetings of committees.
This left one committee chairman at a loss for words to describe the customary tea break as he explained only a limited number of cups of tea would be served.
While there has been speculation that a reported 2km security radius around the precinct for the event is intended to keep potential protest marches as far away as possible, it could equally be intended to prevent ravenous MPs and guests inside from fleeing the scene.
Political Bureau