DPWI restarting reinforcement of dome tent meant to serve as National Assembly chamber

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is starting from scratch to reinforce a dome tent meant to serve as a National Assembly chamber.

The process will happen while Parliament is being rebuilt after a New Year’s fire almost four years ago.

In October, EWN reported that the skins of the tent had started to rip open, exposing the interior after the Cape winds battered the structure erected on a parking lot across from the parliamentary precinct.

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After being used for only two months, the tent was closed at the end of March while discussions were had over the cost of furnishing it for longer-term use.

Now, Minister Dean Macpherson said that the dome will undergo a major revamp for R25 million to prepare it to host the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in February.

It’s beena year since the department transported the mammoth dome tent in shipping containers from a warehouse in Pretoria to Cape Town.

It was originallybought in 2013 for Nelson Mandela’s funeral in the Eastern Cape.

Construction work is now underway, not only to reinforce the tent and improve its acoustics for plenary sittings, but also to connect it to electricity and sewage.

Macpherson said only after it was unpacked and hastily erected in January, did it become evident that it had not withstood over a decade in storage as it was believed.

“We actually had to strip it back, and we had to go and tighten every single bolt and screw to stiffen the frame and build in extra support there.”

Public Works director-general Sifiso Mdakane has been seconded to Cape Town to oversee the reconstruction and is receiving daily progress reports.

“We’ve appointed a contractor at a cost of R25 million who is going to be completing the job. We are going to meet the deadline before the State of the Nation Address.”

The department and Parliament are set to split the cost of the refurbishment.