Cape Town Mapping Project

Parliament Building

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In 1872 it was decided that the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly should be housed in one building. Charles Freeman designed the original Parliament building incorporating a number of statues, a fountain, and a dome. On 12 May 1875, Sir Henry Barkly laid the cornerstone. The project was taken over by Henry Greaves, due to complications with the original design. He redesigned the building and construction continued with a number of delays including the overthrow of the Cape government in 1878. The total cost of the building was £220 000 or R140 million today. The building was opened in 1884 by the Cape Prime Minister, Thomas Scanlen and British Governor Henry Robinson.

Parliament

The Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, is South Africa’s legislator.

The predecessor to the Parliament was the Union of South Africa, which lasted from 1910 to 1961. The King, and later the Queen of England, were represented by the Governor General. The Senate consisted of 4 Senators who were from the 4 provinces. Only white men could be Senators and MP’s. Originally the right to vote was granted to white men in all four provinces, black men in the Natal province, and both black and coloured men in the Cape Province. In 1930, women were given the right to vote and to be senators and MP’s in the Union. Later the right to vote for non-whites was taken away.

In 1961, the Republic of South Africa was established. Only a few substantial changes were made to parliament, one of them being the State President replaced the Queen.

In 1994 a new interim constitution was introduced giving equal rights to all South Africans.

The President of South Africa holds his annual State of The Nation Address at Parliament.