Parliament slams report claiming it will have in-person meetings from next month

Parliament has rubbished a news report claiming it will have in-person meetings in the next two weeks.

In a hard-hitting statement on Thursday, parliament said that the article – published by the Citizen – was incorrect in its claims that parliament will fully open for physical meetings in Cape Town on October 6.

Moloto Mothapo, parliament spokesperson, said Parliament had been open for business – albeit under lockdown regulations – since April.

“MPs have been working both from the precinct and remotely, through what is called the hybrid system, in order to conform to the current Covid-19 regulations that prescribe the number of people that can gather in one place to perform various duties. No decision has been taken regarding any change to this status quo. 

“Members of Parliament are currently on constituency period following an intense third term programme, which also had to be extended several times, in order to complete the urgent business of Parliament,” Mothapo said.

He said Parliament would write to the Press Ombudsman about the news report. The article in question seems to have been removed from the newspaper's website.

TimesLIVE