Parliament blaze contained; National Assembly 'completely destroyed'
Authorities said on Tuesday they had finally contained a suspected arson fire at South Africa's parliament building after a second-day flare-up that completely destroyed the lower house National Assembly chamber.
A 49-year-old man accused of setting the fire appeared in court to face five charges including arson and possession of an explosive device. A lawyer for suspect Zandile Christmas Mafe said he denied the accusations and would plead not guilty.
The National Assembly in the New Wing of the parliament complex was "completely destroyed from bottom right through to the top," Cape Town City Chief Fire Officer Ian Schnetler told journalists. "It is going to take a lot of rehabilitation to get that back to where it was."
In a statement, city officials said the fire had been brought under control at midnight.
"Teams are now working their way through the maze-like building, room-for-room, as they attempt to locate and extinguish" hot spots, the statement said.
"This is a lengthy process, as some rooms are needing to have their interior wooden cladding pulled apart, in order to identify any concealed hot spots."
The fire initially broke out on Sunday. By Monday, authorities had withdrawn some fire trucks and said they were putting out embers, only for the flames to flare up again causing more extensive damage to the New Wing.
The fire also caused the partial collapse of the roof of the Old Wing, which dates back to 1884 and houses the upper chamber, the National Council of Provinces.
Magistrate Zamekile Mbalo ordered suspect Mafe, a resident of Cape Town's largest township Khayelitsha, held in custody for seven days until Jan. 11 for a bail hearing. Prosecutors said they would oppose bail.
Eric Ntabazalila, spokesperson for the Western Cape Province's National Prosecuting Authority, declined to say what kind of explosive device was found with Mafe. Authorities have not disclosed any possible motive for setting the blaze.
"My client denies and rejects these charges and therefore he is pleading not guilty and he will continue to plead not guilty," Mafe's lawyer Luvuyo Godla told journalists on the steps of Cape Town Magistrate's court.
Officials have said important sections of the complex were saved, including a museum with art works and heritage objects, and an embroidered tapestry telling the story of the Eastern Cape on the ground floor of the Old Assembly Building.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation