South Africans React to Parliament Building Fire Reigniting: 'Incompetence Everywhere'

• Part of Parliament burning down caught many off-guard but the fire re-igniting has raised a lot of eyebrows among online users
• Firefighters fought against windy conditions to control the flare-up after re-emerging on Monday afternoon
• Twitter users heightened the EFF's calls to move Parliament to Pretoria, with others criticising the ANC over the fire

Locals on social media have been critical of the efforts undertaken to extinguish the fire that engulfed the Old Assembly building of Parliament in Cape Town.

The public backlash comes after the fire that ravaged the building on Sunday morning re-emerged on Monday afternoon, seeing fire emergency services fighting against the elements to control the conflagration in a windy city centre.

A 49-year-old man is in police custody on suspicion of causing the destruction and will appearance in court on Tuesday. Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo confirmed the re-emergence of the fire, citing it as puzzling as all the stakeholders involved believed it had been completely put out.

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There were various opinions expressed by curious observers online, including calls to move Parliament to Pretoria – in line with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)'s position.

Observers berate incident

There was also criticism and questions raised around the competency of ANC politicians to give accurate accounts of the state of affairs surrounding the National Assembly.

Briefly News took a deep dive into the comments to bring readers all the fascinating reactions to the latest development.

@_Siphe_Sihle_ wrote:

"Incompetence everywhere. Why didn't the firefighters ensure that fire wouldn't break out again???"

@UnmovedLee said:

Just after Ramaphosa was praising the Western Cape settlers for containing the fire well. He even boasted that only one part was affected. Lobaba everything he says is disproved within moments."

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@TiroMokoditoa added:

"The Zuma children need to reconcile themselves with the fact that their father, Jacob Zuma, was the most useless president in post-apartheid SA. The man has nothing to show for his 9 years as president, except the HIV ARV rollout."

@Gqhirha_SN mentioned:

"While they are at it, they mustn't forget to throw the so-called "best constitution in the world" in that fire... We need a good start, a new constitution that will serve the interests of the indigenous."

Parliament fire reignites, emergency services on scene

Elsewhere, Briefly News reported that Western Cape Emergency Services on Monday again scrambled to contain the fire that ravaged the National Assembly of Parliament in Cape Town just a day earlier as a thick fog of smoke billowed from the building.

Briefly News earlier reported that a 49-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson and expected to appear in court on Tuesday, 4 January.

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"The fire re-emerged and engulfed the entire roof of the National Assembly. It's inexplicable, as we thought it was put out completely," said Mothapo said.

National Assembly Speaker and former Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula warned that all available resources will be deployed to find others who may be responsible for setting the Parliamentary building alight.

Source: Briefly News