Parliament Fire: R2 Billion Worth of Damage, Zandile Mafe Yet to Stand Trial For Setting Parliament Ablaze

• It has been a year since South Africans watched the buildings of the National Assembly burn down
• Since then, the police arrested Zandile Mafe and kept him in police custody at Pollsmoor prison
• Extensive damage has been caused, and repairs to Parliament are estimated to cost R2 billion

CAPE TOWN - Today, 2 January, marks one year since the National Assembly caught fire.

The fire broke out in the early hours of the morning at the Parliament precinct and continued to rage on for at least three days.

According to EWN, firefighters were on the scene within six minutes, and over 300 men and women were deployed to put out the blaze.

The areas affected by the blaze were the Old Assembly and the National Assembly buildings, and there was extensive damage to key offices, chambers and meeting rooms.

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Police arrest one man for the Parliament fire

Zandile Mafe was quickly linked to the Parliament fire and was arrested by police. At the time, Mafe was accused of gaining access to the precinct through a window and igniting the blaze.

According to News24, Mafe has been in police custody since his arrest and is being kept at Pollsmoor Prison. Mafe's trial is expected to begin on 27 January due to numerous delays caused by Mafe and his legal team.

The accused embarked on a hunger strike in protest of his arrest and refused to appear at the Western Cape High Court on two occasions. At one point, Mafe stated that he would not appear in court if he was not granted a kettle, coffee, flat-screen TV and a radio to listen to the news.

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Repairs to Parliament will cost R2 billion

Xolile George, the new secretary to Parliament announced that it would cost at least R2 billion to repair the damage caused by the Parliament blaze.

According to EWN, it would take at least three years to restore the National Assembly to its former glory. This means the State of the Nation Address (SONA) will not take place at the Parliament precinct for the second year in a row.

Parliament’s spokesperson Moloto Mothapo told SABC News that a lot of progress had been made regarding the Parliament fire in 2022 and more work would be done in 2023.

Mothapo explained that a lot of time was spent on the assessment of the damage that was caused, a process that took seven months to complete. He added that in 2023, they expect to rebuild Parliament and ensure that Parliament processes are not interrupted.

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Briefly News previously reported that 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 the windy city centre.

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

Source: Briefly News