Zandile Christmas Mafe – the man, or the myth associated with Parliament’s burning? At this point, no one is quite sure. On the surface, he was presented as a homeless man to the court, before it was revealed he is actually a resident of Khayelitsha.
As time beats on, more is being uncovered regarding the ‘mastermind’. Neighbours have spoken out about Mafe and noted that he exhibited strange behaviour – including the likes of being anti-social, choosing to climb through his fence instead of going through the gate and being absent for the past month. His family defends that he wouldn’t harm anyone, not even when he was a young boy in school.
Also read: Zandile Mafe – the man who did it, the myth or the scape-goat?
Meanwhile, according to IOL, the Hawks are now investigating the circumstances around the blaze which started on Sunday, January 2 and re-ignited once more on Monday afternoon, January 3.
Engineers from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure are also investigating the area to determine if whether or not the buildings affected are safe for access.
Parliament spokesperson, Moloto Mothape said that the speaker of the National Assembly (NA), Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Amos Masando, are content with the progress made so far on the containment of the fire and investigations currently in process at the precinct of Parliament.
“Since the firefighters contained the flare-up during the morning of Tuesday, the firefighters had remained on site until yesterday evening, monitoring the situation and combing the inside of the buildings for any potential flare-up”, said Mothape as per IOL.
Zandile Mafe, the man accused, appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, January 4 on charges of housebreaking with intent to steal and theft, two counts of arson, possession of an explosive device and destruction of essential infrastructure.
National Prosecuting Authority in the Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila says more charges are more than likely to be added. According to News24, the State told the court that the 49-year-old suspect had been in the possession of explosives and laptops, crockery and documents had been stolen during the time that the blaze took place.
The State requested a postponement to January 11 to verify his personal details for his bail application such as the confirmation of his residential address, if Mafe has any assets, pending cases, pending warrants of arrests against him and any previous convictions. The case has also been postponed as a result of waiting for the damages of the Parliament building to be assessed.
Also read: Arsonist suspect was in possession of items from explosives to documents
Mafe’s defence lawyer, Luvuyo Godla, firmly stands by his word that his client is not the person who was supposed to be apprehended. This is a developing story.
Also read:
An open letter to Cape Town firefighters who raised our flag high in the flames
Picture: Cape {town} Etc gallery