A security breach at one of South Africa’s most sensitive government sites has led to the arrest of a 41-year-old man after he was allegedly spotted running through the restricted garden of Tuynhuys, the President’s official Cape Town office, Cape {town} Etc reports.
The incident reportedly took place on Tuesday, 27 October, when members of the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Presidential Protection Services were conducting foot patrols in the area around Parliament.
Officers reportedly noticed a man moving through the garden and approached him to establish why he was on the restricted property. According to Western Cape Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Siyabulela Vukubi, the man could not provide a satisfactory explanation for how he had entered the grounds.
‘When approached by police, the suspect could not give a clear explanation as to how he got inside the restricted area, hence the arrest.’
– Lieutenant-Colonel Siyabulela Vukubi, Western Cape Hawks spokesperson
The 41-year-old was subsequently arrested, with the Hawks’ Crimes Against the State unit opening an investigation into the incident.
Reportedly, the suspect was set to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, where he is expected to face a charge of contravening the National Key Points Act. Tuynhuys, also known as De Tuynhuys, is the President’s official office in Cape Town and forms part of the government precinct near Parliament.
Its location and official function make security around the property particularly important, with access to restricted areas controlled by protection services. The circumstances surrounding how the man managed to enter the garden have not been fully explained.
The Presidency had not issued a public comment on the arrest at the time of publication.
The arrest comes amid another recent incident reportedly involving unauthorised access to a government property in Cape Town. In a separate case in September, a man in his 30s was arrested after allegedly jumping a fence and entering Parliament’s precinct during the early hours of Friday, 11 September.
The man reportedly remained inside the parliamentary grounds and slept there before being discovered by members of the Parliamentary Protection Services. He was apprehended and handed over to SAPS.
Although the two incidents are separate, they raise questions about access control and security at important government sites in the city. With Parliament and Tuynhuys situated within the same broader government precinct, the incidents are likely to keep attention on the work of protection officers tasked with securing these facilities.
The latest investigation will establish more about how the suspect gained access to the restricted garden.
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Picture: @GovernmentZA / X
