Zandile Christmas Mafe, the 49-year-old man accused of starting the Parliament fire, will finally know the verdict regarding his bail hearing on 4 February after the Cape Town Reginal Court stated that they would hand down their judgement on whether the accused should be released, as per IOL.
Mafe’s bail hearing took place on Saturday, 29 January and lasted hours as State prosecutor Mervyn Menigo argued that the alleged arsonist should not be granted bail as the State had ironclad evidence against him.
Along with video footage, the State prosecutor has alleged that Mafe bought petrol from a garage in Bellville and used it to start the Parliament fire, adding papers and boxes to fuel the blaze.
The “homeless arsonist,” as he is being dubbed, faces multiple charges, including terrorism, robbery and arson. It took firefighters almost two days to contain the flames that gutted Parliament on 2 January.
While Mafe has insisted that he is not guilty, the State claims that he said something very different when he was arrested.
An affidavit was provided to investigators immediately after his arrest and read out by the State in court during the hearing, which reportedly indicated that Mafe said: “the right thing to put the Parliament on fire as at the moment it is not helping the people of South Africa”.
The accused allegedly went on to explain that he had started the fire to prevent President Cyril Ramaphosa from delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) which was set to take place in February, and to demand his resignation, the release of Janus Walusz – who murdered Chris Hani, and to provide R1500 to help South Africans with no income, reports News24.
However, advocate Dali Mpofu, who is defending Mafe, insists that the State has no case against his client and that the accused should be presumed innocent until he is proven guilty.
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Zandile Mafe says he’s not guilty, and plans to sue the State
Picture: Cape {town} Etc Gallery