Zandile Christmas Mafe was already accused of having “broken into” the huge building in the center of Cape Town, of having “set fire to the Parliament buildings” and of stealing “laptops, dishes and documents “.
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The man suspected of being behind the fire that ravaged the South African Parliament was accused of “terrorism” Tuesday January 11. Zandile Christmas Mafe, a 49-year-old homeless man, was arrested on the day of the fire while he was inside the building. He was charged three days later in a brief court appearance in Cape Town. He is accused of having surrendered “guilty of the offense of contravening the provisions of (…) protection of democracy against terrorism and associated activities“, according to the indictment consulted Tuesday by AFP.
The spokesperson for the prosecution clarified that a “sixth count” had been added because “the accused detonated a device in the Parliament”. Zandile Christmas Mafe was already accused of having entered by “breaking in” in the huge building located in the center of Cape Town, to have “set fire to the Parliament buildings” and to have stolen “laptops, dishes and documents”.
Since his arrest, many voices have been raised to stress that he was only a scapegoat, pointing to the breaches of security and fire systems also implicated. According to initial reports from South African authorities, the fire detection system was “defective”. “The sprinklers did not work” and the entire sprinkler system was last overhauled in 2017, with an inspection scheduled for February 2020 not having been carried out, according to these reports. South African firefighters had fought 48 hours before fully mastering the fire which ravaged the premises where the National Assembly meets.