South African suspect linked to parliament fire charged with terrorism
- Zandile Mafe was already charged with housebreaking with intent to steal, theft, two counts of arson and possession of an explosive device
- Mafe has denied the charges against him and his defence lawyer claimed he is being used as a scapegoat to cover up failings in Parliament security
A man accused of setting a fire that destroyed parts of South Africa’s historic Parliament complex faces a new charge of terrorism.
Zandile Mafe, 49, appeared Tuesday in a courtroom in Cape Town for a bail hearing, when the new charge was added, state broadcaster SABC said.
Mafe was already charged with housebreaking with intent to steal, theft, two counts of arson and possession of an explosive device when he appeared in court for the first time last week.
The Parliament complex in Cape Town was ravaged by the major blaze, which started January 2 and took firefighters four days to completely extinguish.
It destroyed the main chamber of the National Assembly building, where South Africa’s Parliament sits, and also caused extensive damage to other buildings in the 130-year-old complex, which has been the site of the national legislature since the time of British colonialism in the late 1800s.
In all, 300 firefighters, some atop cranes, worked for more than 70 hours to tame the blaze. No injuries were reported as Parliament was closed for the end-of-year holidays at the time.
The size of the fire and damage caused immediately raised concerns that there had been an intentional attack on South Africa’s seat of democracy.
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