Fire brigade teams are continuing to work in the South African National Parliament complex in Cape Town after a major fire broke out in the building on Sunday 2 January. The flames were mainly extinguished in the night, but there was heavy damage to the structure and the safety operation has yet to be completed.
The main hall of the National Assembly was “completely destroyed,” said JP Smith, a city security officer, and parts of the roof collapsed. “The whole Parliament complex is badly damaged, soaked with water and smoke,” Smith said.
The fire broke out on Sunday morning
Firefighters are still working on “hotspots” in the Assembly building, Cape Town Fire Department spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said, even though the teams have been scaled down from about 70 firefighters to 20. Other buildings in the complex were ravaged by flames, which erupted early Sunday morning and spread from an old Parliament building, which now houses offices, to the National Assembly building. The Parliament complex has been at the center of South Africa’s history for more than 130 years. Some of the buildings have withstood British colonialism, the apartheid regime and South Africa’s transition to democracy under Nelson Mandela’s presidency.
A man arrested, hearing on January 4th
A man arrested on January 2 was questioned in connection with the fire, police said. He will have to appear in court on January 4 and face charges of break-in, theft and arson, while also being charged under the National Key Points Act of South Africa, a security law that controls access to places of national importance and government buildings. .
The man was saved from the fire on Sunday, South African media reported. Parliament was closed for the holidays and no injuries were reported. Patricia de Lille, the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, said Sunday that someone turned off a valve that prevented a fire protection system from working. The investigation into the cause of the fire was taken over by the Hawks, a South African police unit that deals with serious and high-profile crimes.