It is shocking that someone broke into parliament – a national key point – stole from it and set it ablaze without being stopped by security.
The man accused of setting parliament on fire appeared in the Cape Town magistrate’s court yesterday. Zandile Christmas Mafe, 49, was remanded in custody until January 11 when he is expected to apply for bail.
He faces two charges of arson for allegedly torching up the National Assembly building and a charge of contravening the Explosives Act. He was also charged with housebreaking and theft for allegedly stealing laptops, crockery and documents from parliament, according to the charge sheet.
Mafe is alleged to have gained entry through a back window in one of the offices. The crime has raised many questions amongst South Africans, like where were the security guards when the incident happened? And how is it that national intelligence failed to detect and prevent it?
The provincial secretary of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) in the Western Cape, Baxolise Mali said there had been no guards on duty in the building during weekends since the beginning of December due to cost-cutting measures.
However, national assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has dismissed Nehawu’s claims. That leaves us with no answer as to why guards did not see the person breaking into parliament.
Also, it is shameful that our national intelligence failed to detect and prevent yet another national crisis. How does a national key point get broken into without intelligence picking up on it?
This is the same building which houses the president and deputy president’s offices, and the county’s legislators, and we must be concerned if there are lapses in security.
Performance of national intelligence leaves a sour taste in the mouth, several months ago it failed to avert the riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, which resulted in billions of rand in damages.
This is tragic, we are on our own as our intelligence is always caught napping.
We call for security to be beefed up in parliament and the building to be repaired as soon as possible to allow work to resume there.
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