Azapo says that it is gearing up for the resumption of alleged parliament arsonist, Zandile Mafe’s, court case. He’s been charged with the burning down of the parliament building a year ago.
Forty-nine-year-old Mafe is facing charges ranging from arson to terrorism.
He was arrested shortly after Parliament was set alight in January.
The organisation says Mafe, who has been in jail since his arrest, shouldn’t be in jail. It has also accused the state of using a defenceless black man as a scapegoat in the matter while protecting the real perpetrators of the crime.
Mafe is expected back in court this month, as the matter resumes.
“We are saying as Azapo, refusing people bail on the basis of no fixed address is political, and also it has got some racist undertones. Firstly, blacks are landless, and the fact that they occupy informal settlements is not their own doing- punishing them therefore is a bit extreme, when the law is able to use technology to be able to trace the whereabouts of an accused person who is on bail,” says Azapo spokesperson Gaontebale Nodada.
Last year, Mafe’s bail application was denied by the Cape Town Regional Court.
Magistrate Michelle Adams said Mafe’s legal team did not prove exceptional circumstances for him to be released on bail.
VIDEO: Zandile Mafe says he will take his legal fight to the highest court in the land, 5 Feb 2022:
‘Scapegoat’
Meanwhile, EFF leader Julius Malema says negligence was the main cause of the recent fire that gutted the National Assembly buildings.
He says Mafe’s arrest is being used as a scapegoat to divert attention from government’s negligence.
“Do you think in your rightful mind, a person would burn Parliament and then goes and sleep next to where you have committed a crime… there’s no such thing. So I think more than anything guys, it’s negligence. They’ve not maintained Parliament, you may find out the rats have eaten the cables, that’s why it started burning from the roof and there was a spark and that spark caused the fire,” Malema says.
Malema says negligence was the main cause of the fire:
