There’s a heavy police presence outside the Cape Town Regional Court where Parliament fire accused, Zandile Christmas Mafe, is expected to apply for bail.
His bail bid, scheduled for last Saturday, was moved to this Saturday following consultations between the defence, the state and the presidency of the regional court.
Mafe was in isolation after contracting COVID-19.
He faces charges of housebreaking with intent to commit terrorism and arson, arson, terrorism and theft.
Mafe was arrested shortly after the blaze caused extensive damage to the National Assembly.
He is being held at Pollsmoor Prison after the High Court ruled that his psychiatric observation at Valkenberg Hospital was unlawful.
Parliament Fire | Unpacking latest developments in Zandile Mafe case: Nthabiseng Dubazana
Meanwhile, EFF leader Julius Malema says negligence was the main cause of the recent fire that gutted the National Assembly buildings at Parliament.
He says the arrest of the so-called suspect, Zandile Mafe, 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 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:
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