The severity of the fire in Parliament and the extreme heat it generated has meant that the building could not be handed over to the investigators earlier.
Publics Works Minister, Patricia De Lille, had hoped that she could receive a preliminary report on the causes of the fire and the state of the building by Friday.
The handover was however only done on Thursday, meaning it will take longer to establish the evidence.
Parliament and government have vowed that everything will be done to establish the cause of the fire. National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has raised concerns that there could be a sinister hand behind the fire.
Establishing the cause of the fire is, therefore, crucial to determine the way forward. It is also important to establish the extent of the damage as this will guide the authorities as to how long it will take to rebuild and the related costs.
Hawks spokesperson Brigadier, Thandi Mbambo, confirmed that their officials are now on the scene.
“They’ve already resumed their investigations including the forensic team who are going to try and determine what the cause of the fire was including the extent of the damage. But at this stage, we cannot, unfortunately, say how many experts we have on the scene.”
This was confirmed by parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo.
“The Hawks themselves are working together with the multi-disciplinary team of engineers from the dept of public works and infrastructure, and that team once they have done their job and they are certain that the inside of the building is safe enough for the hawks to enter to conduct their inspection then they will communicate such information to the Hawks.”
Parliament Fire Update: 05 January 2022
