Have the firefighters finally finished the fire that has affected the Parliament of South Africa for two days? This Tuesday morning, they ensure in any case to control it. Since this weekend, periods of calm and resumption of the flames have followed one another. Monday, in the afternoon, a new increase in firepower had mobilized the firefighters, faced with an uncomfortable weather. “The fire was fueled by strong south-easterly winds but firefighters managed to bring it under control just before midnight”, explains Jermaine Carelse, the spokesperson for the city’s firefighters. The fire has picked up a little in intensity “Just before five in the morning”, immediately extinguished by the fire soldiers. This Tuesday morning, four fire trucks continue to be at work, as well as about twenty firefighters “To follow the evolution of the situation over the day”.
As for the exact circumstances of the fire, the criminal trail is not excluded. A man was arrested on Sunday inside Parliament for “Burglary and arson”. Zandile Christmas Mafe, slender and bearded 49, dressed in a gray shirt and denim shorts, presented a closed face to the criminal court which postponed the hearing to January 11, to allow investigators to clarify some elements of the investigation when the premises will be accessible and assess the cost of the damage in particular. The suspect will remain in jail pending this.
Surveillance cameras show him at the scene on Sunday around 2 a.m. “But the security only saw him around 6 o’clock, when they looked at the screens, alerted by the smoke”, specifies the Minister of Public Works, Patricia De Lille. Speaking to the press, they said that “The cameras worked, the problem is that nobody checked them during that fateful night”. The South African Minister acknowledges that there may have been “A loophole in security”. Now it’s up to the investigators to do their job.