Fire ravages South Africa’s parliament complex

Cape Town, January 2

A fire at the South African parliament caused extensive damage on Sunday, collapsing the roof and gutting an entire floor in one building and a man in his 50s was arrested in connection with the blaze.

The fire broke out in the early morning and the authorities said the sprinkler system appeared to have been tampered with and so did not work. By afternoon, firefighters were still trying to contain the blaze in one of the several buildings that make up the parliament complex in the legislative capital, Cape Town.

This is the second fire at parliament in less than a year; In March there was a blaze caused by an electrical fault

Praises firefighters

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Firefighters saved a very important national asset of our government. It seems like the sprinkler system didn’t work. —Cyril Ramaphosa, President

A person was arrested inside parliament, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia De Lille told mediapersons, adding that the case had been handed over to an elite police unit called the Hawks.

“It’s the role of the Hawks to investigate any attack on political institutions,” De Lille said. Parliament said in a statement the suspect was a man in his 50s.

There were no reports of any injuries. The cause of the blaze was not yet known, but De Lille said according to a report that she received, a standard maintenance fire drill had been conducted just before parliament closed for the Christmas and New Year holidays and everything, including the sprinklers, was working.

“What was discovered this morning is that somebody has closed one of the valves and so then there was no water to trigger that automatic sprinkler system coming on,” De Lille said, adding that CCTV footage confirmed that somebody was in the building from the early hours of the morning.

President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters after visiting the site that parliament’s work would continue despite the blaze. He also praised firefighters for saving a “very important national asset of our government”.

Jean-Pierre Smith, a Cape Town mayoral committee member responsible for security, said the roof of the old building had collapsed.

The fire, which started just before 6 am, was the second at the parliament in less than a year. In March there was a blaze caused by an electrical fault. National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address to a joint session of parliament would go ahead as planned on February 10 but an alternative venue would have to be used. — Reuters

Dates back to 1884

The parliamentary complex, parts of which date back to 1884, consists of a cluster of buildings. The National Assembly, or lower House of Parliament, is situated in what is known as the new wing.