Elite Police Handle South African Parliament Building Fire Investigation, Suspect Arrested

Illustration of a police vehicle outside the South African Parliament Building. (Wikimedia Commons/HelenOnline)

JAKARTA - A fire in South Africa's parliament building caused extensive damage on Sunday, pulling down a roof and destroying entire floors in one building, with a man in his 50s arrested over suspected links to the fire.

The fire broke out in the morning and authorities said the sprinkler system appeared to have been tampered with so it didn't work. By late afternoon, firefighters were still battling a blaze in one of the several buildings that make up the parliament complex in the legislative capital, Cape Town.

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

"It is the role of the Hawks to investigate any attacks on political institutions," De Lille said, citing Reuters, Jan 3.

Parliament said in a statement that the suspect was a man in his 50s. In addition, there are no reports of injuries.

The cause of the fire was not yet known, but De Lille said, according to reports she received, a standard maintenance fire drill had been conducted just before parliament closed for the Christmas and New Year holidays, with all systems of safety and security equipment, including sprinklers working.

"What was found this morning was that someone had closed one of the valves and then there was no water to trigger the automatic sprinkler system on," De Lille said, adding CCTV footage confirmed that someone had been in the building since morning.

Separately, President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters after visiting the fire site that parliamentary work would continue despite the fire. He also praised firefighters for saving "a very important national asset of our government."

The parliamentary complexes, some of which date back to 1884, consist of a group of buildings. The National Assembly, or Lower House of Parliament, is located in what is known as the New Wing.

The upper house, or National Provincial Council (NCOP), is located in the so-called Old Wing or Old Assembly, which is also used for committee meetings.

"The fire has been extinguished in the Old Wing. Firefighters are currently trying to control the fire in the New Wing, where the fire has affected the Chamber of the National Assembly," parliament said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre Smith, a member of the Cape Town mayoral committee in charge of safety and security, said the roof of the old building had collapsed, adding that the fire had destroyed the third floor of the building, including office space and gymnasium.

He also told reporters the parliament's fire alarm only went off when firefighters were already on the scene.

By late afternoon the smoke had partially subsided after billowing for hours from the roofs and entrances of the National Assembly. But Cape Town's fire service chief Jermaine Carelse said the fire was still burning and was now concentrated on the first and third floors.

To note, the fire, which broke out just before 6 am, was the second in parliament in less than a year. In March 2021, there was a fire caused by an electric short circuit.

"It's terrible that something like that happened from the start, there's no question. Whether it was the result of a security breach, which some may see, we don't know," National Assembly deputy speaker Lechesa Tsenoli said.

Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula confirmed to reporters that Ramaphosa's state of the nation speech at the joint session of parliament would go ahead as planned on February 10, but that alternative venues had to be used.