In a dramatic turn of events at the Western Cape High Court on Thursday, suspected parliament arsonist Zandile Mafe went on a rant and admitted to burning down the National Assembly chambers in January 2022.
The presiding judge, Nathan Erasmus, intervened and called upon Mafe’s legal team to calm him down.
The outburst occurred during Mafe’s appearance where the focus of the proceedings was expected to delve into the details of a psychiatric report released in May.
Mafe had been sent for a 30-day psychiatric observation at the Fort England Psychiatrics Hospital in the Eastern Cape after refusing to go to a Cape Town hospital.
His rant expressed frustration with the current state of service delivery and loadshedding in the country.
He claimed responsibility for burning the National Assembly chambers and threatened to orchestrate more acts of arson if parliament does not relocate.
“I burnt it intentionally, me Christmas Zandile Mafe. I am going to arrange more if it does not move to Bloemfontein or Pretoria,” he lashed out.
“The service-delivery protest which is occurring outside is about my release. Last year, service-delivery protests occurred 5 000 times, and most of it, it was a violent service delivery [protest].
“Loadshedding occurred 2 900 hours last year, loadshedding occurred 207 days last year. Loadshedding occurred 177 times, I want this parliament to the majority of the people.”
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