Johannesburg – Firefighters have now “completely” withdrawn from the Parliamentary precinct following the fire which gutted the National Assembly and Old Assembly buildings.
The affected buildings have been handed over to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) for further investigation.
Engineers from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure are also on-site to determine if the affected buildings are safe for the Hawks to access.
In a statement, Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothape said the Speaker of the NA, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Amos Masando, are satisfied with the progress made on the containment of the fire and the investigations currently underway at the precinct of Parliament.
“Since the firefighters contained the flare-up during the morning of Tuesday, the firefighters had remained on site until yesterday evening, monitoring the situation and combing the inside of the buildings for any potential flare-up.
“The firefighters worked over 71 hours with unspeakable courage and bravery to contain the fire. Over 300 men and women were deployed, 60 firefighting appliances and two specialised aerial pieces of equipment were used during the three-day battle against the blaze,” he said.
Mothape noted that preparations for the State of the Nation Address (SONA) to be delivered by the president on 10 February are currently “at an advanced stage”.
Presiding officers of the parliament and the Mayor of Cape Town are expected to meet in relation to the inspection of possible venues such as; the Municipal Chambers, the Cape Town Convention Centre, and the Town Hall.
“The inspection follows the offer by the provincial government of the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town for the use of these venues for both the SONA and the Budget speech,” the statement read.
The Presiding Officers will announce the approved venue soon.
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