Public works minister Patricia de Lille said it was a “very sad day for democracy in SA” after a fire broke out in parliament in Cape Town on Sunday morning. 

Speaking outside parliament on Sunday, De Lille told media that firefighters had managed to contain the fire in the chambers of the National Council of Provinces.

“We have the situation under control for now. The fire is now being contained in the National Assembly chambers.

“This is a very sad day for our democracy because parliament is the home of our democracy and parliament is a strategic key point.”

“We are going to look at CCTV cameras now. The minister of state security Zizi Kodwa is on his way here and once we’ve gone through all of that (CCTV footage) we’ll provide an update,” De Lille told reporters.

Earlier, there were reports that the fire alarm system didn’t kick in when the fire started but De Lille all of those things will be looked into.

“We are working with the fire service to see where the fire started but what you see behind me is not the National Assembly on fire. What is coming out of here is an extractor that is pulling out all the smoke from the old assembly. The National Assembly is still safe,” she said.

De Lille said the fire was under control. She said the old national assembly had been affected by the fire. 

This is a developing story. 

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