Court denies bail to accused parliament arsonist Zandile Mafe

A Cape Town court on Friday denied bail to the man charged with crimes including arson over the devastating fire in the parliamentary precinct in January.

Zandile Mafe has denied the charges against him.

Mafe “did not satisfy the court that exceptional circumstances exist which in the interests of justice permit his release”, the court ruled, according to a video posted on Twitter by a TimesLIVE reporter.

Officials have described the fire, which severely damaged parts of the parliamentary precinct in Cape Town, as an attack on democracy.

During a previous appearance, the state alleged Mafe bought petrol for R10 in Bellville and took it to parliament in a cooldrink bottle.

The prosecution put it to the 49-year-old Khayelitsha man that video footage shows him being arrested as he climbs out of parliament through a window carrying a kettle, cutlery, shoes and stationery.

In footage from inside the building, said the state, “the person wearing clothes that looked exactly the same as the clothes you were wearing when you were arrested is seen setting fire in parliament, using paper and boxes dabbed in petrol and dropping it into the National Assembly.

“The person was walking around with petrol in a Coke bottle and piled office chairs in front of offices. The person tore curtains for kindling for the fire.”

In his testimony last month, Mafe said he sometimes slept on the streets in Cape Town — where he went to find casual work — to avoid the expense of travelling back to his home in Khayelitsha, where “I have my fridge, my queen bed, my DStv”.

If he was granted bail, he said, he would return to his home.

“The state has nothing to fear that I won’t come back to court.” 

Reuters and TimesLIVE