Parliament caught fire on Sunday morning, the City of Cape Town confirmed.

JP Smith, the mayoral committee member for safety and security, said the national assembly building was on fire and flames had spread to the roof.

"The fire has not been contained and reports of cracks in some walls of the building have been confirmed," Smith said at 7.45am.

The 36 firefighters on the scene had requested more resources to tackle the blaze, Smith said.

The alarm was raised at 5am and Smith said initiial reports indicated the fire started in  office space on the third floor and spread toward the gymnasium.

"Roeland Street Fire was first on scene and with the assessment of the fire more resources were called," said Smith.

"We currently have six firefighting appliances and approximately 36 firefighters on scene from Roeland Street, Sea Point, Salt River, Brooklyn, Goodwood and Milnerton.

This is a developing story.

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