Zandile Christmas Mafe appears at the Cape Town Magistrate's Court in connection with the fire at Parliament in on 4 January 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach
Without wanting to pass hasty judgment, or cross over the fine line into contempt of court, can we not just say that there has seldom been a more unlikely looking arsonist and plotter than Zandile Christmas Mafe.
When he appeared in Cape Town yesterday, on allegations that he had broken into parliament, stolen laptops and then set the fire which consumed our legislature’s buildings, he appeared totally bewildered.
News reports quoted people who work with homeless people in Cape Town as saying he is a regular at their soup kitchens.
There are troubling questions about his lightning arrest, on the same day of the fire.
How did he gain access to a supposedly secure precinct? What exactly was the explosive device he was supposedly carrying? From which office in the parliamentary complex did he take the laptops?
Was he responsible for also turning off the main water supply to the sprinkler system – something which enabled the fire to take hold quickly, and unhindered?
Mafe’s lawyer claims his client is innocent and is being used as a scapegoat by police and prosecution authorities eager to be seen to be doing something about the catastrophe.
There must be the utmost transparency in this case
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