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Why parliament burnt: Inside report on how fire could’ve been prevented
Parliament says it is dealing with the much needed and delayed security upgrades.
Smoke billows out of the National Assembly building after the fire at Parliament on 2 January 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa. Picture: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach
The 2 January 2022 blaze that gutted the National Assembly and some parts of the Old Assembly wing could have been prevented, according to Secretary to Parliament Xolile George.
The findings of an independent internal report into the fire was released on Wednesday.
Minimum standards
Speaking during a media briefing, George revealed the investigation concluded that the blaze could have been avoid if the minimum standards, such as a high perimeter fence, had been adhere to.
“The fire could have been prevented had reasonable care been taken to ensure that those drivers of vulnerability do not materialise,” he said.
The secretary said the 1.3 metres fence allowed Zandile Mafe, who was arrested in connection with the fire, to gain “unauthorised access and to enjoy unrestricted movement within Parliament without being detected for a number of hours beyond a day”.
Parliament was informed by the South African Police Service (Saps) last year that the fence should have been upgraded to 3 metres as part of security improvements.
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“What the investigation identified was a range of systems and maintenance failures that significantly contributed to the security breach and the failure to prevent and contain the fire.
“These failures encompassed issues such as the height of the perimeter fence I mentioned earlier and the absence of perimeter monitoring in terms of physical presence of security.
“A malfunctioning emergency exit door was also identified on the physical aspects, as well as deficiencies in the final fire panels and an unreliable fire management system,” George explained.
Watch the briefing below:
Where was security?
George said the decision not to deploy and put Parliament Protection Services (PPS) officials on compulsory leave in lead up to the incident was also a contributing human factor to the fire.
The absence of PPS officials meant there was no one available to monitor CCTV cameras.
The Citizen previously reported four police officers, including a PSS relief commander and three CCTV monitoring room operators, were on duty when the fire broke out at Parliament, but failed to detect the security breach as they were asleep.
The report also pointed out the absence of a designated head of security.
General Samson Shitlabane was appointed as Parliament’s Chief of Security last month.
READ MORE: Parliament fire: Restoration completion date pushed back by two months
The investigation, George said, further picked up the lack of an active monitoring structure that will regularly keep tabs on the adherence of security policies.
“We are actually giving priority on the issue of security, starting with the appointment of the head of security.”
The investigation further found several CCTV cameras were not working and the fire alarm panels, smoke detector and sprinkler systems were not functioning.
“Evacuation route planning was non-existent,” George continued.
In addition, George confirmed the five officials were found to be responsible or implicated in a number of areas that constituted the failures in the report.
The police and Department of Public Works and other stakeholders were also found to be responsible.
“It is recommended that the findings related to their involvement be disclosed in an appropriate forum. Additionally, consequential management and remedial actions will then be determined and taken to address those departments and agencies that are concerned.”
The repair and refurbishment of Parliament, which was not insured, is expected to cost an estimated R2 billion and to be completed in 2025.
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