Alleged Parliament arsonist Zandile Mafe’s case delayed once again

The pre-trial hearing of alleged Parliament arsonist Zandile Mafe has been delayed once again due to logistical arrangements surrounding his admission to hospital for mental observation.

Parliament arson accused

Mafe, who has been in police custody for more than a year, appeared briefly in the Western Cape High Court on Friday.

ALSO READ: Zandile Mafe objects to psychiatric evaluation at Valkenberg Hospital

He faces charges of housebreaking with intent to commit arson, arson, terrorism and theft in connection with the Parliament fire on 2 January 2022, which destroyed the Old and New Assembly buildings.

Mafe has denied the charges against him, with the defence insisting that he is being used as a scapegoat for the fire at Parliament.

The 51-year-old’s pre-trial hearings have faced several delays in the past due to his refusal to appear in court on three different occasions.

Psychiatric evaluation

During his court appearance on Friday, Judge Robert Henney postponed the case to 28 March 2023 in order for the state and defence to finalise logistical arrangements for Mafe to be admitted for psychiatric evaluation.

This after defence informed the court last month that Mafe did not want to be admitted to Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital in Cape Town, due to the alleged bad treatment he received at the facility previously.

Judge Henney was informed that the state would finalise the logistical arrangements for the accused to be admitted for 30 days to a hospital in the Eastern Cape for mental observation.

The name of the hospital is yet to be confirmed.

Judge Henney also raised concerns over an accused person dictating which medical facility they want to be admitted to.

In May last year, the Western Cape High Court set aside the state’s previous psychiatric evaluation by a district surgeon that had diagnosed Mafe with paranoid schizophrenia.

The high court found that the referral was “substantively and procedurally flawed” and resulted in “a gross irregularity”.

NOW READ: R2 billion and two years to rebuild Parliament