Cape Town: Fire in Parliament – Panorama

For many hours, South Africa’s parliament in the tourist metropolis of Cape Town was on fire on Sunday. More than 70 firefighters had been fighting the blazing flames since the early hours of the morning trying to get the fire under control.

The fire initially broke out at the rear of the building complex that houses the old assembly chamber and the National Council of the Provinces. A few hours later, it expanded to the building of the National Assembly, in which the parliament sits, said Patricia de Lille, the provincial minister for public works and infrastructure. Video recordings showed thick black columns of smoke rising from the building.

The roof of the old plenary hall had collapsed, while some walls of the government complex had large cracks, it said.

The Parliament building is home to many national artifacts. It is still unclear whether these have also been damaged, said a member of the city security committee. According to the Cape Town ambulance service, there were no injuries.

A suspect was first interrogated and then arrested, said De Lille. The man was therefore caught in one of the parliament buildings and can be seen on recordings from security cameras. According to the police, the suspect will appear in court on Tuesday. The cause of the fire remained unclear on Sunday; Investigations have been initiated.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was still in Cape Town the day after the memorial service for the world-famous human rights activist and retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died a week ago, spoke of a devastating event. “The Archbishop would have been shocked too, because this is a place that he prayed for, that he supported and saw as a refuge for our democracy,” said Ramaphosa in front of the cameras. The parliament is only a few meters away from St. George’s Cathedral, in whose mausoleum Tutu’s ashes were buried on Sunday morning. Ramaphosa attended tutu’s memorial service in the cathedral on Saturday.