Alleged Parliament arsonist again fails to appear in court despite apparent agreement to mental health evaluation

By Vincent Cruywagen

27 Jan 2023

Accused Zandile Mafe refused to leave his Pollsmoor Prison cell to appear in court, according to his defence attorney.

Mafe was expected to appear in the Western Cape high court on Friday for pre-trial purposes. A trial date was supposed to be set, but Mafe failed once again to appear in court. He has failed to appear on three earlier occasions.

Mafe’s lawyer, advocate Luvuyo Godla, told the court that his client refused to leave his Pollsmoor Prison cell. According to the State Prosecutor, prison officials tried in vain to persuade Mafe to appear in court.

Mafe is accused of setting fire to the National Assembly building in the early hours of 2 January 2022. He faces charges of terrorism, arson, housebreaking, theft and possession of explosives.

A day after his arrest the matter surrounding his mental state became an issue. A day after his arrest, Mafe was examined by district surgeon Dr Zelda van Tonder.

She declared that Mafe was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. Mafe’s disputed confession was also made hours after the mental health report was filed.

On 4 January 2022, prosecutor Helene Booysen submitted an assessment report from Van Tonder. Based on this report, an order was granted by Magistrate Zamekile Mbalo on 4 January 2022, sending Mafe to Valkenberg Hospital for 30 days of observation. But this order was set aside by Judge President John Hlophe.

On Friday Godla told the court that during the prior sitting the defence indicated they were considering referring Mafe for assessment.

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“The last consultation I had with Mafe was on Tuesday. We discussed this issue with him. He understands it. After consultation and a long break before consultation resumed, Mafe indicated that he will cooperate and do whatever is required of him.

“He agreed to be referred. We also agreed that he will come to court so that he could hear this issue being ventilated. I don’t understand why he all of a sudden changed his mind not to attend court proceedings,” Godla told the court.

Goldla requested a postponement for two weeks so that he could try again to persuade his client to appear in court so that the referral can be finalised.

But Judge Nape Dolamo reiterated that the referral cannot be made without Mafe being present in court. This would come down to an infringement of his constitutional rights.

Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila confirmed Mafe’s no-show and that the matter has been postponed to give Mafe an opportunity to be court.

“His defence asked for his referral to Valkenberg Hospital. The State position from the outset was that Mafe be referred. On one Saturday last year, there were arguments for eight hours trying to get Mafe sent for observation. But the State lost that on a technicality when it was dismissed by Hlophe.

“The State is happy that the defence brought up this application so that NPA knows when the trial starts all the other avenues were looked at and any other challenges that we may face have been sorted out,” Ntabazalila said.

Mafe is expected to appear in court on 10 February. DM

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