Parliament arson accused Zandile Mafe declared unfit to stand trial

During a hybrid hearing in the Western Cape high court on Thursday, Zandile Mafe’s senior counsel Dali Mpofu informed the court that they had accepted the findings of an independent psychiatric assessment undertaken by three State-appointed specialists.

This comes after Judge Nathan Erasmus disclosed the psychiatrists’ and psychologists’ findings and asked the defence and state to submit comments on how to proceed in the arson case.

This development comes after more than a year of heated arguments about the mental state of the accused in both the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court and the Western Cape high court.

Mafe’s case will now be handled under section 77 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which refers to an accused who suffers from mental illness and may not be fit to stand trial as a result.

This means that no one will be held liable. 

In October 2022, R2-billion was allocated for the repair and refurbishment of the Parliament buildings.

Firefighters battle the blaze that engulfed the National Assembly in Parliament on 3 January 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo: Leila Dougan)

Zandile Mafe in the Western Cape high court on 13 July, 2023. (Photo: Gallo Images. /Brenton Geach)

1. Zandile Mafe has been in jail since his arrest in January 2022 after a fire gutted parts of Parliament. He is accused of setting fire to the National Assembly building in the early hours of 2 January 2022


2. District surgeon Dr Zelda van Tonder declared that Mafe was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.


3. On 19 January 2022, the Western Cape high court Judge President John Hlophe set aside the referral of Mafe for mental observation and granted an order that he be immediately released to a correctional facility.


4. Cape Town Regional Court Magistrate Michelle Adams on 4 February denied bail to Mafe.


5. Mafe was dealt another blow in his bid to be released when the Western Cape high court dismissed an appeal to overturn a ruling denying him bail.


6. Mafe said he was ready to be transferred to another facility for mental evaluation, provided it is anywhere but Valkenberg Hospital.


7. Mafe underwent a mental evaluation at Fort England Psychiatric Hospital to determine whether he is mentally capable of comprehending the gravity of the charges against him, the crime he allegedly committed, and defending himself in court


8. Judge Nathan Erasmus barred reporting on Mafe’s psychiatric assessment.


9. Judge Nathan Erasmus release the findings by the psychiatrists and psychologist, which include:

• Zandile Mafe is unable to follow the court proceedings as to make a proper defence and/or;


• At the time of the commission of the offence the accused was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of the act in question and to act in accordance with an appreciation of the wrongfulness of his act.

Firefighters attempt to extinguish the blaze at Parliament in Cape Town on 3 January, 2022. (Photo: Gallo Images / ER Lombard)