Terrorism charge for suspect in South Africa Parliament fire

A homeless man accused of setting a fire that destroyed part of South Africa’s historic Parliament complex was charged with terrorism Tuesday and sent to a psychiatric hospital for a month for assessment.

Zandile Mafe, 49, appeared in a courtroom in Cape Town for a bail hearing, when the terrorism charge was added to his indictment. Mafe was already charged with housebreaking with intent to steal, theft, two counts of arson and possession of an explosive device when he appeared in court for the first time last week.

Prosecutors now contend that Mafe had intended to “deliver, place, discharge or detonate” the explosive device at the Parliament complex.

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The Parliament precinct in Cape Town was ravaged by a major blaze, which Mafe is accused of starting early on January 2. It took firefighters four days to completely extinguish the fire. It destroyed the main chamber of the National Assembly building, where South Africa’s Parliament sits, and also caused extensive damage to other buildings in the 130-year-old complex, which has hosted the national legislature since the time of British colonialism in the late 1800s.

In all, 300 firefighters, some atop cranes, worked for more than 70 hours to tame the blaze. No injuries were reported as Parliament was closed for the holidays.

The size of the fire and the extent of the damage immediately raised concerns there had been an intentional attack on South Africa’s seat of democracy.