Pietermaritzburg -
BAarely a month after a fire gutted the offices of the IFP in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, the parliamentary offices of the DA went up in flames in the same historic building, prompting police to investigate a case of arson.
According to the legislature’s media liaison officer, Wesley Canham, the offices caught alight at about 11pm on Wednesday.
The fire department was quickly on scene, but despite their efforts they were too late to stop the substantial damage caused to the building.
Fire officials and SAPS forensic teams were investigating the scene on Thursday.
The fire damaged the entire ground and upper floors of the DA’s offices.
Worst affected are DA MPLs Hlanganani Gumbi and Mbali Ntuli, whose office roofs and floors caved in.
The damage and smoke lingering in the building meant that administration staff were sent home on Thursday morning.
Canham confirmed that the DA staff would be moved to other offices within the legislature.
Police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, said a case of arson was being investigated.
Th secretary of the legislature, Nerusha Naidoo, said: “We shall rely on the outcome of the SAPS investigation before any further action is taken in this matter. We are assessing the amount of damage caused, and are in consultation with the DA leadership.”
Last month, IFP officials were left out in the cold after a fire gutted three of their offices in the provincial legislature.
A case of malicious damage to property was opened, but to date the cause of the fire has not been released to the media.
DA parliamentary leader, Sizwe Mchunu, said that he was shocked by the incident, more so because the fire came on the back of the IFP’s ordeal.
“Naturally, we are shocked and devastated by this incident. Fortunately no one was injured, but there is little left of the historic building except its façade.
“Only four offices in a separate wing managed to escape the blaze. Otherwise, the interior is nothing but burnt timber. The building has been sealed and is likely to be condemned,” Mchunu said.
Mchunu reiterated that the fire came at a time when there was division over the building of a new legislature precinct, with the DA opposed to such a move.
There were also earlier concerns expressed by the party over the lack of maintenance being carried out within the existing legislature precinct.
“The DA will be contracting a private forensic investigator to determine the exact cause of the fire. We will leave no stone unturned in our effort to find out how this happened,” Mchunu said.
The ANC had proposed the building of a new provincial parliament building during the budget debate following the general elections.
But the DA and IFP had vehemently objected, saying it was impractical and a waste of taxpayers’ money to transfer Parliament to another location within the capital city, only a few years after it was moved from Ulundi.
The ANC caucus in the KZN Legislature has also called for a full investigation.
“We are extremely concerned that it happened barely a month after another office used by the IFP in the same complex was also destroyed by fire,” said the ANC’s Sikhumbuzo Qwabe.
Qwabe noted with concern some of the statements and speculation attributed to opposition parties, as to the cause of the fire, before the investigation was concluded.
“It is not right to point fingers this way,” Qwabe said.
The fire at the DA’s offices has sparked speculation on social media as to possible “political sabotage”.
Kishendren Chetty posted that he found it “coincidental and convenient” that only the offices of the opposition parties were torched.
“Something smells fishy,” he said.