Cape Town - As the legal team for Parliament arson accused Zandile Mafe prepares for his trial in the Western Cape High Court, the gravity of the allegations against him has been revealed in court documents.
Mafe’s lawyer, Luvuyo Godla, said: “They are very quick and they hasten to mention the seriousness of the offence without fully and pro-actively linking the person to the offence they are talking about.”
Last week, Mafe was served with an official indictment which indicated the severity of the charges against him. He faces three counts of housebreaking with intent to commit arson and arson, theft and terrorism. The terrorism charge has been listed with an alternative charge of discharging or detonating an explosive device.
The matter has been transferred to the high court, where he will appear on August 12, this year.
At the outset, the State managed to have Mafe admitted to a mental institution for psychiatric observation after a district surgeon provisionally diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia.
After an application by his legal team – headed by advocate Dali Mpofu – for a review of the magistrate’s decision, Mafe was later released from Valkenberg.
Weeks later, he took the stand during his bail application but refused to answer questions regarding an alleged confession wherein he made numerous demands.
Statements made by Mafe to police after his arrest regarding his alleged actions against the State, form part of the State’s summary of facts as Mafe’s motivation for burning Parliament.
The State alleges that Mafe was intent on seeing Parliament razed to prevent the State of the Nation Address from proceeding.
He apparently told the police there would be “a second great storm approaching South Africa” unless his demands were met.
These demands included: the institution of a basic R1 500 grant for unemployed people, the resignation of President Cyril Ramaphosa, The release of Janusz Walus, and the abolishment of the deputy minister and deputy president positions.
These form part of the motivating factors put forward by the State which spurred the subsequent fire that caused extensive damage to the New and Old Assembly buildings at Parliament.
According to the State, Mafe gained entry to the Old Assembly building through a door that was closed but not locked.
Godla said they have accepted the matter being transferred to the high court and intend to test the authenticity of the video footage which, according to the State, directly implicates Mafe in the crime.
“Even if a court can find him guilty of this offence, but as a matter of fact we know this person does not have interest in burning Parliament… there must be somebody else. If he was used, surely they were used to advance the interest of somebody else and we need that particular somebody behind it,” Godla said.