Johannesburg – Zandile Christmas Mafe, who is accused of setting the Parliament building on fire, has disputed expert reports that he did not appreciate his actions at the time of committing the crimes against him and that he will not be able to follow court proceedings and make a proper defence.
Mafe is charged with terrorism and arson, among other charges.
“As a result, the High Court of South Africa: Western Cape Division has postponed his case to November 2 and 3, 2023, for an inquiry in terms of Section 77 (4) of the Criminal Procedure Act,” according to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Western Cape spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila.
“Section 77 (4) of the Criminal Procedure Act (Act 51 of 1977) deals with the treatment of an accused who is unfit to stand trial due to a mental illness or intellectual disability.
“While such a person cannot be tried, they are not acquitted and discharged since s.77(6) CPA enjoins the court to determine whether the person concerned committed the actus reus of the offence with which he has been charged.”
Ntabazalila said that if the court found that the accused committed an act of murder, culpable homicide, rape, compelled rape, or some other offence involving serious violence, or if the court considered it in the public interest, s77(6)(a)(i) of the CPA further enjoined it to order the accused’s detention in a psychiatric hospital or prison, pending release by a judge in chambers, in terms of S47 of the Metal Health Care Act (Act 17 of 2002) (‘the MCHA’).
According to Ntabazalila, if the court finds that the accused committed some other form of unlawful act or no unlawful act at all, s77 (6)(a)(ii) of the CPA enjoins it to commit the accused to an institution as an involuntary mental health care user, as contemplated in S37 of the MCHA.
He further said that the provision of the section is peremptory in that once the court has found the accused unfit to stand trial, it is left with no option but to order their detention in one form or another.
“Outside court, his instructing attorney, Luvuyo Godla, confirmed that Mafe is disputing both reports and that he will take the stand when the inquiry resumes. The state charged Mafe with housebreaking with intent to commit arson, terrorism, and theft after he burned down parliament, destroying the Old and New Assembly Buildings of parliament between January 1 and 2, 2022,” added Ntabazalila.
Ntabazalila said that after his arrest, members of the DPCI (Hawks) took him to a district surgeon to confirm that he was not assaulted or injured, as he was about to confess.
“A district surgeon, Zelda van Tonder, diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, and based on that recommendation, the state applied for his admission at Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital. This was overturned at the high court after then-Judge President John Hlophe declared the order to admit Mafe unlawful.
“Although the issue of referring him for evaluation was off the table for a brief period, the defence brought it back, and Mafe was referred for 30 days at Fort England Psychiatric Hospital, in the Eastern Cape,” continued Ntabazalila.
Furthermore, after completion of the evaluation, Judge Nathan Erasmus told the court that Mafe would be unable to follow court proceedings and make a proper defence as he was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions. He did not disclose the whole report.
“In one of the recent court sittings, Mafe told the court that he burnt down Parliament and he would burn it down again unless it was moved to Bloemfontein or Pretoria. He also made political statements, stating that protests in the country happened because of his incarceration.
“Defence counsel requested a postponement for them to get a psychiatrist of their choice who will consult with Mafe and the panel of experts and then draft a report that will assist them in determining whether they will challenge the report of the panel from Fort England Psychiatric Hospital. Today, the court heard that Mafe is even disputing that report that was commissioned by his legal team,” added the spokesperson.
The State does not dispute the reports.
The Star