Cape Town - Mystery surrounds the arrest of 49-year-old Zandile Christmas Mafe who was arrested in connection with the burning of the South African Parliament.
The fire, which is said to have completely destroyed the National Assembly, started on Sunday morning.
Mafe was arrested on Sunday and is facing two counts of arson, theft, housebreaking and contravention of the National Key Points Act. He is also accused of possessing explosives and of stealing laptops and crockery.
Questions have been raised about how Mafe could have gained entry to Parliament, which is supposedly under security surveillance. His lawyer, Luvuyo Godla, says Mafe is innocent and is being used as a scapegoat for government failures.
The Weekend Argus first went to Site B in Khayelitsha where Godla claimed his client stays. There, his neighbours confirmed that they knew him but know little about the man.
Next-door neighbour Maggie Basse said he was a loner.
“He would sweep around the street and did not say much. He arrived here in August and we heard he came from Mfuleni.”
Patrick Mkwela used Mafe’s yard to plant and goes there to water his plants every day. He said he and Mafe would have short chats and he had Mafe’s keys before the police took them away.
“Every day at 7am I was there watering the plants and he would come out. I thought he was employed somewhere, but he was not. He does not speak isiXhosa well. He seemed okay to me but I noticed some erratic behaviour towards the end of November.”
He said Mafe stopped having chats with him and would just agree to whatever he was saying.
“He is not a violent person, even towards the children who were mocking him. He seems educated and had newspaper articles from apartheid days inside his shack.”
Mkwela said he does not think Mafe has it in him to burn Parliament.
In Langa, where Mafe lived for five years before moving to Khayelitsha, people who knew him including his ex-girlfriend, Mbhimbhi Antoni, defended him.
“I was shocked when my daughter showed me his pictures in court. It was me who looked at the pictures and said ’never’. Christmas would never do that, something is not adding up here,” 57-year-old Antoni said.
She questioned what Mafe would gain from burning Parliament and why he would remain there after the horrific act.
“I heard that he is accused of burning two important rooms. How would he know those rooms? This is so unlike him. The authorities must search again. Christmas is innocent.”
Antoni did not reveal how long she had dated Mafe and said they broke up after she realised his behaviour had changed.
“He was a gentleman but as I realised later that something was happening with him. I do not have the correct words to describe the change and I do not want to label him.”
Doreen Lekoma used to cook for Mafe and she said she last saw him on December 26, the Day of Goodwill.
“He got along with my husband because they both speak Setswana. I think he left around July after he could not afford rent. He was neat before. I do not know what happened to him, but I do not think he was responsible for the fire.”
The preliminary investigation into the fire is expected this week and Mafe will appear in court again next week.
Weekend Argus