A parliament internal investigation has recommended that five officials be held liable for the 1 January 2022 fire that gutted some parts of the National Assembly building.
The report was commissioned last year by Secretary to Parliament Xolile George after the fire incident that engulfed the National Assembly building, hundreds of offices and caused extensive damage to the Old Assembly wing of Parliament.
“The report recommends consideration for consequence management procedures against five parliament officials for various failures, including the failure to implement security policies, ensure compliance with occupational health and safety standards, and establish a security committee as required.
Regarding the roles of other stakeholders, such as the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and SAPS, in the failures that led to the security breach and fire incident in January 2022, it is recommended that the findings related to their involvement be disclosed in an appropriate forum.
Additionally, consequential management and remedial actions should be taken to address these shortcomings,” said George during a media briefing in Cape Town.
The report found that the fire could have been prevented, that there were several security breaches that allowed an intruder unauthorized access to and unrestricted movement within the Parliament precinct for an extended period.
George said the investigation also revealed pervasive non-compliance with fire regulations and requirements across multiple facets, including smoke detectors, fire alarm panels, emergency notification systems, sprinkler systems, and evacuation route planning.
“The report emphasized that the fire incident could have been prevented, or its extent limited, if certain critical measures had been in place.
One such measure was the decision not to deploy Parliamentary Protection Services officers at night and on public holidays and weekends during the 2021/2022 compulsory leave period, which left Parliament vulnerable,” added George.
He however highlighted that some of the evidence from the report could not be released publicly at this juncture, as it is part of a criminal matter before the Western Cape High Court
Zandile Mafe is currently facing criminal charges at the same court, for allegedly setting the National Assembly on fire.
Meanwhile, the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) in Parliament has welcomed the report and called for the immediate suspension of the implicated officials.
“Our call as the union is to ensure that we immediately suspend those particular officials and ensure that consequences management takes place.
There is no way that such an important arm of the state can be gutted and no one accounts for that.
We just want parliament now to give us the names once they have charged them and suspended them, then the other processes must take over without further delays, we have been waiting for a long time,” said Sthembiso Tembe, the union’s branch Chairperson.
It is estimated that the refurbishment of the National Assembly will be completed next year at a cost of R2 billion.
