By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Firefighters battled a major blaze at Parliament complex on Sunday that sent a dark plume of smoke and flames into the air above the center of Cape Town and caused some ceilings of the building that houses the national legislature to collapse.
The fire has spread and the building housing the National Assembly is still burning.
The blaze, which is believed to have started in the Old Assembly building after 5am, has gutted the chambers leaving a trail of devastation.There were no immediate reports of injuries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that a person has been taken in for questioning in connection with the fire at Parliament.
Addressing the media outside the National Assembly on Sunday afternoon, Ramaphosa said: “I believe someone is being held and is being questioned.”
“We must be thankful the offices have not burned to the ground. Everyone acted with speed and we are thankful that everyone mobilised. There are certain things that do work,” he said.
“The praise must go to the firefighters of the City of Cape Town. They intervened at the right time. Their appearance has saved a very important national key point.”
Ramaphosa described as “devastating” the news of the fire, especially a day after Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s funeral.
“It’s just really a terrible setback. The Arch would’ve been devastated as well; this is a place he supported and prayed for.”
Speaker of parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula confirmed the chamber was on fire, citing concerns this will negatively affect preparations already under way for the official start of parliament.
“It is with shock and sadness that as we were busy with all those preparations and this happened,”she said during a briefing.
Mapisa-Nqakula however said her office was determined to ensure the state of the nation address continued as planned.
“We will still meet and decide if it will continue here or at a different venue. But the state of the nation address will happen, we are just not sure how and where, it might even be a hybrid,”she said.
Ramaphosa is due to deliver the State of the Nation Adress on February 10.
Public works and infrastructure minister Patricia de Lille, who has been at the parliament precinct since early Sunday morning, said firefighters were on standby to protect Tuynhuys, which serves at the president’s office in Cape Town.
“The firefighters are now at Tuynhuys to protect it. They say it might take them another 2-3 hours to contain the fire. The firefighting team is doing their best to contain the fire,” De Lille said.
Parliament is currently in recess and due to resume its work later this month.
Columns of smoke hung over the building and the city skyline, and roads around the precinct were closed.
In a statement, parliament confirmed that “investigations are underway by the relevant authorities”.
“The presiding officers of parliament are distressed by this incident and the extent of the damage caused thus far to the precincts of the seat of the national legislature. They have urged the relevant authorities to leave no stone unturned in establishing the cause of the fire.”
The full extent of the damage is not yet known, but JP Smith, a Cape Town mayoral committee member responsible for safety and security, predicted it “will be significant.