PARLIAMENT arson accused Zandile Mafe has been declared unfit to stand trial.
The Western Cape High Court made the ruling on Monday, 11 December, converting him from a criminal accused to a mental health patient.
The court remanded him to the hospital section of Pollsmoor Prison while he waits for a bed to be available at a psychiatric hospital.
Mafe was arrested on 2 January 2022. The state alleges that before that, he bought petrol for R10 at a petrol station in Bellville on 21 December 2021 and boarded a taxi to Cape Town with the fuel.
He then climbed the fence and made his way into the Parliamentary precinct, where he entered the Old Assembly through an unlocked and unproperly secured door.
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Once inside, he collected cardboard boxes, paper and office chairs, which he placed in front of the closed doors, sprinkled petrol on them and set them on fire.
Mafe then moved to the National Assembly where he threw petrol from the public gallery onto the floor. According to reports, he made his way to the window of the Old Assembly and was arrested as he attempted to get out carrying bags with him.
Following his arrest and before he made a confession, he was referred to a district surgeon to determine whether he was injured. After observing him, the surgeon referred him to Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital.
The panel of three doctors from the hospital produced a report which declared that he was unable to follow court proceedings to make a proper defence. It declared that he suffered from schizophrenia.
However, Mafe disputed both reports arguing that he was fit to stand trial.
On Monday, his lawyer, Advocate Dali Mpofu likened him to Dimitri Tsafendas, a Greek Mozambican who assassinated the then South African prime minister, Hendrik Verwoerd on 6 September 1966. He accused the state of wanting to silence Mafe.
He said Mafe was ready to start his trial, but the state insisted that he was mad. Mpofu attacked the panel’s report, arguing it was defective and could not be fixed by evidence of Dr Seshoka, the head of psychiatry at Fort England Hospital.
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State prosecutor Advocate Mervyn Menigo rubbished the argument and argued that the state takes no pleasure prosecuting a man who is ill.
Judge Nathan Erasmus agreed with Menigo’s arguments and found the report to have complied in terms of the act.
He further found Mafe unfit to stand trial. But Mpofu indicated to the court more than once that they intend to appeal the findings of the court.
Eric Ntabazalila from the NPA said they welcome the court's decision.
