Parliament Fire: South Africa charges suspect with terrorism
Zandile Christmas Mafe, the suspect arrested for setting South African parliament ablaze is now facing terrorism charges following the emergence of new evidence.
Although no life was lost in the fire accident which occurred on January 2, troves of vital documents may have been damaged beyond recovery, with several computers and major parts of the parliament building destroyed by the fire.
Mr Mafe is now facing charges of fire, arson, breaking and entering, theft and the latest addition, terrorism.
The 49-year-old suspect was reportedly found with crockery, laptop, documents including an explosive device which formed the grounds for the terrorism charge.
Mr Mafe, determined to plead his case, has hired top notch lawyer, Dali Mpofu to represent him. Mr Mpofu was the legal counsel to erstwhile President Jacob Zuma currently in prison for contempt of court.
Mr Mpofu was hired after the suspect’s former lawyer denied all allegations levelled against his client.
The suspect deemed mentally unstable and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia would remain in a psychiatric facility until his bail hearing, scheduled for February 11.
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
States
Independence: NBA urges Nigerians to expect better future
The NBA said that ordinary Nigerians should be deriving benefit from the subsidy removal rather than hardship.
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
States
Police nab suspects over alleged vandalism, theft of transformer cables
The suspects were arrested at different locations in the state.
States
Bayelsa court jails three for attempted human trafficking
The defendants pleaded guilty to all three charges upon their arraignment on October 28.
Heading 5
Oriental Hotel guest recovers belongings stolen by notorious Lagos thief
CCTV footage capturing the thief’s face and movements went viral after it was posted on social media.
Hot news Home top
NJC recommends new judges across five states, two appellate courts
The recommendations were made at the council’s 112th meeting held on November 3, 2026.
Anti-Corruption
EFCC grills ex-banker over alleged diversion of customer’s N515 million
According to the EFCC, the money was transferred in three tranches.
Heading 4
Customs recorded N1.42 trillion revenue, $753 million exports in Q3 2026: OfficialÂ
Mr Maiwada said interceptions with a combined duty-paid value exceeding N8.1 billion were recorded.
