Two years after a devastating fire, charred beams and scattered tiles still stick out of the burned-out roof of the South African Parliament in Cape Town. These scars, partially hidden behind the monumental white and red facade, symbolize for many the country's ills at the start of an election year.
Reconstruction was slow and the Assembly's 400 members were forced to move to a smaller hall in Cape Town that could only accommodate 170 of them.
An investigation into the arson, committed by a man declared unfit to stand trial, found numerous security deficiencies, including guards sleeping at their posts.
The fire and its aftermath highlight a “failed state” that cannot maintain basic services, ignores safety standards and where planning is “in shambles,” says political scientist Sandile Swana. “All of this creates an atmosphere of precarity and general insecurity.”
According to Parliament Speaker Moloto Mothapo, reconstruction will begin in January for a period of two years in accordance with “announced timelines”.
It took two years to obtain funding and permits, clear debris and items that needed to be secured, and prepare the site, he added.
Calcined suckers
The year 2024 marks three decades of the emergence of post-apartheid democracy, the date of the beginning of the work is full of symbolism. Mr Mothapo assured that the renovation will result in a “restored and improved” Parliament.
“The institution is not just bricks and mortar. It carries the hopes, aspirations and future of South Africans.
But the accumulated delays are causing anger.
“We all agree that this process has been very lengthy and frustrating,” Siviwe Gwarube, parliamentary leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), told a parliamentary committee this year.
It took more than 48 hours to bring the fire, which broke out on January 2, 2022, under control. The fire, which caused no fatalities, caused $120 million in damage. He also destroyed a room that had been the scene of historic moments, such as President Frederik de Klerk's announcement that Nelson Mandela would be released after 27 years in prison in 1990.
According to Moloto Mothapo, the renovated building will feature “additional elements of modernity” and house a larger hall that can accommodate a joint session of both houses of Parliament.
MPs who are not among the 170 allocated seats are currently required to take part in debates remotely online.
This undermines transparency, said Brett Herron from the small opposition GOOD party. “Parliament is not functioning as it should,” he said. “It is unreasonable to expect South Africans to accept this agreement for at least another two years.”
According to Dianne Kohler Barnard (DA), the downsizing has lost “that momentum, that sense of excitement and drive to get things done”.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF, radical left), the second opposition party, had proposed moving parliament to Pretoria, where the government meets, before backing down.
“Negligence and incompetence”
MPs are still wondering how Zandile Christmas Mafe, 50, was able to enter Parliament on that fateful night. A court has since ruled that he cannot be tried because of his schizophrenia.
Court hearings and a parliamentary report revealed a number of failings in the building's safety and maintenance.
Stunning CCTV footage showed Mafe wandering around Parliament grounds undetected for more than 24 hours before dousing cardboard boxes and newspapers with petrol.
The officers in charge of monitoring the security cameras were asleep. The fire extinguishing system did not detect the flames and the automatic fire extinguishers did not work.
Prosecutors described these failures as the “epitome” of African National Congress (ANC) rule, which the opposition party said was “marked by negligence” and “incompetence”.
The ANC, in power since 1994, could reach less than 50%, polls show, amid growing discontent over corruption, mismanagement and widespread unemployment.