South Africa's Parliament Fire Flares Up Again

On Monday afternoon, the fire service of Cape Town said that the parliament fire, which started on early Sunday, has flared up again. The void beneath the roof sheeting of the building of the Lower House is on fire and about 34 firefighters are busy battling with the fire.

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The fire service has scaled down resources from 9 p.m. last night, and the fire in the building is under control except on the fourth floor, which is still smoldering. The fire has affected both the National Assembly Wing and the Old Assembly Wing built in 1885, which houses the upper house National Council of Provinces (NCOP). The old wing's fire was contained on Sunday.

The Interior of the National Assembly building was "extensively destroyed," and the structural ceiling of the National Assembly Wing collapsed. The fire gutted the third floor of the old wing, including the office space and the gym, and its roof partly collapsed. The fire led to the "complete burning down" of the chamber of the National Assembly.

The lower house's chamber, situated in the National Assembly building built between 1983 and 1985, used to host plenary sittings of the National Assembly and the joint sitting of the two houses.

Some important sections were saved, including NCOP Chamber and offices, the Parliament Library, the Museum including artworks and heritage objects as well as the Keiskama tapestry, an embroidery telling the history of South Africa on the ground floor of the Old Assembly Building.

Multi-agency and multi-pronged investigations are underway, and will be in full swing once the whole building is declared safe and handed over to the investigation team. Public Works Minister Patricia De Lille said the team includes electrical, structural and mechanical engineers, and they focus on repairs that need to be done, the cost of the repairs and timeframe for the repairs.

A fire forensic team on Monday started to determine where exactly the fire started and a preliminary report is expected to be presented by Friday morning. The cause of the fire is still unknown. One person has been arrested in connection with the fire.