When the fire in Parliament’s Old Assembly wing started early Sunday morning, no parliamentary protection services staff was on duty – shifts over weekends and public holidays were canned to save on overtime pay, according to the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union.
The damage by all accounts is significant. It’s understood to have started on the third floor of the historic Old Assembly building around 5am.
“From where I’m sitting I do not what to speculate what happened in Parliament… ,” said National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said in an online briefing on Sunday lunchtime where she was asked about social media claims of an attack.
“In the next 48 hours the SAPS will provide us with a report (with) an indication of what their suspicions are.”
In an earlier statement Parliament also said investigations were underway; no one has been injured.
“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 all relevant authorities to leave no stone unturned in establishing the cause of the fire. The public will be kept updated,” that statement said….