Alleged Parliament arsonist Zandile Mafe gestures during an inquiry into his fitness to stand trial at Western Cape Town High Court on November 02, 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)

• Zandile Mafe says he does not have a mental illness and was on a mission when he set Parliament alight. 
• He was testifying in the inquiry into his fitness to stand trial to see if he will be able to instruct his lawyer properly, given a diagnosis of schizophrenia. 
• He disputed this diagnosis and spent much of Friday’s proceedings justifying why he burnt Parliament but insists he will plead not guilty. 

Parliament arson and terrorism-accused Zandile Mafe says he will plead not guilty to starting the fire at Parliament, telling the inquiry into his fitness to stand trial that he is not “insane”, but he was on a “mission”. 

He said he spent three days in the building, poking around offices, reading MPs’ salary slips, making toast, finding food cards for staff, riding the lift up and down, and “enjoying” himself.

There was a moment of hesitation before he struck the match, he told the court. 

“The new National Assembly is very beautiful. I asked myself: ‘Can I burn it? But I said to myself, ‘It is a mission.'”

He made some coffee and toast and “then I started my mission through the night”.

He said that when he felt the heat of the fire, he slung the bags of goods he had packed over his shoulders and planned his exit.

“I was like a soldier. I was like a terrorist,” he said. 

Besides the kettle and toaster he took, he said he had to save the books of Oliver Tambo and Winnie Mandela he found in the ANC’s office from the fire, because he could not allow that to be destroyed.

READ | Parliament fire: ‘I found coffee, everything there,’ claims arson accused

The point of the inquiry is to determine whether Mafe is fit to stand trial and Judge Nathan Erasmus has to determine whether he appreciates the wrongfulness of the actions he is accused of, and whether he will be able to follow the court process well enough to defend himself.

Standing in the dock after refusing to take the religious oath because the last time he did that, he said, he lost his application for bail. 

He took the oath of affirmation instead, and opened a school exercise book, took out a pen and a highlighter. He asked the interpreter not to sit next to him because it would not be necessary.

Mafe said he considers Parliament no more than a place that impeaches, suspends, and enriches tycoons. 

He also had a list of demands. 

They included:

Led by his free counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu SC, the court was privy to his knowledge of local and international current affairs, before he was questioned on his mission, demands and statements that caused the alarm.

Judge Nathan Erasmus asked what the point of this was after listening to long explanations of his views on economic, social and political matters, many of which were raised in his bail application. 

Mpofu said the point was to dispute the “disordered” thinking the Fort England psychiatric panel added to the list of symptoms observed to come to their diagnosis of schizophrenia. 

However, Mafe also claimed that Ramaphosa had the body parts of albino people, including heads and hands, in his houses. 

Mafe remained composed, although warned repeatedly not to repeat himself and to keep his answers brief. 

But he was very aggrieved when his diary was produced. This was one of the factors that the psychiatric panel used to determine that his thoughts were disordered.

He threatened to report the prosecutor Mervyn Menigo, who he randomly described as “half-Jew, half Arab”, for taking his diary from his shack. 

READ | ‘I did burn Parliament’: High drama as Zandile Mafe shouts in court, threatens more arson

Menigo objected strongly, saying the State had a warrant to search his shack. 

But Mafe kept returning to how upset he was about the diary. 

“That is sacred,” he said. 

Erasmus and Mpofu explained that there was a process in removing it. 

He vehemently disputed the diagnosis of schizophrenia. 

“They say I am mad. They say I am like a scrap to be taken and thrown to the scrapyard of Valkenberg [Psychiatric Hospital],” said Mafe, making circles around his ear with his forefinger. 

He said the panel at Fort England lied about him and were gossiping about him. He also found the assessment by an independent psychiatrist appointed by his legal team inaccurate. 

Both reports diagnosed schizophrenia and recommended psychiatric treatment, and that he would not be fit to stand trial.

When his cross-examination by Menigo began Mafe rounded on him when asked about the diary entry about body parts.

“Where did you get it?” he demanded and became increasingly angry when told it was in his diary.

A morning of seemingly rational explanation began to deteriorate into anger and evasive answers as the inquiry continued.

Mpofu intervened as he became increasingly angry. 

If Mafe is found fit to stand trial, the case will proceed to deal with his untested statement of admission as official evidence.