MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd January, 2022) South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that someone was being held for questioning in connection with massive fire erupted at the parliamentary precinct in the early hours of Sunday morning with no casualties.
"I believe somebody is being held right now and they are being questioned," Ramaphosa told reporters as aired by South African SABC news broadcaster.
Thandi Mbambo, a spokesperson for the Hawks, an elite police unit that has taken over the investigation into the blaze, said the suspect would appear in court on Tuesday. The 49-year-old is suspected of breaking into the parliament building through a window and faces burglary charges.
Earlier in the day, the parliament of the republic said that as the result of the fire, no one was injured.
"No person 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 fire," the parliament tweeted.
According to the parliament, the blaze affected the National and the Old Assembly buildings.
Two stories of the Nation Assembly building were destroyed by the fire, a representative of the city hall's security department told Sputnik.
The Cape Town Parliament complex consists of several buildings � an old building dating back to the 19th century and new ones from the 1920s and 1980s that are used by the lower house.
In April, a major fire started near Cape Town, which engulfed the campus and the Cape Town University library. The fire was localized only on the fourth day.
