Court postpones case against alleged Parliament arsonist
The case against the man accused of setting fire to National Assembly has been postponed for further investigation.
Sandile Christmas Mafe made a brief appearance in the Cape Town Regional Court on Friday on charges arson and terrorism.
Mafe was arrested on January 2 after Parliament was burnt.
The 49-year-old Khayelitsha man has denied the charges against him but was denied bail during an earlier court appearance and sent for mental observation at the Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital.
Spokesperson for the NPA in the Western Cape Eric Ntabazalila told media outside the court that the State had requested the postponement.
"The crime scene is still active in Parliament. Forensic investigators were only allowed in the building in Parliament on the 15th of March. They are still busy with that investigation with the estimate that they will need at least six weeks to finalise the investigation. That is the investigation and the reports."
The case has been postponed to May.
"We are trying to move with speed, but it is unfortunately a situation out of our control," said Ntabazalila.
"So far all the investigations that has been done has not identified anybody else except Mr Mafe. We are working according to the evidence at our disposal."
