CAPE TOWN – A man has been arrested after allegedly entering South Africa’s parliamentary precinct unlawfully and spending the night inside, raising fresh concerns about security at the institution.
Parliament said the man, who is in his 30s, was apprehended by Parliamentary Protection Services in the early hours of Friday, 11 September.
Protection officers handed the man to the South African Police Service. The man remains in police custody.
“The trespassing incident did not disrupt parliamentary operations,” a parliamentary statement said.
“Parliament takes any unauthorised access to its precinct seriously and continues to maintain appropriate security measures to safeguard the institution.”
The official statement did not explain how the man entered the precinct or which part of the parliamentary complex was accessed.
Separate reports said the man allegedly jumped over a perimeter fence on Thursday night and slept inside the precinct before being discovered the following morning.
Police have opened a trespassing case. However, parliament had not officially confirmed details about the point of entry or the length of time the man remained inside.
Echoes of 2022 fire incident
The incident has renewed attention on security at the precinct, which is undergoing reconstruction following the devastating January 2022 fire.
The blaze caused extensive damage to the historic Old Assembly and National Assembly buildings.
Zandile Mafe was arrested after being found inside the parliamentary precinct shortly after the fire was noticed. He was charged with housebreaking with intent to steal and theft, two counts of arson, possession of an explosive device, destruction of essential infrastructure and terrorism.
Investigations into the 2022 incident revealed systemic security and maintenance failures that allowed the breach to occur and go unnoticed for hours.
Security failures exposed
While surveillance cameras were operational, there was no monitoring of the feeds during the night of the incident. Parliamentary Protection Services personnel had been withdrawn during the festive season, leaving the site protected by the South African Police Service.
Evidence indicated that a police officer tasked with monitoring motion-detection cameras was asleep when the intruder breached the fence. Although surveillance footage showed the intruder in the building precinct at approximately 02:00 security did not identify the presence until 06:00 after being alerted by smoke.
The fire completely destroyed the National Assembly chamber from the bottom to the top.
The entire roof of the Old Assembly was destroyed by the fire. Hundreds of offices within the complex were gutted by the blaze.
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R4.6 billion reconstruction underway
Sections of the National Assembly and Old Assembly buildings remain under repair, with the reconstruction project currently budgeted at R4.6 billion. Initial estimates following the fire were approximately R1 billion, but by 2024, estimates had increased to about R3 billion.
The project is targeted for full completion by June 2027. A primary goal is to achieve sufficient functional completion to host the 2027 State of the Nation Address and the National Budget Speech in the rebuilt National Assembly chamber.
The project has faced several delays due to unforeseen site conditions, including the presence of underground water and hard rock, the absence of reliable as-built drawings, asbestos removal requirements and heritage preservation challenges.
