Devastating Parliament fire lays bare safety deficiencies
Preliminary observations show the building was a ticking time bomb, lacking fundamental safety requirements. This is one reason why the fire spread rapidly.
The face of Parliament, with its majestic history, artefacts, artwork and tapestry, changed irrevocably in the early hours of Sunday, 2 January as a raging fire tore through the new House of Assembly.
More than 300 men and women were deployed, 60 pieces of fire-fighting equipment and two specialised aerial pieces of equipment were used during the three-day battle against the blaze. After a gruelling 71 hours, the fire was contained. Only once the fire was doused were firefighters able to submit an observation report on what may have possibly fuelled the inferno.
The New Assembly building was destroyed. It is estimated it will cost about R1-billion to repair Parliament to its former glory. This will take years and the bill will be the taxpayers’ burden as the Parliament building is not insured.
Public Works Acting Director-General Imtiaz Fazel, responding to questions from National Freedom Party MP Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Eman, said the cost of insuring a R141-billion state property portfolio of more than 82,000 buildings was unaffordable.
On Friday, 7 January, the City of Cape Town released an observation report detailing all faulty fire equipment. The City reiterated, however, that it was not an official fire report. The forensic information outlining the cause of the fire will be released by the Speaker of Parliament at a later stage.
Significant shortfalls identified in the City’s observation report revealed the necessary precautionary measures to adequately respond to fire outbreaks were not in place.
“The sprinkler valve on the southern façade of the Old Assembly had not been activated. The sprinklers did not activate. The sprinklers were serviced last in 2017, with service scheduled for February 2020.
“The excessive heat and smoke encountered throughout the building was fuelled by the open-latching doors onto the fire escape using small metal latches. This latching open of fire doors assisted in the spread of the fire… The roof smoke vents did not activate at the National Assembly,” the report found.
According to the report, no fire alarm was received by Cape Town Fire Services from the old or new Assembly buildings. An alarm was purportedly received after the firefighters were already on the scene.
Zandile Mafe (49) was arrested shortly after the fire. He faces an array of charges, including contravention of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act.
Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille has admitted that the suspect was in the Parliamentary precinct between 2am and 6am on the morning of 2 January. He was only spotted around 6.15am when police came on duty.
No one was monitoring the CCTV cameras at Parliament and no Parliamentary Protection Services were on duty.
“If we have a building with significant defects and a fire breaks out, it is likely to cause more damage and endanger life,” said Professor Richard Walls, the head of Stellenbosch University’s Fire Engineering Research Unit. To prevent a fire from spreading, he said it was vital that fire doors worked, adding that one had to try to compartmentalise the fire.
“It is important to try to keep the fire where it started. So, if the fire doors fail, then the fire will spread. To put out a fire as quickly as possible, we need the sprinklers.”
But the City’s observation report states that the sprinkler valve was not opened.
Walls said “when there are multiple failures, the fire is more likely to escalate to a large disaster… With any fire if you come along at the right time … you could put out the fire with your cup of coffee and walk away. It is just a question of how much time there is for the fire to develop … It becomes progressively harder to do anything about it, especially if systems fail.”
At the meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Financial Management of Parliament on 4 January, De Lille was adamant that a pre-Sona inspection in December 2021 had indicated that all the fire equipment was in working order.
“Electrical distribution boards were serviced annually, lighting replaced as required, fire-detection equipment, fire extinguishers, fire hose, and fire hydrants as well as fire sprinklers were serviced annually,” claimed the report by De Lille’s department.
The City’s observation report shows consistent shortfalls in the pre-Sona inspection of the precinct for 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The three inspections found that it still had to be ascertained whether the emergency evacuation system was in working order in the New Assembly; in the Old Assembly, the fire panel and the fire phones needed to be brought to “good working order”.
Also noted were that servicing certifications were missing for, among others, the fire-alarm panels, the fire-detection system and all electrical work. The inspectors had recommended that the Parliamentary Protection Service and SAPS members be trained in emergency systems and drills.
Nehawu’s parliamentary branch executive committee has since said that none of its members will be reporting for duty at Parliament until such time the precinct and its building had been declared safe to work.
Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said the Fire and Rescue Services report only contained preliminary observations by the firefighters.
“It neither purports to provide conclusive findings and evidence regarding the cause and the circumstances surrounding the fire incident, nor provides an assessment of the safety of the other parliamentary buildings not affected by the fire.”
Thami Mchunu, acting chief director communications and marketing of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, said: “The department initiated the necessary servicing and once all servicing is completed, the department will collect all certificates of compliance and servicing records and submit these to the Provincial Joint Operations Centre.”
A final forensic report is being compiled by the Hawks in conjunction with engineers and a fire expert.
On Friday, 14 January, De Lille and senior Public Works members gave feedback about the fire to Parliament.
Public Works director Thembeka Kolele told MPs that maintenance certificates from January and November 2021 said: “The annual maintenance certificate arising from the November 2021 inspection again confirms that all fire safety equipment was in safe and good working condition.
“Following the March 2021 fire, DPW can confirm that work has been carried out on the sprinkler system in the Old Assembly. DPW can confirm the department had replaced the activated sprinkler heads and recommissioned with the valve on.”
Although the last fire-equipment report issued before the incident indicated that the sprinkler system was last in service in 2017, their consultants had “erroneously reported that the sprinklers were serviced annually rather than every three years”.
With any fire, if you come along at the right time … you could put out the fire with your cup of coffee and walk away
Professor Richard Walls