The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is located in Cape Town. Presently the 27th Parliament is holding office with Cyril Ramaphosa as the President.
On 2nd January, 2022 Sunday, an unforeseen event occurred in the Parliament of South Africa. There was a sudden blaze of fire on the third floor in one of the buildings and the roof of the Old assembly hall collapsed and the fire destroyed the National Assembly. The fire broke out around 6am in the morning and took almost 12 hours for the fire to be brought under control. Around 70 firefighters got into work to bring the situation under control.
Suspect is under arrest and says that he entered the Parliament through the back window and the interrogation is going on and will appear in the court on Tuesday on charges of arson, housebreaking and theft. The interrogation is made public so that a similar event does not occur in the future.
The President appreciated the firefighters who were present at the location on time and worked diligently to curb the fire. No man was hurt or injured as both Houses of Parliament were not in session due to the holidays. But the collection of rare books, historic treasures, artworks and important documents was completely destroyed.
JP Smith, a Cape Town mayoral committee member responsible for safety and security, informed in the conference held outside the Parliament that the entire parliamentary complex is severely damaged, waterlogged and smoke damaged.
The President has vowed that the work will continue as before and nothing will stop due to this accident. An alternate place will be arranged for all the members of the Parliament to meet and to continue their respective works.
