Fire brings down roof at South Africa parliament

A massive fire in South Africa’s houses of parliament in Cape Town caused the roof of the old National Assembly
building to collapse on Sunday as the blaze continued to rage after eight hours.

No casualities have been reported in the fire, which has also spread to the wing housing the current National Assembly, where parliament sits.

“The roof of the Old Assembly building has collapsed and is gone,” Jean-Pierre Smith, Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for safety and security, told reporters, AFP reports.

The cause of the fire was not yet known, but an investigation was opened.

President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters at the scene an arrest had been made.

The historic building houses a collection of rare books and the original copy of the former Afrikaans national anthem “Die Stem Suid-Afrika” (“The Voice of South Africa”), which was already damaged.

“The entire building has suffered extensively smoke and water damage,” Smith said, adding “the fire has not been contained”.

It started at around 0300 GMT Sunday in the parliament complex’s oldest wing, which was completed in 1884 and has rooms covered in wood where parliamentarians once sat.

It then spread to newer parts of the complex which are currently in use.