Parliament report proves fire should have never happened
18 October 2023
The report by the Secretary to Parliament, Mr Xolile George, on the fire that engulfed Parliament in January 2022 demonstrates criminal negligence which led to the destruction of South Africa’s symbol of democracy – its Parliament.
While we await the release of the full, unabridged report, the Secretary’s revelations today are deeply troubling and show crucial deficiencies that should have prevented the fire:
The Secretary outlined a series of critical lapses:
Parliament did not meet minimum security standards. Parliament failed to deploy Parliamentary Protection Services on weekends and during the public holidays;