Cape Town – Alleged Parliament arsonist, Zandile Mafe, has been released from Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital, where he had been sent for mental evaluation, a report said on Wednesday.
According to eNCA, Mafe has been transferred to Pollsmoor Prison where he will remain until his bail hearing on Saturday.
The Western Cape High Court ruled on Tuesday that the decision by the Cape Town Magistrates Court to commit Mafe to Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital was unlawful.
Mafe, 49, was arrested near the parliament complex on January 2 after a fire broke at parliament.
He appeared in court three days later.
Mafe was initially charged with breaking into parliament, arson, and intention to steal property such as laptops, crockery, and documents.
However, when he appeared in court for the second time last week on Tuesday, an additional charge of terrorism was added.
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During the hearing, on Tuesday, Mafe’s lawyer, Dali Mpofu, revealed that he was “taken for mental observation on January 3” and was diagnosed with “paranoid schizophrenia”.
According to Times Live, the diagnostic revelation influenced Cape Town magistrate Zamekile Mbalo’s decision to refer Mafe for 30 days of observation at Valkenberg Hospital.
However, Mafe’s lawyers were not pleased by Mbalo’s decision.
As a result, they took the matter to the High court and argued that his committal to Valkenberg was “unlawful and unconstitutional”.
Upon receiving the appeal from Mafe’s lawyers, Judge president John Hlophe and acting judge Raadiyah Wathen-Falken reached a consensus to overturn Mbalo’s decision and ordered Mafe’s immediate release from Valkenberg Hospital, saying that he would be incarcerated in Pollsmoor prison.
The court also awarded him legal fees.
“The further detention of Mr Mafe in Valkenberg is unlawful and should come to an end with immediate effect. He should be released first thing tomorrow [Wednesday] morning and placed in a normal corrections facility and taken out of Valkenberg. That order was made improperly,” the report quoted Judge Hlophe as saying.
EWN reported that Mafe recently contracted Covid-19 and was being held in isolation for eight to ten days.
His bail hearing will be heard at the Cape Town Regional Court on Saturday, subject to further consultation between the parties.
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Additional report by AFP
