- Arson Zandelle accused Maffei of shouting at the Western Cape High Court on Thursday that he was indeed the one who set parliament on fire.
- He was in court for a pretrial appearance after undergoing a second psychiatric evaluation.
- Judge Nathan Erasmus, knowing the outcome of the assessment, did not want to interrupt Maffei’s outburst.
There was high drama at the Western Cape High Court on Thursday morning when Parliament accused Zandil Maffei of arson and shouted: “I really burned Parliament” as he entered the dock.
His pre-trial appearance was intended to provide feedback on the second psychiatric evaluation he underwent.
The first assessment, which concluded he had schizophrenia, was deemed illegal.
The result of the second evaluation is still sealed.
When Maffei was brought to court on Thursday, he called for Parliament to be moved to Bloemfontein and threatened to set the building on fire again if it did not move.
“You must take him to Bloemfontein, or that Parliament, or Pretoria. He must move. He must move. I burned him on purpose. I, Christmas Zandil Maffei. I will burn him some more if he does not move to Bloemfontein or Pretoria.”
He also called the party “racists” and “murderers”, saying that the party should not be represented in Parliament.
Additionally, he had an anti-white, anti-Semitic rant at the dock.
“I don’t want whites in this land. They must give the land back to the blacks. Whites are murderers. Whites are murderers.”
He added that parliament should be turned into a toilet.
He was represented by attorney Dali Mpofu via a broken video link. In court, advocate Nikoi Nyathi said the defense wanted a six-week deferral to obtain its own independent psychiatric report.
Judge Nathan Erasmus said he did not want to intentionally interrupt Maffei’s anger.
“I know Mr. Maffei’s medical condition and I don’t want to make it worse,” he said.
But he briefly adjourned when Mavi didn’t stop screaming.
Mafi also told the court to sentence him to “25 years of life imprisonment”.
“I am not afraid of a life sentence,” he said.
“I am not afraid of a life sentence.”
This is a developing story.