Several forensic reports are outstanding in the arson case of a man accused of having started the fire at Parliament.

Zandile Mafe made another appearance in the Cape Town Magistrates Court on Friday where the matter was postponed to 25 March for further investigation.

Mafe has been accused of breaking into the parliamentary precinct on 2 January and starting a devastating fire.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s Eric Ntabazalila said, “The State told the court that the investigating team of the Hawks was still waiting for structural engineers to determine whether it was safe to enter the National Assembly in Parliament. The State also emphasised that there were several outstanding forensic reports.”

He said the defence was not happy with the lengthy postponement period request by the State.

“The Defence objected to this request and suggested only three weeks to finalise the report, but the State argued that was wholly inadequate for the nature of outstanding reports. The court agreed and postponed the case for six weeks.”