National neglect: Recent fires and damage to state property not a coincidence

The fires and damage which have broken out at the South Africa’s national key points this month are not a coincidence but a sign of neglect of state resources, said political analysts.

This neglect, according to the analysts, could be due to factional battles within the ANC and the desire to access state resources.

The Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria was the latest major government asset to experience a mysterious fire on Sunday evening. The fire broke out at the bulk fuel depot but was contained within an hour by the South African Air Force firefighting team.

No injuries or structural damage was reported and the investigation into the cause, magnitude of the damage and costs will be concluded this week, said South African National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesperson Brigadier-General Andries Mahapa.

ALSO READ: Waterkloof Air Force Base fire: ‘No foul play whatsoever’ – SANDF

He, however, said that no foul play was suspected and that a pipe leakage could have been the cause.

But speculation has emerged as this was a third mysterious incident to happen to a government institution this month.

Earlier in January, national key point Parliament was also engulfed in flames during a fire which took days to contain. The alleged arsonist, Zandile Mafe, was arrested with his bail hearing to proceed this week.

More than a week later, the offices of the SABC in Bloemfontein, which is also listed as a national key point, were broken into with a suspect soon arrested for business burglary, malicious damage to property and trespassing.

Police also arrested a 36-year-old murder convict out on parole for smashing the Constitutional Court’s windows with a hammer.

Not really a coincidence – says analysts

All these occurrences are not accidental but were caused by factional fights and for self-enrichment, said political analyst Professor Lesiba Teffo.

He said the fires which torched hospitals over the past few years and damage to Eskom power stations were not a coincidence. Experts have confirmed it was not ordinary criminality occurring at the power stations as expertise was required to tamper with them.

“All these things have to do with the shenanigans, with the factional fights and the desire to access state resources – not to serve the people but to enrich those who have access to those resources. We no longer need to debate that because we have sufficient evidence that was confirmed at the Zondo Commission.”

“And I dare say, these are not accidental… There could be technical explanations and those technical explanations could be correct. But who made it possible for the systems to not function? For the equipment to not function and with which motive or intention?” Teffo asked.

Neglect leaves room for sabotage

While a link between the fires and break-ins could be speculation, an important aspect was the element of neglect by government, political analyst Levy Ndou said.

If the fire at the Waterkloof Air Force Base was due to a leak, that leakage was caused by neglect, he said.

“Parliament was on fire and it leads to an element of neglect. If you want to take care of the Parliament building, you must make sure that every day, everything that relates to security and fire control is functional. Make sure there is sufficient personnel. But that does not happen. It is neglect,” said Ndou.

This neglect was confirmed in a report into the parliamentary fire earlier this year, which found that the fire sprinklers were last examined in 2017. In addition, findings by auditors BDO about fire hazards at Parliament were apparently hidden from Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Patricia de Lille. The minister even conceded to MPs that Parliament’s surveillance cameras were not being monitored on the night of the fire.

ALSO READ: Parliament fire: ‘Fully operational’ sprinkler system hadn’t been serviced since 2017

This could easily create the suspicion of an element of sabotage against government, said Ndou.

“These are national key points. You expect quality controls to be up to standard and unfortunately that is not the case. The incident that happened at the SABC last week in Bloemfontein is due to neglect. The SABC is a key point… If you link all these things together, you can be suspicious of sabotage… If these were not neglected, no one would have access to them,” he said.

But such neglect means there could be a motive, said Teffo.

“[President Cyril Ramaphosa] is being besieged and he needs everybody and anybody to help him. The people of South Africa must also help themselves by deciding whether it is still the ANC that can take them forward or not.”

– rorisangk@citizen.co.za