For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: Democracy in Action loses court bid to prevent Ramaphosa from receiving State Capture report; Parliament confirms fire has been contained; And, Fire accused to remain in custody

Democracy in Action loses court bid to prevent Ramaphosa from receiving State Capture report

The Gauteng High Court has struck from the roll, with costs, an urgent application brought by Democracy in Action to interdict acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo from handing over the first part of the State Capture Inquiry's report to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Democracy in Action argued that Ramaphosa was not the best person to receive the report because he had been implicated in testimony at the commission.

However, Judge Avrielle Maier-Frawley struck the matter from the roll.

Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, representing the State Capture Inquiry, had argued that the matter should be struck from the roll with costs. He accused DiA of being "guilty of self-created urgency".

Parliament confirms fire has been contained

Parliament confirmed today that the fire that flared up again at the National Assembly on Monday afternoon has now been contained.

Monday afternoon’s re-emergence of the fire was aided by solid south-easterly winds and saw the deployment of heavy-duty aerial fire-fighting to reinforce existing capacity.

Further damage has been caused, with more floors of the building, which houses offices of Members of Parliament and support staff, completely gutted. The roof of the building in which the flare-up occurred is now completely destroyed.

Parliament expects the work by the multidisciplinary team of engineers, which arrived on Monday to conduct an assessment and establish the scale of the damage, will proceed. 

And, Fire accused to remain in custody

The case against Zandile Christmas Mafe, the man accused of starting the massive fire at Parliament on Sunday, has been postponed. Mafe was arrested by members of the Protection and Security Services, a division of the police service responsible for security at Parliament when they noticed the building was on fire.

Mafe faces several charges, among them charges under the explosives act, theft, arson and housebreaking.

The State requested that the matter be postponed to verify the information of Mafe for his bail application. They also wanted to wait for the damages in Parliament to be assessed.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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