Parliament arson-accused Zandile Mafe's bid to be released on bail has been dismissed in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).

In a brief notice, the SCA said there were no exceptional circumstances warranting his release on bail or a further appeal.

It was decided in chambers on 1 September and stamped on 5 September, but was only made public recently.

Judge Tati Makgoka and Acting Judge Mahendra Chetty made the ruling.

Mafe is expected back in court next month for pre-trial processes.

He was not in court for his last two scheduled appearances.

On the first occasion, Mafe refused to get up from the floor of the holding cells in the Western Cape High Court, and on the second occasion, he refused to leave his cell at Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town to be taken to court.

He demanded a kettle, a TV and coffee to make prison life more bearable.

Mafe was arrested on 2 January at Parliament while a devastating fire raged in the National Assembly building.

The State says it has footage of him walking through the assembly chamber and in the upstairs office, allegedly starting the fire.

Mafe is accused of a range of crimes, including arson and terrorism.

His case already involved an application to get him out of Valkenberg psychiatric hospital, where he was being assessed after his arrest, and a bail application on a Saturday to honour his right to a speedy application.

That application in the Cape Town Regional Court was not successful. An appeal to the Western Cape High Court also failed.

During his bail application, he told the court he hails from Mahikeng in North West and had travelled around South Africa for jobs and eventually settled in Cape Town.

He said he worked at a bakery, but lost his job and scraped by with at most R1 000 a month. He said he would either sleep on the streets or at his shack in Khayelitsha.

Mafe also expressed disdain for the way poor people were treated and, at the time, wanted President Cyril Ramaphosa to cancel his State of the Nation Address.

Initially, there was speculation that he was a trained operative. However, no evidence of this has been brought yet.

In the meantime, Government Avenue, at the back of the parliamentary complex, has had its barbed wire removed, and it has been restored as a walkway through the Company's Garden.