[imagesource: City of Cape Town]

Yes, we are back.

I hope you’re well-rested and all those other platitudes people say to another at this time of the year.

#NewBeginnings.

Residents of the City Bowl would have noticed large plumes of black smoke billowing out from Parliament last Sunday. In total, firefighters spent three days battling to save the complex of buildings in the city centre, in what can best be described as a failure of epic (and expensive) proportions.

For one, reports TimesLIVE, December and early January was very much a lax period for security:

…since December 16, a skeleton staff was on duty for only 12 hours a day, between 8am and 8pm, with supervisors on standby at home.

It’s alleged that Sandile Christmas Mafe, who has been charged with arson, climbed through a window at around 2AM last Sunday during a time when not a single security officer was on duty.

According to eNCA, “Mafe managed to dodge CCTV cameras which parliament’s presiding officers have confirmed, were working, by crawling around”.

Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis also outlined blunder after blunder:

Fire doors, intended to stop flames spreading, being latched open;

A sprinkler valve being closed when it should have been chained open;

Failure to service the sprinkler system as scheduled in February 2020; and

Outdated first-aid equipment and poorly ventilated emergency staircases.

While many precious and historical artefacts were saved by the gallant efforts of firefighters, structural damage to the buildings was extensive.

Some of the aerial footage is pretty heartbreaking:

If you’re thinking ‘no worries, step up insurance company’ then you’re in for a nasty surprise:

The houses of parliament are not insured, meaning a repair and reconstruction bill that could reach R1bn will be footed by taxpayers…

In written responses to the Sunday Times on Friday, [public works acting director-general Imtiaz] Fazel said the cost of insuring a R141bn state property portfolio of more than 82,000 buildings was unaffordable.

There goes another billion or so into the void.

A conflicting report by City Press quotes Samantha Graham-Mare, the DA’s spokesperson on public works, saying that Parliament “had a so-called global insurance policy, which provided cover for events such as property damage, injuries, natural disasters and personal liability”.

Parliament’s annual report for 2020/21 showed that in that financial year, R4 011 000 million was paid for insurance cover.

However, even if that is the case the insurer may not pay out:

Even if Parliament has insurance cover against the devastating fire that broke out on Sunday, there is a good chance that insurers will reject the claim due to its failure to limit the risk on various levels.

“The insurer can either cancel the policy on the grounds of breach of contract – because the policy’s terms and conditions regarding risk and damage limitation weren’t complied with – or from the outset (ab initio), due to misrepresentation,” says Professor Birgit Kuschke, an insurance law expert at the University of Pretoria…

Kuschke, who is also a practising lawyer, says negligence and dereliction of duty, as in the case of the Parliament fire, are loopholes for insurers.

“If I were an insurer, I’d say to the policyholder: ‘You didn’t do anything to limit damage.’”

The National Assembly, the main debating chamber, was severely damaged and the Old Assembly Chamber as well as several offices were basically gutted.

[sources:timeslive&enca&citypress]