Alleged Parliament arsonist Zandile Mafe maintains he is fit to stand trial. His own testimony, however, raised several questions, in addition to those presented by the psychiatrists who said he should receive treatment.

'My job as a terrorist, Zandile Mafe, was to burn down Parliament. We had planned it for a year and I was compensated for completing my mission. [My accomplices] are public and government officials and I was told what would be the consequence if I mentioned their names," arson accused Zandile Mafe told the Western Cape High Court on Friday, 3 November.

Mafe took the stand to demonstrate that he is fit to understand and follow court proceedings, and to explain why he is opposing a panel report that determined he has schizophrenia and suggested he be admitted to Valkenberg Hospital for treatment and rehabilitation.

Dr Thupana Seshoka, who led an expert panel at Fort England Psychiatric Hospital in Eastern Cape, wrote the report and testified on a virtual platform on Thursday, 2 November.

A separate report by the defence-appointed private psychiatrist Dr Naseema Cassimjee found that Mafe had his first violent psychiatric incident when he was 15. Cassimjee also diagnosed him with schizophrenia and said Mafe was unfit to stand trial and was unable to recognise the wrongfulness of his actions at the time of the alleged offence.

When asked by his senior counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu, whether he...