ANC fire causes parly sparks
29/08/2005 23:02 - (SA)
Mandy Rossouw
Cape Town - Sabotage cannot be excluded in the investigation into a fire that damaged the African National Congress headquarters.
This might explain national intelligence agency director-general Billy Masethla's personal visit to the scene on Saturday.
The Democratic Alliance wanted to know on Monday why senior officials, like Masethla, had visited the scene of the fire that damaged a large part of the sixth floor of Luthuli House on Saturday afternoon.
This floor houses the offices of secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe and deputy secretary-general Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele.
Masethla was there while firefighters were trying to bring the flames under control.
The Sunday Times reported that Masethla had an argument with national police chief Jackie Selebi after Selebi had refused to allow him to enter the building before it had been investigated by forensic specialists.
Masethla was allowed to enter later, but neither of them wanted to comment.
Questions about senior men at fire
The DA's Paul Swart said the presence of Selebi and Masethla at the scene was "bizarre".
"What were two very senior figures of the security establishment doing at a routine fire scene?
"It is difficult to see why a fire at Luthuli House justified the personal attention of the director-general of national intelligence."
Motlanthe said on Monday that most damage was done to the offices of the unit for political training. "It is not yet clear whether important information was lost in the fire," he said.
Staff were not allowed inside the building, which will be closed "at least until Wednesday" while the damage was being assessed.
Lorna Daniels, spokesperson for the national intelligence agency, declined to comment on Monday about Masethla's involvement.
Das Parteigebäude des in Südafrika regierenden Afrikanischen National-Kongresses (ANC) ist nach einem Brand am Samstag, dem 27.08.2005, innerhalb von zwei Stunden gelöscht worden.

Sabotage kann als Ursache des Feuers nicht ausgeschlossen werden.