Art Treasures Safe as South African Parliament Fire Flares

(Bloomberg) -- Thousands of rare South African artworks survived a devastating fire that broke out in the nation’s parliamentary precinct in Cape Town, causing extensive damage to the legislative buildings. 

Firefighters took more than nine hours to extinguish the blaze that started early Sunday. It flared up in again in the vicinity of the National Assembly -- which isn’t near the art stores or library -- on Monday afternoon. 

The 120-meter (394-feet) long Keiskamma Tapestry, which depicts South African history starting with the indigenous Khoisan people through to the country’s first democratic election won by Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress in 1994, and other paintings, drawings and statues were spared, said Amos Masondo, chairman of the National Council of Provinces. Parliament’s library, containing tens of thousands of reference books, magazines and official documents, was also “saved”, he said. 

The legislature has almost 4,000 artworks and other items of value in its collections, some dating as far back as far as the 17th century, according to its website. 

The works, which include pieces by well-known local artists and accouterments of parliamentary procedures such as maces and Black Rods made of gold and other precious metals, were valued at about 80 million rand ($5 million) in 2021, Lila Komninck, a recently retired manager of art in parliament, said by phone. Most of the artworks are stored in three fire-proof basements, she said. 

The inferno has completely devastated the Old Assembly Chamber, one of the oldest buildings in parliament, and National Assembly, the main debating chamber, according to Masondo.

A 49 year-old suspect has been arrested and charged with housebreaking, theft and arson related to the fire. He is due to appear in the Cape Town Magistrates court on Jan. 4, the police’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, said Monday in a statement. 

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