Overview
- Parliament confirmed that an unnamed man in his 30s was apprehended by Parliamentary Protection Services and handed to the South African Police Service, and he is now in police custody.
- Parliament said the individual is believed to have jumped the perimeter fence and slept inside the precinct before being detained in the early hours of Friday, and officials said parliamentary operations were not disrupted.
- Parliamentary Protection Services is the unit responsible for on‑site security and the officers followed standard procedure by detaining the trespasser and transferring him to SAPS for further handling.
- The breach comes as the precinct remains under major repairs after the January 2022 fire, a project that has already cost hundreds of millions of rand and is projected to reach roughly R4.4 billion.
- The episode underscores political and public scrutiny of how the rebuild is managed and raises questions about whether security reviews or tighter perimeter controls will follow as Parliament completes reconstruction.