The Eastern Cape Government is assessing the damage caused by a fire last week at Mthatha’s iconic Botha Sigcau building.
Source: GroundUp/Lubabalo Ngcukana. The 11-storey Botha Sigcau building in Mthatha caught fire on Tuesday night.
The fire started on Tuesday, 24 March 2026 around 7pm and rapidly spread through the building. It was contained by 10pm.
The 11-storey building – the second-tallest in Mthatha – was built in the 1970s to serve as the headquarters of the Transkei government. It was named after Botha Manzolwandle Sigcau, Pondoland king and president of the Transkei between 1976 and 1978.
Post-1994, the building became an administrative hub for the provincial government. It housed the deeds office and several departments, including transport, health, social development, education and agriculture. It was also home to archives from the former Transkei.
MEC for public works, infrastructure and human settlements Siphokazi Lusithi said the damage could not be assessed yet, because there was still gas and smoke coming from the building, and the site could not be entered. 
Lusithi said the government had recently spent R107m to refurbish the 50-year-old building. She claimed the building was fire safety compliant, with sprinklers and water pipes recently refurbished.
Victoria O'Regan 27 Mar 2026 Alternative arrangements were being made to accommodate the affected government offices.
King Sabatha Dalindyebo municipality spokesperson Olwethu Mabovula said investigations into the cause of the fire were underway.
Eastern Cape Chamber of Business president Vuyisile Ntlabathi expressed concern that the fire would impact government services.
During his budget speech at the Eastern Cape legislature in Bhisho on Wednesday, Premier Oscar Mabuyane said the fire was a “major setback for the province, because that building is an important asset where our people received services in the offices that are now destroyed, and clearly important documents have been erased by the fire.”
“This is not the first incident of fire that engulfs a government building in this province, and it is high time for all government departments to store information on the cloud as it is remote and more secure,” Mabuyane said.
Published originally on GroundUp
© 2026 GroundUp. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
