The man accused of starting a fire on Table Mountain earlier this week, attempted to "apologise for [his] actions" when he made his first appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
Alleged arsonist Yumbu Barnard Ndomdele, 32, attempted to address Magistrate Joe Magele on several occasions and, at one point, he said he had been "commanded to deliver a message".
Magele dismissed him and referred him to his Legal Aid lawyer instead.
"I don't want to hear it," the magistrate said.
Read: Suspected arsonist arrested on Table Mountain after four fires started
News24 understands that Ndomdele worked as a car guard in Table Mountain Road.
He was arrested on Tuesday after allegedly starting four fires on the mountain.
It is understood that, following his arrest, he told police he had started the fires for religious purposes.
Safety and security mayoral committee member JP Smith said on Tuesday that the man apparently screamed at the location where the fires started and that he was found with petrol and other fire-making devices.
The fires were above the lower Cableway station.
Prosecutor Adiel Jansen described the case as a "very serious matter" and requested a seven-day postponement so that the State could obtain bail information.
He asked that Ndomdele be held at the Cape Town Central police station's holding cells and that he be examined by a district surgeon.
Ndomdele will be back in the dock on April 12.
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