Members of public invited to witness inauguration of elected President of SA

The Presidential Inauguration ceremony, which will include a flypass by the Air Force and a 21-gun salute by the SANDF’s four artillery regiments, will signal the start of the 6thadministration.

President-elect Cyril Ramaphosa will take to the podium at Loftus Stadium in Pretoria in just over 24 hours to take his oath of office.

The Presidential Inauguration ceremony, which will include a flypass by the Air Force and a 21-gun salute by the SANDF's four artillery regiments, will signal the start of the 6th administration.

Members of the public are invited to come and witness the inauguration of the sixth democratically-elected President of the Republic of South Africa.

Government has made provision for 32 000 people at the stadium.

"Accreditation for all members of the public will take place at Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool, known as Affies. Accreditation will open from 3 am until 7 am on Saturday, 25 May. No persons will be allowed into the stadium without accreditation," said the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).

Accredited members of the public will be provided with wrist bands for ease of identification.

Park and ride

Government has urged those who will be using their own cars to park at the Tshwane Events Centre, also known as the Pretoria Showgrounds, and take the shuttle buses to the stadium. Park-and-ride shuttle buses will start operating from 3 am to 6:30 am.

No private cars will be allowed around the stadium.

"People are encouraged to arrive early to avoid disappointments. The shuttle buses will drop off people at Affies and shuttle them back to their vehicles after the event," said the GCIS.

Access for walk-ins

Those who prefer to walk to the stadium have been requested to start by collecting their accreditation at the service point at Affies between 3 am and 7 am.

The preparations for the event also cater for people with disabilities. According to the GCIS, there will be sign language interpreters on stage.

Road closures

The City of Tshwane has announced that some streets and roads will be closed from Friday afternoon at 3 pm. This road will reopen on Sunday at 6 am.

The information is also available on https://bit.ly/2WgAnAj.

Residents of Reitondale Park are requested to collect permits at the Reitondale Park Tennis Club on Van der Merwe Street. Those who reside within the stadium vicinity must collect their permits from the City of Tshwane officials at Loftus Versfeld reception area on Kirkness Street.

Public viewing sites

Members of the public also have the option of going to one of the different public viewing sites across the nine provinces where the ceremony will be live streamed.

A list of the viewing sites is available on https://bit.ly/2VWZhFR.

Social media

The proceedings of the Presidential Inauguration will also be live streamed on the government website: https://www.gov.za/inauguration2019.

Members of the public can follow the Presidential Inauguration and interact on social media via Twitter: @GovernmentZA @SAGovNews and Facebook page: GovernmentZA.

Follow the conversation using #SAInauguration19.

A special App has been developed for the inauguration, it can be downloaded at https://www.gov.za/inauguration2019/.

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)