Parliament is ready to put on a show tonight for the State of the Nation Address (SONA), says Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the address to a joint sitting of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces at 7pm. This will be his second SONA following his election in February 2018.
SONA is an opportunity for the President to take stock of challenges faced by the nation but also of progress made.
The Parliamentary precinct is currently a hive of activity with the final touches being made and rehearsals taking place.
Presiding Officers of Parliament, Mbete and National Council of Provinces Chairperson Thandi Modise have done an inspection around the parliamentary precinct to assess the state of readiness to host the 5th term’s last SONA.
“We have already briefed the President in terms of the ability to host [him] to come and address our people, about the state of South Africa and the state of the areas of which we had promised a year ago had, about the nation.”
The Presiding Officers have met with the security cluster to go through the security plan to ensure that the precinct is secure and incident free for tonight.
The address will be broadcast on SABC television and radio channels, livestreamed on the Parliamentary website and public viewing sites have been set up in various locations in provinces.
South Africans can also track the conversation on social media by following @VukuzenzeleNews and #SONA2019 on Twitter and Facebook.
Motorists and pedestrians have been advised of temporary road closures as well as parking restrictions in and around Parliament ahead SONA.
Road closures for Thursday
6pm to 7pm
- Roeland Street: between Buitenkant and Brandweer Streets
5:45pm to 7pm (temporary closure ±35 minutes)
- Klipper Road, Newlands: from Main Road (M4) to Newlands Avenue
- Princess Anne Avenue, Newlands: from Newlands Avenue to Union Avenue
- Newlands Avenue, Newlands: from Dean Street to Princess Anne Avenue
- Dean Street, Newlands, westbound: from Main Road (M4) to Newlands Avenue
- M3, Union Avenue, Rhodes Drive, Philip Kgosana Drive (De Waal Drive), Roeland Street, City-bound carriageway: from Newlands Avenue to city centre
- Woolsack Drive, Rondebosch, westbound: between Main Road (M4) and Rhodes Drive (M3)
- Anzio Road, Observatory: from Main Road (M4) to Philip Kgosana Drive (De Waal Drive) (M3)
- N2, Settlers Way City-bound carriageway: from Main Road (M4) to city centre
5pm to 8pm
- Buitenkant Street: between Darling and Strand Streets
- Darling Street: between Buitenkant and Canterbury Streets
- Harrington Street: between Darling and Roeland Streets
6pm to 11:45pm
- Church Square
- Roeland Street: between Plein and Buitenkant Streets
- Closure of Company Gardens
- Government Avenue from Orange Street to Wale Street
- Plein Street from Longmarket Street to Roeland Street
- St John’s Street from Roeland Street to Vrede Street
- Gallery Lane
- Bouquet Street
- Hope Street: between Roeland and Glynn Streets
- Wesley Street: between Buitenkant and Hope Streets
- Glynn Street: between Buitenkant and Hope Streets
- Wale Street: between Queen Victoria and Adderley Streets
- Bureau Street: between Adderley and Parliament Streets
- Spin and Mostert Streets: between Corporation and Parliament Streets
- Parliament Street from the gates of Parliament to Longmarket Street
- Commercial Street: between Plein and Buitenkant Streets - becomes bi-directional
- Wesley and Glynn Streets: between Hope and Buitenkant Streets - becomes bi-directional
Email
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp