Guests for Cyril Ramaphosa's inauguration start arriving

Eighteen heads of state and government, three former heads of state and government, and nine heads of delegation are expected to attend the inauguration of president-elect Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday.

According to the Presidency, countries represented at the inauguration include Eswatini, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Angola, Tanzania, Uganda, China, Egypt, Palestine and Cuba.

Among the early arrivals were Burundi's Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca and Cuban Vice-President Salvador Mesa.

Ramaphosa will be inaugurated at the Union Buildings in Tshwane. The swearing-in will be conducted by chief justice Raymond Zondo in the Nelson Mandela Amphitheatre.

The Presidency said the theme for the occasion is “30 years of democracy, partnership and growth”.

Other attendees will include representatives of regional, continental and international organisations and bodies such as Sadc, the AU and UN.

Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) said the passenger terminal arrivals road and cargo road at OR Tambo International Airport will be closed from Tuesday until Saturday as a safety and security precautionary measure to facilitate the arrival and departure of heads of state.

To properly manage the flow of traffic, Acsa said vehicles on airport roads will be diverted by Ekurhuleni metro police to the departures (upper) road and parade 2 south, levels 2 and 3, for pickup and drop-off.

Street closures and alternative routes

The City of Tshwane has announced street closures in the vicinity of the Union Buildings, Sunnyside and Hatfield from 3am on Wednesday to 6am on Thursday. The affected intersections are:

• Gordon Road and Stanza Bopape Street; 
• Jan Shoba and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Grosvenor and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Hilda and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Festival and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Athlone and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Hill and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Orient and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Balmoral Avenue and Stanza Bopape Street; 
• Lisdogan Avenue and Stanza Bopape Street; 
• Farenden and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• East Avenue and Stanza Bopape Street; 
• Beckett and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Pine and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Blackwood and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Johan and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Wessels and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Madiba and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Leyds/Zeederberg and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Hamilton and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Steve Biko and Stanza Bopape streets; 
• Dumbarton Road and Stanza Bopape Street;
• Dumbarton Road and Harcourt Street; 
• Dumbarton Road and Nassau Street; 
• Madiba Street and Government Avenue; 
• Edmond Street and Government Avenue; 
• Balmoral and Government Avenue; 
• Tom Jenkins Drive and Soutpansberg Road; 
• Tom Jenkins Drive and Russell Street; 
• Tom Jenkins Drive next to Government House; 
• East and Government Avenue;
• Beckett Street and Government Avenue; 
• Pine Street and Government Avenue; 
• Blackwood Street and Government Avenue; 
• North Street; 
• Soutpansberg Road; 
• Van Der Merwe Street; and 
• Nuffield Street. 

Tshwane metro police spokesperson Isaac Mahamba said officers will be deployed with other law enforcement agencies to monitor street closures.

Motorists are advised to use alternative routes, such as:

• Pretorius Street;
• Park Street;
• Du Toit Street;
• Greeff Street;
• Frederika Street; and
• Justice Mahomed Street.

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