Crowd braves early morning chill

The south lawns of the union buildings.

The south lawns of the union buildings.

Published May 24, 2014

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Pretoria - Excitement is already peaking on the southern lawns at Union Buildings where thousands have gathered for Jacob Zuma's inauguration as the fifth democratically elected president of the republic.

Dressed in the national colours and some holding South African flags, the crowd has braved the early morning chill and flocked to Pretoria for the party of the hear.

They started arriving in buses long before sunrise.

Some among the crowd are wearing shirts branded in the colours of ruling ANC and others with the photo of man of the man of the moment Zuma.

Among the crowd are those who have made a picnic of the occasion and are sitting on towels on the lawns, with refreshments nearby.

Another group in the far end of the stage, most wearing ANC branded T-shirts, has attracted lots of attention from photographers and onlookers after bursting into a song praising the president.

Those that chose to make the party of it are dancing to loud house music provided by a DJ in front a a huge stage.

Security is very tight and there is a strong presence of both South African Police Service members and officer from the metro police department.

There are two large screens on both sides of the screen from where people will watch Zuma taking the oath. - Pretoria News Weekend

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