Cape Town - Parliament and the Cape Town CBD are in complete lockdown as the police tighten security ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s SONA on Thursday night.
The security services, including the police, army and intelligence agencies, are taking no chances and have declared a no-fly zone over Parliament and surrounding areas.
While the police would not reveal the number of officers deployed to secure the area, preparations that went into the operation appear to be detailed.
Parliament has been a hive of activity with security personnel over the past two weeks.
Increased security measures have even irked some of the MPs, who decried the inconvenience in the parliamentary precinct.
The threat by the EFF to disrupt the SONA appears to have rattled the security services, as increased security could be witnessed in the days leading up to Thursday night.
On Wednesday, some of the officers were seen coming out of training in one of the buildings close to the National Assembly. Sources in the institution have also reported on extra training for the police and security personnel in Parliament.
On Tuesday evening, more than 20 security service members in civilian clothes were sitting in the National Assembly benches waiting for training on how to remove someone from the chamber. An insider in Parliament said this session had been the second in a row.
Outside the entrance leading to the Old Assembly Chamber there were other security personnel, including at least one from public order policing, the presidential protection detail and parliamentary protection services.
Protection officers from Parliament were also on hand on Tuesday night, patrolling the National Assembly.
In the parliamentary parking lot, just across the road from the institution, there were at least 16 bakkies and vans of public order police.
The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure said on Wednesday it would not tolerate trouble on Thursday.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale said it was all systems go for the State of the Nation Address.
He said most of the
The CBD and surrounding areas would be restricted areas and only people with accreditation for the address would be allowed into the parliamentary precinct.
“There is a no-fly zone over Parliament and the areas surrounding it, and this restriction will apply (today),” said Makgale.
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Political Bureau