Cape Town – The City of Cape Town has issued Cape motorists with road closures they should be aware of ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
SONA will be taking place on Thursday, February 11.
The City said it had been advised many of the ceremonial aspects preceding the SONA would be downscaled this year.
This comes following government’s strict adherence with the National State of Disaster regulations, which has necessitated SONA be stripped of the usual pomp and ceremony.
This year’s SONA is expected to cost considerably less than the budgeted R2.2 million.
Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said: “There will be no red carpet and procession of the three arms of the state, physical participation of junior and civil guard of honour, eminent persons, Imbongi, military parade that leads the presidential procession onto a saluting dais on the steps of the National Assembly, the guard of honour by the National Ceremonial Guard and the 21-gun salute.
“Due to the limited number of persons permitted within the precincts of Parliament, and Parliament’s sensitivity to the prevailing conditions, various ceremonial aspects that usually characterise the SONA have been suspended.”
There will be no rehearsals on the days prior to SONA.
As a result, the City of Cape Town’s Traffic Service has advised road closures will be limited to the area around the parliamentary precinct, the M2 and N2 inbound.
The closures on the aforementioned main routes will be intermittent, between 6.15pm and 7pm on the day, and will impact on traffic flow.
The City has appealed to road users to acquaint themselves with the closures and to plan their routes accordingly.
A detailed list of the road closures, parking restrictions and alternative routes can be found here:
Cape Argus