Premiers from all provinces arrive for Sona.
While police on the streets of Cape Town have their hands full monitoring protests that erupted ahead of the State of the Nation address, inside the Parliamentary precinct all eyes are on MPs who put their best fashion foot forward.
Music and ululation has filled the precinct as anticipation builds for President Jacob Zuma’s address.
ANC MP’s such as Aaron Motsoaledi, Thoko Didiza and Malusi Gigaba confidently walked the red carpet, speaking at length about their choice of attire and less about their expectations ahead of the address.
EFF MPs, on the other hand, sashayed across the red carpet wearing their signature red overalls. The party’s deputy president Floyd Shivambu said EFF MP’s were “here to work, not to be fashionable”.
But the party’s MP’s added a twist to their signature regalia, wearing T-shirts branded with a slogan that read “fear nothing” in response to government’s deployment of more than 400 SANDF members to Parliament.
Earlier this week the presidency released a statement saying 441 SANDF members had been deployed to “maintain law and order”, a decision that has been heavily criticised by opposition parties.
Despite the increased securitisation of Parliament tonight the EFF has said it will continue its refusal to recognise Zuma as a legitimate president.
While those inside Parliament prepare themselves for Zuma’s speech, outside the precinct EFF and Cosas members expressed their dissatisfaction with government through protests that kept the heavy security contingent on its feet.