Both the freight road and the passenger terminal arrivals road have been closed, according to OR Tambo International Airport management.
This was carried out in anticipation of Wednesday’s presidential inauguration at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Gauteng.
The closure of the roads, according to the airport’s management, will last until Saturday.
Precautionary measures
“The road closures are a safety and security precautionary measure to facilitate the arrival and departure of heads of state during the presidential inauguration that will be taking place in the province on Wednesday,” said the management.
It is recommended that e-hailing drivers pick up passengers from Parkade 2 and those who are picking up loved ones from the airport.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” said the airport’s management.
“Please take note that the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department will divert vehicles on airport roadways to the departures [upper] roadway as well as Parkade two south, levels two and three, for pick-up and drop-off purposes in order to manage the flow of traffic properly.”
The seventh administration and the president’s term of office officially begin with the Presidential Inauguration, which follows the National Assembly’s first meeting of the seventh parliament on Friday last week.
National Assembly’s sitting
The Umkhonto weSizwe Party’s 58 MPs were absent from the sitting because they refused to attend in order to voice their concerns about alleged vote-rigging in the most recent general elections.
Afterwards, the party stated that its elected MPs will shortly be joining the National Assembly. It is not clear if they will be present at Wednesday’s presidential inauguration.
So far, the Deputy President of Cuba, Salvador Valdes Mesa, has arrived for the inauguration of the president-elect, Cyril Ramaphosa.
In 1994, former president Nelson Mandela and his Cuban counterpart, Fidel Castro, established diplomatic ties between the two nations.
