Pretoria - Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the 2014 Presidential Inauguration, Minister Collins Chabane, says ensuring that security for the current and former Heads of State and Government as well as all the guests attending President-elect Jacob Zuma’s inauguration was not a major challenge for government.
“We are not hosting an event like this for the first time, we host this [inauguration] every five years and we have hosted bigger occasions than this one and hosted more heads of states that we currently have for this event,” Minister Chabane told journalists at the Union Buildings on Saturday.
However, he said he would not be able to settle until the inauguration ceremony had been concluded.
He said this just moments before the inauguration commenced at the Union Buildings.
The Nelson Mandela Amphitheatre is expected to host 4500 guests, ranging from Heads of State, government officials, statutory bodies to eminent persons and civil society.
The minister said all Heads of State had arrived safely and that their security was well coordinated.
“We are concerned about the security of everybody, but most importantly because we have got guests whose security we must guarantee. We are definitely sure that we will guarantee [their security], every one of them has been provided with a VIP vehicle, VIP escort and VIP everything." - SAnews.gov.za
