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While the walk-in accreditation for members of the public was delayed for the presidential inauguration on Saturday, the ceremony is still expected to start on time.
Despite GCIS hoping to have everyone inside Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria by 07:00, members of the public are still making their way from the nearby Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool where accreditation is taking place.
GCIS Acting Deputy Director General Michael Currim told News24 that processes have been put in place and they expect to clear most of the bottleneck within the next 30 minutes, so that the ceremony can get underway at 10:55.
Currim said that they are aware of the delays and have been attending to the issue.
"There is a big volume of people attending, so you will find that the actual pace of going through the security check in has taken a bit longer than we thought initially but we are very conscious of it and are attending to it," Currim said.
He added that they were close to their quota of attendees in the stadium as only 32 000 members of public have been allowed access to the stadium that has a total capacity of just over 51 000.
NatJOINTS spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo told News24 that everything was running smoothly at the stadium, with no incidents being reported and everything under control from a security perspective.
Some members of the public have been at the stadium since early this morning. Sophie Sithole told News24 that she left home at 04:00 so she could be part of the event.
Even football fans were part of the throngs of crowds making their way into the stadium.
Mama Joy Chauke, a staunch Orlando Pirates fan, said the day is significant to her life because she wanted to see the entire event in the flesh instead of on her TV screen, while Kaizer Chiefs supporter Saddam Maake said he was invited by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Maake, who is an ANC supporter, said he wants to see change in the country.
Mary Mthombeni from Middleburg in Mpumalanga put her sewing skills to the test and created her own outfit in which to witness the festivities.
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