What is the State of the Nation Address?
- The State of the Nation Address is an annual address by the President to Parliament, as the representative of the people on the state of the South African nation. It is an opportunity for the President to take stock of our country’s domestic and foreign situation and to chart a common direction that we should take to enhance and advance our efforts to achieve a better life for all.
- The State of the Nation is delivered to a joint sitting of Parliament’s National Assembly and National Council of Provinces.
- It is normally an annual (there are two in an election year) ceremony of state at which the three arms of the state – the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature (Parliament) - come together in one place.
- The State of the Nation Address is a state occasion and it is a key event on our country’s Parliamentary and political calendar.
- The President addresses the nation in his capacity as Head of State, not only as Head of Government.
Who attends?
- Parliament and the Presidency have invited a wide range of people to be present to witness the President’s State of the Nation Address in the National Assembly Chamber. These guests include former Presidents, former Deputy Presidents, former Presiding Officers of Parliament’s two Houses, the Judiciary, current Cabinet Ministers and Heads of Government departments, current members of Parliament and their guests and South Africans from various walks of life. .
- President Jacob Zuma’s spouses will also be present in the National Assembly Chamber and one of the spouses will accompany the President in the procession from the Slave Lodge.
- Members of the public who form the Guard of Honour also attend.
A first for the State of the Nation Address
- For the first time at a State of the Nation Address in democratic South Africa a woman will be the Serjeant-At-Arms. Ms Regina Mhlomi now has this title in the National Assembly. This follows the retirement of Mr Godfrey Cleinwerck who was the National Assembly’s Serjeant-At Arms. Ms Mohlomi joined Parliament in 1996, after teaching English and commerce subjects at the Khanya-Lesedi High School in Ratanda on the East Rand. Before joining the National Assembly Table (her most recent position was that of Under-Secretary Table Administration), she was a shop steward and then Chairperson of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union here at Parliament.
Format of the ceremony
- The State of the Nation Address on 10 February is a full ceremonial one involving a mounted police escort and a military ceremonial motor escort, the lining of the President’s route by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), a national salute by the Ceremonial Guard of the SANDF and a military band (the South African Military Health Services Band on this occasion), a fly-past by the South African Air Force and a 21-gun salute. It also includes civilian participation in the walk by the President, accompanied by Parliament’s Presiding Officers and the Secretary to Parliament, from the Slave Lodge to the saluting podium in front of the National Assembly building.
- With the dawn of democracy in 1994, Parliament’s doors opened to all South Africans. The occasion of the State of the Nation Address became a celebration of our nation, with public participation added to the State’s ceremonial activities. This is former President Nelson Mandela’s legacy to our State of the Nation Address proceedings. Members of the public take part in the ceremony through a Junior Guard of Honour (comprising school students), a Civil Guard of Honour (comprising representatives of civil society organisations) and Eminent Persons (nominated by Provincial Speakers from all nine provinces).
Parliament’s theme
Parliament’s theme for the 10 February 2011 State of the Nation Address is “celebrating the legacy of freedom through strengthening the link between parliament and the people”.
Mass media communication
The State of the Nation Address will be broadcast live through the Parliament website (http://ww.parliament.gov.za), television and radio and the screening of the State of the Nation Address on big screens in all provinces. For details of big screen broadcasts, please contact the Government Communication and Information System on 021 461 8145/6.
What’s the significance of:
The Presidential procession to the National Assembly Chamber?
The ceremony, which starts at the Slave Lodge, just outside the entrance to the Parliamentary precinct, is a combination of public participation and a formal state ceremony.
The public participation part of the procession is important because Parliament strives to make the institution accessible to people and to encourage public participation in its workings. It was former President Nelson Mandela who introduced this public participation element to our State of the Nation Address proceedings.
From the entrance to the Parliamentary precinct, members of the South African public line the red carpet.
There is a Junior Guard of Honour from the entrance of Parliamentary precinct to the end of the National Council of Provinces building.
A Civil Guard of Honour and nine Eminent Persons line the route after this until the end of the Old Assembly Wing.
Entertainers also perform on a stage along the public participation section of the route.
The procession then becomes part of a formal, state ceremony.
A Ceremonial Military Guard of Honour take up positions in front of the National Assembly building and a military band this year the South African Military Health Services Band, sets up to the right of the New Wing (the side nearest Tuynhuys) and plays the national anthem. A 21-gun salute and an air force fly-past takes place while the President takes the national salute from a podium outside the National Assembly building.
The red carpet?
Rolling out a red carpet was originally reserved for kings and queens and signified a welcome of great hospitality and ceremony. Over time, the red carpet was also used to welcome Heads of State.
The 21-gun salute?
The tradition of rendering a salute by firing cannon originated in the 14th century when cannon and firearms came into use. In 1842, the 21-gun salute became the international norm for the highest honour a nation rendered and it is fired in honour of the Head of State, the national flag, the Head of State of a foreign nation, a member of a reigning royal family and a former Head of State.
Source: Parliament of South Africa
