Parliament wishes to thank all members of the media that applied to cover the hybrid Joint Sitting of the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday, 10 February 2021 at 7 pm.
Due to space limitations and as part of efforts to adhere to the National State of Disaster lockdown regulations – Alert Level 1, only a limited number of Members of Parliament and guests will be at the City hall.
For this SONA, Parliament has received eight hundred and ninety-four (894) applications for accreditation from various members of the media wishing to cover the event. After a meticulous vetting process, only 300 accredited media personnel will be at the venue, and 15 members of the press will be in the public gallery. Parliament reduced the numbers in consultation with the Parliamentary Press Gallery Association, which represents media members in Parliament, and the three leading broadcast media houses.
Parliament TV on DSTV Channel 408 will broadcast live the proceedings and provide clean broadcast feed – video and audio – to other broadcasters. All Parliament’s social media platforms will also carry the proceedings live. Parliament will also stream live the proceedings on the Parliament website (www.parliament.gov.za).
Other accredited Media, who do not form part of the above categories, are advised to take up other limited spaces provided on an online Zoom webinar’s first-come, first-served basis. A-Zoom webinar has been identified as the best online platform for the event as it allows a larger audience to be part of SONA. Invitations to the Webinar will be sent to all accredited journalists.
All accredited media personnel to work in the City Hall on the day of SONA should collect their accreditation in person and present their identification documents (identity document/passport) to collect accreditation tags and sign upon receipt of the tags.
Only accredited media in possession of accreditation tags will access the City Hall today and tomorrow, Thursday, 10 February 2022.
Access to the City Hall requires the mandatory Covid screening. Covid screening for today will take place at Parliament, 100 Plein Street, whilst tomorrow’s, Thursday, 10, will be at the Nieuwmeester search Park.
Source: Government of South Africa