Rehearsals by the SANDF preparing for the SONA .(jogoomtundu)
Spokesperson for the institution, Luzuko Jacobs, says everything is going according to plan. He says invited guests include diplomats, business people and religious leaders.
Jacobs says former presidents FW De Klerk, Thabo Mbeki and former deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe have been invited.
President Jacob Zuma will deliver his address at 7pm, following the usual pomp and ceremony. While marquees were being erected and roads cleaned outside the Parliamentary precinct, political parties and NGOs released their wish lists for the opening.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) called on Zuma to renew his focus on access to quality health care for all South Africans.
"We cannot afford for President Zuma and his new administration to paper over the serious cracks in both our public and private health care systems," the TAC said in a statement.
The TAC said Zuma and his administration should be commended for the massive progress made in the fight against HIV/Aids over the past five years.
However, Zuma needed to set out an "ambitious plan" to rid the health care system of serious problems which were impeding access to health care.
"Unless fundamental changes are made in government's approach to delivering health services, the President and his newly elected administration's worthy goal to enrol at least 4.6 million in the anti-retroviral (ARV) programme will be undone by corruption, poor public administration, a lack of skilled management, cadre deployment and lack of political will at provincial level," the TAC added.
Zuma's State-of-the-Nation Address will mark his first public appearance in more than a week, after he was booked off by doctors following a gruelling election campaign. -Additional reporting by SAPA.
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