MPs, as is customary, arrived on the red carpet, decked out in their colourful finery, while major routes into the Cape Town CBD were lined with police and security personnel.

On a sweltering day in which the temperature was close to 40 degrees Celsius, emergency services, including fire and rescue services, were pressed into action to combat a number of blazes near the city centre, including at the Holy Cross Primary School in Zonnebloem which had to be evacuated.

African News Agency (ANA)