President Jacob Zuma reportedly had a close shave when the tent in which he was delivering his Reconciliation Day address was damaged in a storm.
News 24 reports that Zuma “was left unhurt” following the incident Friday afternoon in Gopane,North West.
Presidential spokesperson, Dr Bongani Nqgulunga, told the online publication that President Zuma “is okay” and “wasn’t injured”.
According to the report, supplied by correspondents, Zuma “was pulled away from the venue by bodyguards as the marquee top was lifted into the air by strong winds.”
“The day’s proceedings were cancelled and there were no immediate reports of injuries,” the publication said.
In his prepared speech, President Zuma said that “the 16th of December represented a painful division between black and white people in this beloved country for more than a century until 1995. The Afrikaner people celebrated this day as a day of victory against the Zulu army under King Dingane in 1838, at the battle of the Ncome River in Natal.”
“In 1910 the Union government declared the 16th December a national holiday.
In 1952 the apartheid government renamed this day as the Day of the Covenant, where they claimed to have made a covenant with Godin 1838 that they will observe and celebrate 16th December if they win against the Zulu people,” he added.
“The 16th of December is also the day on which the ANC’s military wing, uMkhonto Wesizwe, was established to take up arms against an intransigent and cruel apartheid state.”
“President Mandela declared 16 December as the National Day of Reconciliation in 1995,” Zuma said.
