Durban - A total of 150 buses have been made available by the eThekwini Municipality to transport community members to King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s coronation ceremony at the Moses Mabhida Stadium this weekend.
The buses have been hired at a cost of R1.2 million. The municipality said it had set aside a total of R5.1m to fund activities around the event.
The original figure had been R1.7m in the report presented to the executive committee yesterday morning, but in the afternoon, while the committee meeting was in progress, the figure had been amended to R5.1m.
The cost included R868 444 for hospitality and R4m for the international media and stakeholder engagement dinner at the ICC, which 4 000 guests are expected to attend on Saturday.
Among costs are: R400 000 for radio promotions, R150 000 for artists, R80 000 for newspaper supplements, R11 000 combined for sound and photography, R30 000 for unspecified promotional items and R60 000 for banners.
Exco members, led by mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, visited the king on Monday to introduce themselves and update him on the preparations.
A report on the ceremony from the community and emergency services cluster tabled before Exco yesterday requested the committee to approve the activation programmes that would be carried out across the city ahead of the ceremony.
Motivating for the hiring of the buses, the report requested that the city committees allow citizens to attend the event by creating an enabling environment through the provision of 111 buses, later increased by 39. A total of 49 000 people are expected to attend.
“The AmaZulu nation is one of the biggest nations that adheres to their cultural beliefs and these build-up and activations will revive their spirit of being AmaZulu as well as cultural self-belonging,” said the report.
It said these activations would be rolled out at strategic areas around the Durban CBD, hostels and other areas.
“EThekwini’s strategic focus is to ensure that citizens are part of the ceremony, prior and during the ceremony, to be inspired and embrace their cultural diversity.”
As part of the activations campaign, there would be performances by artists from different genres including maskandi and isicathamiya.
It said there would also be an opportunity for local craft sellers to trade as a site had been earmarked for them to showcase their traditional attire and craft work.