SANDF Armed Forces Day

© Thelma Nel

Ysss, the ou's at Fence are stoked about having some of the safest parking ever for their cabbies. King's Beach has turned into an army camp by the sea in preparation for the SANDF Armed Forces Day on Sunday.

​There's gonna be quite a few road closures in the lead up to the event, and event day itself, so check all the official deets below:

Please find some very important information with regards to Armed Forces Week taking place in Port Elizabeth from 13 - 21 February 2016. There will also be road closures during parade rehearsals on 18 and 19 February 2016 and residents must also please take note of the other activities in the area which will see an influx of vehicles and SANDF members into the area.

During the rehearsals there will also be extensive road closures in the Summerstrand and Humewood areas.
The following roads will be closed to allow for the parade participants to travel from the Army Support Base in Forrest Hill to the Beach road area (09h00 to 10h00) on the rehearsal days:

• Forest Hill drive along its entire length
  
• La Roche Drive, turning right into Strandfontein Rd, turning left into 2nd Ave, turning left into Beach Road.
  
• Beach Road will be closed on the rehearsal days from 1st Ave to Driftsands Drive from 09h00 to 13h00 on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 Feb.

Road closures during the final parade on 20 February 2016

The same arrangement for the parade rehearsals will be in place, except that military vehicle convoy will drive a circular route through the Metro after the rehearsal. The times will also be slightly earlier. The times for the road closures will be from 08h00 to 09h00 to allow for the convoys to make their to the Beach Road Area.
•Forest Hill drive along its entire length
•La Roche Drive, turning right into Strandfontein Rd, turning left into 2nd Ave, turning left into Beach Road.
Beach road will be closed on the 20th of February from 1st Ave to Driftsands Drive from 08h00 to 13h00. La Roche Drive (between Beach Rd and Strandfontein Rd) will be closed from 11h00 to 13h00.

Additionally the Southern carriageway of Beach Road will be closed between Lodge Rd and La Roche Drive from 08h00 on Saturday morning to 06h00 on Monday. This will be to allow for the building of a tent for the guests of the parade. These tents will be built in the roadway itself. The Northern carriage way of Beach Rd between Lodge Rd and La Roche Drive will be converted into a two way road on these days (during those times that the entire road is not closed for the parade itself).

Once the SANDF vehicles pass the podium (at approximately 11h30) and turn into La Roche Road (on the wrong side) they will do the correction at the intersection of Strandfontein and La Roche again. However, on both the 20th and the 21st of February the abnormal size vehicles will return back to the Army Support Base, whilst the rest of the military convoy will proceed on a tour of the Metro. The convoy will be traveling along the following roads:
•Driftsands, turning left into Humewood Rd, continuing straight to the Settlers Highway (N2), Driving 20km on the N2, turning left in R335 (St George Str), Left in Ngedle Str, Left in Tyinira Str, Right in Dibanisa Rd, Left in Daku Str, Right in Struanway, Left in Spondo St, Left in R75 (Uitenhage Rd), Left onto N2 (Settlers Highway),  Right in Walmer Blvd, Left in Forest Hill

The Armed Forces Day Celebrations (Sunday 21 February 2016)

In the morning there will be wreath laying ceremony at the SS Mendi memorial at the corner of Mendi Rd and Avenue in New Brighton. This event will only be attended by a small number of invited guests. The roads around this area will be closed from 07h00 to 09h00. This will be followed by the Armed Forces Day parade at the corner of Beach Road and Brookes Hill Road.

The same arrangement for the parade rehearsals will be in place, except that the roads will be closed earlier. The times for the road closures will be from 06h00 to 07h00 to allow for the convoys to make their way to the Beach Road Area. The following roads will be closed during this period:
•Forest Hill drive along its entire length
•La Roche Drive, turning right into Strandfontein Rd, turning left into 2nd Ave, turning left into Beach Road.
•Beach road will be closed on the 21st days from 1st Ave to Driftsands Drive from 05h00 to 14h00.
•La Roche Drive (between Beach Rd and Strandfontein Rd) will be closed from 05h00 to 14hoo as well on the 21st of Feb.

Once the SANDF vehicles pass the podium (at approximately 11h30) and the convoy will turn into La Roche Road (on the wrong side), they will do the correction at the intersection of Strandfontein and La Roche again.
However, on the 21st of the Feb, the abnormal size vehicles will return back to the Army Support Base, whilst the rest of the military convoy will proceed on a tour of the Metro. The convoy will be travelling along the same route as per 20th Feb (above)

Whilst this convoy is driving through the Metro, the Military Capability Demonstration will be held at the Kings Beach area. The main difference with the rehearsals and the actual capability demonstration on the 21st is that there will be several pyrotechnics exploding on Kings Beach close to the MacArthur Pools area. This will be to simulate the “battle conditions” during the capability demonstration. For safety reasons the first 500 meters of Kings Beach close to MacArthur Pools will be closed to the public from 05h00 to 17h00 on the 21st in order to prepare the pyrotechnics.

Once the capability demonstration is completed and the celebrations are completed. The Military exhibition at the Kings Beach area will close at 15h00 in order to allow the SANDF a well-deserved rest. The SA Navy ships will return to the harbor and all participants will return to the Army Support Base for a celebratory function.
All of the SANDF members will leave the Port Elizabeth area from 22 to 24 February.

It must be repeated that during the entire event there will be extensive noise from aircraft and cannons. Pet owners must please be aware of this. 

The public can also rest assured that the SANDF is very environmentally conscious and all possible efforts will be made to reduce any negative impact on the environment. Some of these measures include:
•Extensive notices to all pet owners about the event.
•Making use of several recycling service providers to recycle the waste generated by the event.
•Making use of bio-degradable plates and cutlery for the meals.
•Ensuring that the Kings Beach area is cleaned and there are no pyrotechnics left after the events.