Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
  • Cue Media
    • Cue online
    • Cue Archives
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • Boxing Heritage Hero: Mzimasi ‘Stopper’ Mthana
  • Makhanda Heritage Day MMA tournament thrills fans
  • Amasango Career School premises handover in Extension 10
  • Gutters for the rain
  • Anti-Crime group murder trial postponed
  • Concern and condemnation of recent attacks on Grocott’s journalist
  • Bekushiyana OoMama ukondla kwi tumente yamagqiyazana
  • Makana’s crime spirals out of control
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
  • Cue Media
    • Cue online
    • Cue Archives
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»NEWS»Freedom Day on, and way above the parade ground
NEWS

Freedom Day on, and way above the parade ground

Steven LangBy Steven LangMay 1, 2019Updated:May 1, 2019No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

The ceremonial guard of honour, all decked out in smart red jackets and black trousers with gold braiding, set the tone with their military parade on Freedom Day at Miki Yili stadium.

They shouldered arms with a snap movement of vintage rifles and silver bayonets flashing in the sunlight. The soldiers moved as one in sharp formations of left, right, left, right … they manoeuvered from one side of the field to the other as the audience peered through a fence on the side of the main marquee.

Their marching was strictly coordinated as they joined up with the military band to synchronise formations in time to the music. Up and down they went on the soccer field that only days previously had been a marshy swamp of sewage.

When the President had settled down in his large chair on the raised and covered podium, the air display began.

First came two helicopters slowly hovering across the Makhanda sky while trailing two large South African flags. Then came the Silver Falcons, five propeller-driven training aircraft of the South African Air Force swooping over the parade.

The Silver Falcons fly five Pilatus PC-7 Mk 11 trainers for the aerobatic display team that is guaranteed to impress the crowds, and they did not fail on Freedom Day.

Their website says that the “main purpose of the Silver Falcons is to enhance the image of the South African Air Force, encourage recruitment and instil national pride through public display”.

They maintained a tight array as they flew at low altitude spraying out fluffy trails of cottony smoke over the stadium and wowed the appreciative audience. As a grand finale, the Silver Falcons approached the stadium at high speed in close formation and then suddenly broke out in five different directions giving the impression that multiple fireworks displays had miraculously erupted.

Five planes of the Silver Falcons aerobatic team but on a special display for the audience at Miki Yili stadium on Freedom Day. Photo: Steven lang

The final part of the military display almost certainly happened too quickly for anyone to know what had happened. A formation of four fighter jets, two Saab Gripens and two British Aerospace Hawk Mk.120s, streaked across the sky at an incredibly high speed.

There were only two fly pasts in the jets’ routine and they happened so quickly that few people were able to comprehend what had happened or take photographs.

Perhaps for future reference the jets’ display could take place a little further from the main venue so that people can better appreciate their extraordinary abilities.

The training jets from different air force bases across South Africa flew over the military proceedings ahead of the president’s official address. Photo: Stephen Kisbey-Green
Previous ArticleElection work can be lethal
Next Article Protesters lay charges against President’s guards
Steven Lang
  • Website

Comments are closed.

Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Humans of Makhanda

Humans of Makhanda

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.