Category Archives: South Africa

South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa one of just two candidates for ANC leadership

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Incumbent faces Zweli Mkhize, whom he suspended as health minister over corruption allegations, in a party vote

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) nominated just two candidates to run for its top job on Saturday, leaving President Cyril Ramaphosa facing the health minister he suspended over corruption allegations in a party vote.

The winner will have the ANC’s blessing to run for president in 2024 elections under its banner, historically a shoo-in for the country’s top job since the party’s leading light Nelson Mandela ended white minority rule in 1994.

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South Africa’s parliament votes against motion to impeach Cyril Ramaphosa

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Result boosts president’s effort to win second term as leader of the ruling African National Congress

South Africa’s parliament has voted against launching an impeachment process against embattled president Cyril Ramaphosa, boosting the veteran politician’s effort to win a second term as leader of the ruling African National Congress at a key elective conference that opens later this week.

The motion to impeach Ramaphosa followed a report by an independent panel appointed by parliament that accused the veteran politician of serious misconduct after the theft from his private game ranch of somewhere between $500,000 (£410,000) and $5m in cash almost three years ago.

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Ramaphosa account of ‘Farmgate’ cash backed up by businessman

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Hazim Mustafa says he paid $580,000 for cattle at South African president’s ranch in 2019

A Sudanese businessman has confirmed that he made the payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars for cattle at the centre of the scandal threatening to unseat South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa.

The embattled president launched legal action on Monday to challenge a report handed over last week by an independent panel appointed by parliament that accused him of serious misconduct after the theft from his private game ranch of a sum reported to be between $500,000 (£410,000) and $5m in cash almost three years ago.

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South Africa: ANC says it will block efforts to impeach Cyril Ramaphosa

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Ruling party’s decision is a relief for the country’s president after doubts about his political future

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has said it will block attempts to impeach the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, at a crucial vote in parliament on Tuesday, providing relief to the embattled leader after days of uncertainty about his political future.

Ramaphosa launched legal action on Monday to challenge a report handed over last week by an independent panel appointed by parliament that accused him of serious misconduct after the theft from his private game ranch of somewhere between $500,000 (£410,000) and $5m in cash almost three years ago.

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South Africa president to mount legal action in face of impeachment threat

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Cyril Ramaphosa rejects call to stand down after accusation of ‘serious misconduct’

Cyril Ramaphosa, the embattled president of South Africa, has rejected calls to step down and said he will seek a judicial review of a report handed over last week by an independent panel appointed by parliament that accused him of “serious misconduct”, aides said.

The move may forestall looming impeachment but could plunge South Africa into a prolonged bout of political instability.

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Cyril Ramaphosa fighting for political life amid battle for control of ANC

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South African president cancels all official engagements and was reported to be close to resigning over ‘Farmgate’

Farmgate scandal: what is it and why does it matter?

The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is fighting for his political life as rivals and supporters face off in a divisive battle for control of the ruling party, the African National Congress.

The power struggle came after an independent panel appointed by parliament said there was evidence suggesting the South African president committed “serious misconduct” after millions of dollars in cash was reportedly stolen from his private game ranch almost three years ago.

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South Africa’s Farmgate scandal: what is it and why does it matter?

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With Cyril Ramaphosa under pressure, we look at what the scandal could mean for the country

Cyril Ramaphosa took power as South Africa’s president in 2018 and led the ruling African National Congress party to a general election victory a year later. He campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, attracting much support after the turbulent nine-year rule of his populist predecessor, Jacob Zuma, who was forced out by a series of scandals. Ramaphosa, 70, has since struggled to push through much-needed reforms and has faced fierce resistance from Zuma loyalists.

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Ramaphosa delays parliament appearance over ‘Farmgate’ corruption scandal

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South Africa’s political crisis deepens after panel says president should face scrutiny over ability to stay in office

The government of Cyril Ramaphosa has plunged further into crisis, a day after an an independent panel appointed by parliament said there was evidence suggesting the South African president committed “serious misconduct” after millions of dollars in cash were reportedly stolen from his private game ranch almost three years ago.

Ramaphosa was expected to answer questions in South Africa’s parliament on Thursday but postponed his appearance, saying he needed time to consider the panel’s timing. The deputy president, David Mabuza, cancelled a keynote address at a World Aids Day commemoration event, while key spokespeople failed to hold regular briefings.

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Killer of South African anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani stabbed in jail

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Prison services confirm attack on Janusz Waluś, who was due to be released after nearly three decades

The killer of the South African anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani has been stabbed in prison, days after the country’s top court ordered him to be released on parole, the prison service said.

In a statement, the Department of Correctional Services said on Tuesday it was “able to confirm an unfortunate stabbing incident” involving Janusz Waluś, who has spent nearly three decades in jail for the 1993 killing.

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Gangs of cybercriminals are expanding across Africa, investigators say

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Online scams such as banking and credit card fraud are the most prevalent cyberthreat, say Interpol

Police and investigators fear organised gangs of fraudsters are expanding across sub-Saharan Africa, exploiting new opportunities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economic crisis to make huge sums with little risk of being caught.

The growth will have a direct impact on the rest of the world, where many victims of “hugely lucrative” fraud live, senior police officials have said.

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South African president makes first UK state visit of King Charles’s reign

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Tory government eager to focus on trade rather than Cyril Ramaphosa’s refusal to put sanctions on Russia

The South African president has started a two-day state visit to the UK, the first since King Charles took the throne, with the Conservative government eager to focus on trade rather than challenge South Africa’s refusal to impose sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Cyril Ramaphosa’s trip has been much delayed due to Covid and only by chance became the first state visit of the king’s reign.

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South African court paroles killer of anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani

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Janusz Waluś murdered head of communist party in 1993, risking outbreak of political violence before first multiracial elections

South Africa’s top court has ordered the release on parole of the man convicted of assassinating anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani, a murder that threatened to plunge the country into political violence before its transition to democracy.

Janusz Waluś, 69, killed Hani, a hugely popular leader of the Communist party, a year before South Africa’s first multiracial elections. He was sentenced to life in prison and his applications to be released on parole have been rejected by several justice ministers.

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Torture van found as suspected Israeli gang leader held in South Africa raid

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Police say drugs and gun also found at Johannesburg property where they detained wanted Abergil gang member and seven others

A man reputed to be one of Israel’s most wanted gang leaders has been arrested during a raid on a home in an affluent Johannesburg suburb where South African authorities said they also found guns, drugs and a van equipped for torture.

South African police said on Thursday that the 46-year-old Israeli was a member of the Abergil gang, which deals in drug trafficking and extortion, and that he was wanted in Israel for several attempted murders.

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Charlize Theron sparks anger after claiming Afrikaans facing oblivion

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Hollywood actor criticised by South Africans after saying settler language ‘not very helpful’

Charlize Theron has prompted anger in her native South Africa after suggesting that Afrikaans, a language descended from Dutch colonial settlers, is heading for oblivion.

“There’s about 44 people still speaking it … it’s definitely a dying language, it’s not a very helpful language,” the 47-year-old Oscar-winning actor said this week on a US podcast, Smartless.

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Race against time for sick patients after Ethiopia peace deal

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Restart of aid imminent after surprise deal earlier this week brought prospect of end to blockade and one of Africa’s deadliest conflicts

Doctors and aid workers in Tigray are racing against time to keep desperately sick or malnourished patients alive as they wait for humanitarian assistance after a surprise peace deal potentially ended the conflict in northern Ethiopia.

In the deal, signed on Wednesday in South Africa, the federal government pledged to end the blockade on Tigray imposed at the beginning of the war two years ago, while the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the political movement in power in the region, agreed to disarm its forces.

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Ethiopian civil war: parties agree on end to hostilities

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Breakthrough ‘monumental’ says prime minister after two-year conflict between north Tigray and federal forces that displaced millions

Ethiopia’s warring sides have formally agreed to a permanent cessation of hostilities, an African Union special envoy said on Wednesday, bringing hope of an imminent end to a two-year war that has displaced millions and threatened to destabilise a swath of the continent.

Nigeria’s former president Olusegun Obasanjo, in the first briefing on the peace talks in Pretoria, South Africa’s administrative capital, also said Ethiopia’s government and Tigray authorities had agreed on an “orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament”.

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Ethiopians found in Malawi mass grave thought to have suffocated

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Bodies tentatively identified as adults being secretly transported to South Africa on perilous ‘southern route’

Dozens of Ethiopian people whose remains were found in mass graves in northern Malawi last month most likely suffocated to death while being secretly transported, investigators and campaigners believe.

The tragedy came amid a spate of incidents underlining the dangers faced by tens of thousands of people who entrust their lives to criminal networks that promise passage to South Africa, the most developed country on the continent.

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Thousands attend South Africa Pride march despite terror warning

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US embassy identified Sandton district as potential target, but event went ahead after South African authorities insisted it was safe

Thousands of people gathered for the Pride march in South Africa’s largest city Johannesburg on Saturday despite a warning from the US embassy of a possible terror attack.

The event took place under heavy security in the upmarket district of Sandton, identified by the US embassy as a potential target.

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South Africa’s first new Zulu king in 51 years crowned in Durban

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Coronation of Misuzulu Zulu at football stadium follows bitter feuding over royal succession

Tens of thousands of people gathered at a football stadium in Durban on Saturday to celebrate the coronation of South Africa’s Zulu king.

President Cyril Ramaphosa was to hand over the certificate to formally recognise the 48-year-old new ruler of the country’s richest and most influential traditional monarchy.

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Tigray peace talks begin in South Africa but hopes low for halt to fighting

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Violence has intensified recently as Ethiopia and TPLF seek to bolster their negotiating position

Peace talks aiming to end the nearly two-year-old war in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia have started in South Africa, although the chances of bringing the conflict to an immediate stop are believed to be low.

Representatives of the Ethiopian government and a team sent by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political organisation that has ruled the northern region for decades, are to spend five days together in the most serious effort yet to find a negotiated solution to the conflict.

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