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Continue reading...Category Archives: South Africa
South Africa tobacco ban greeted with cigarette smuggling boom
With tobacco sales banned in effort to curb coronavirus, illegal trade has surged on border with Zimbabwe
South Africa and Zimbabwe have stepped up border patrols in a bid to stop cigarette smuggling, which has boomed since Pretoria banned the sale of tobacco in March.
The country claimed smokers were more prone to Covid-19 – something that has been challenged by tobacco companies – but the illegal trade has increased, despite South Africa erecting a R37m (£1.7m) 25-mile fence across the border in April as part of its measures to curb the spread of coronavirus. Smugglers have been crawling through broken sections of the fence and taking advance of the particularly porous Beitbridge/Musina crossing point.
Continue reading...Covid-19 has changed everything from crime to policy. Legal systems must keep up
Prosecutors need to show empathy for the vulnerable and be vigilant against corruption and organised crime
The Covid-19 pandemic will have far-reaching implications for justice worldwide.
Already many places are seeing significant changes in crime patterns and criminality, and a reallocation of resources to deal with lockdown-related public order. Court operations will be disrupted for months to come. Postponed trials will become commonplace as the accused, witnesses, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers and court staff with coronavirus symptoms are placed in quarantine, or are required to self-isolate.
Continue reading...African countries unite to create ‘one stop shop’ to lower cost of Covid-19 tests and PPE
Online marketplace for medical supplies will allow continent to buy in bulk and lower costs, says South Africa’s president
African countries have pulled together to set up a one-stop shop to give the continent a fairer chance in the international scramble for Covid-19 test kits, protective equipment and any vaccines that emerge.
The Africa Medical Supplies Platform will work like eBay or Amazon, unlocking access to supplies across the continent, and could save billions of pounds.
Continue reading...South African police make arrests over notorious bank corruption scandal
VBS Mutual collapsed in 2018 with £100m of debts allegedly looted in ‘pattern of racketeering’
A number of people have been arrested by police investigating one of South Africa’s most notorious corruption scandals, the looting and collapse of VBS Mutual Bank.
VBS, which held the savings of many disadvantaged people and local municipalities, collapsed with more than £100m in debts in 2018. Much of the money had been siphoned into private bank accounts and some spent on property or luxury cars, investigators found.
Continue reading...Musicians hit hard by festival cancellations in southern Africa
Coronavirus has forced events including AfrikaBurn and Bushfire to cancel, leaving performers without promotional platforms and income
In a region where live music is everything – both for audiences and for performers heavily reliant on live appearances to make a living – the widespread cancellation of festivals across southern Africa has hit the music business hard.
May should have seen the Bushfire festival in Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland), Zakifo and AfrikaBurn in South Africa, and Azgo in Mozambique. Next month would have been Zimfest in Zimbabwe. All have been cancelled – or replaced with online versions – along with dozens of smaller live events that have been growing in recent years, bringing in tourism, showcasing talent and culture, and boosting southern Africa’s music industry.
Continue reading...Global report: Moscow relaxes lockdown despite high caseload; Nigerian deaths rise
South Africa warns pandemic could last up to two years; Indonesia reports largest daily rise in infections
Moscow has partially lifted its lockdown despite Russia reporting thousands of new daily cases and Spain’s government said face masks would remain mandatory in public as Europe continued to emerge from the first phase of its struggle against Covid-19.
Concern mounted, however, over the spread of coronavirus in Africa and elsewhere, with Nigeria confirming 600 deaths from a previously undetected outbreak and South Africa warning its pandemic could last up to two years.
Continue reading...South Africa may hold the answer to who murdered Olof Palme
The trail for the killer of the Swedish prime minister had gone cold until a diplomat picked up the 1986 case as a hobby
Dag Hammarskjöld brought me to Olof Palme. Two Swedish leaders, both supporting small nations on the world scene, both of whom refused to be controlled by global superpowers; both died a violent death. Were they also victims of the same forces?
For 11 years I investigated the mysterious aeroplane crash that killed the former UN secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld, a a project that became the subject of the documentary Cold Case Hammarskjöld.
Continue reading...Sweden to present findings on Olof Palme assassination
Sources say South Africa handed over dossier on 1986 murder, but not everyone is hopeful mystery will be solved
The findings of an investigation into one of the world’s most infamous cold cases, the 1986 assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme, will finally be made public in Stockholm on Wednesday.
Palme was shot in the back at close range on a Stockholm street while walking home from the cinema with his wife Lisbeth on a February evening. The gunman disappeared into a side street and the mystery has thwarted the Swedish police ever since, giving rise to an industry built around competing speculative theories.
Continue reading...How South Africa’s action on Covid-19 contrasts sharply with its response to Aids
Country’s swift response is distinct from the handling of the HIV crisis 20 years ago. Have lessons been learnt?
Twenty years ago Nelson Mandela made an impassioned plea for international cooperation on “one of the greatest threats humankind has faced”.
Aids was ravaging lives and overwhelming health systems, at its peak killing up to 1,000 people a day in South Africa.
Continue reading...Global report: US unemployment could hit 25%, warns Fed chairman, as Japan enters recession
India extends Covid-19 lockdown but eases many restrictions; South Africa reports highest daily new cases; World Health Assembly to begin
Unemployment in the United States could peak at 25% as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the chair of the Federal Reserve, amid warnings the June quarter economic figures will be “very, very bad”. The bleak prediction came as Japan slid into its first recession in five years, with forecasts that worse was to come.
In a sober assessment of the economic impact of coronavirus in the US, the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, estimated GDP contraction in the June quarter could be “easily be in the twenties or thirties”, as fallout from the global outbreak worsened.
Continue reading...Global report: WHO says Covid-19 ‘may never go away’ and warns of mental health crisis
Trump brands Fauci’s caution over reopening ‘unacceptable’; Russia has second highest infections; Japan eyes lifting national emergency
The World Health Organisation has warned that coronavirus “may never go away” as its experts predicted that a global mental health crisis caused by the pandemic was looming.
The global health body on Wednesday cautioned against trying to predict how long coronavirus would keep circulating, and called for a “massive effort” to overcome it.
Continue reading...Coronavirus could ‘smoulder’ in Africa for several years, WHO warns
190,000 people could die on the continent in the coming 12 months, agency says
The Covid-19 pandemic could “smoulder” in Africa for several years after killing as many as 190,000 people in the coming 12 months, the World Health Organization has said.
The WHO warned last month that there could be 10m infections on the continent within six months, though experts said the pandemic’s impact would depend on governments’ actions.
Continue reading...Africa’s heavy-handed lockdown policing must not become the new normal | Karen Allen and Anton du Plessis
The coronavirus response in South Africa is an eerie throwback to apartheid. State control needs to be carefully monitored across the continent
In times of fear, rules go out of the window and the default position is often one of force. A recent doorstep tribute in a Johannesburg suburb to applaud the efforts of essential workers was dubbed an “illegal gathering” by police summoned to break up the event. A resident remarked that it was an eerie reminder of South Africa’s past – a throwback to the times of apartheid.
“The rules keep changing,” admitted one officer when it was suggested that the response was heavy-handed. No harm was done but the incident highlights the potential shifts in power dynamics that fear brings, as well as the disconnect between good intentions and how they are implemented.
Continue reading...‘A giant has fallen’: anti-apartheid activist Denis Goldberg dies aged 87
Close associate of Nelson Mandela spent 22 years in whites-only prison in South Africa
Denis Goldberg, the veteran South African anti-apartheid activist who was a close associate of Nelson Mandela and who spent 22 years in prison after being jailed on treason charges in 1964, has died aged 87.
A statement from Goldberg’s family and the Denis Goldberg Legacy Foundation Trust said: “Denis Goldberg passed away just before midnight on Wednesday. His was a life well lived in the struggle for freedom in South Africa. We will miss him.”
Continue reading...‘It’s just beginning here’: Africa turns to testing as pandemic grips the continent
Nations battle to contain spread after World Health Organization warns of 10 million cases within six months
African nations are banking on aggressive screening and testing strategies as their best – and possibly only – defence against the Covid-19 virus.
After a slow start, a sudden rise of more than 40% in the number of Covid-19 cases on the continent in the last 10 days – to 28,000 – and a similar increase in the number of deaths – to 1,300 – has worried specialists.
The World Health Organization has warned of 10 million cases on the continent within three to six months, though experts say that the death toll could be lower if authorities are able to move swiftly to contain outbreaks of the disease.
“We are at the beginning in Africa,” Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said last week.
Though some of the worst effects of infection may be mitigated by the relative youth of many people on the continent, others may be made more vulnerable by malnutrition or existing conditions, such as HIV.
Under-resourced health systems are unlikely to cope with a significant surge of those infected by the disease. Provision of intensive care facilities on the continent is grossly inadequate. Many countries with populations numbering tens of millions have only a handful of ventilators.
So far it has been difficult to fully grasp the extent of the spread of the disease in Africa, as testing has been patchy.
Djibouti has recorded 98.6 cases per 100,000 people, the highest prevalence on the continent. But the tiny country has conducted just over 10,000 tests, as many as neighbouring Ethiopia, which has more than 100 million people.
South Africa puts soldiers on standby as lockdown tensions mount
President announces $26bn relief package and will set out plans to lift restrictions
Tens of thousands of soldiers have been put on standby in South Africa amid rising tensions as one of the strictest lockdowns in the world nears its fifth week.
Cyril Ramaphosa, the president and commander-in-chief, has mobilised the 73,000 men and women of South Africa’s armed forces, though it is unclear how many of them may eventually be deployed.
Continue reading...Lions and other wild animals relax in South Africa golf club during lockdown – video
Lions and wild dogs have been filmed relaxing in the the greens of Skukuza golf club in Kruger National Park in South Africa as visitors stay away during the coronavirus outbreak.
Jean Rossouw, captain of the golf club, located within the park, captured videos and images of lions and hyenas on the green in the early morning
- You can’t leave that lion there: big cats nap on road in South Africa amid lockdown
- Coronavirus – latest updates
‘Will we die of hunger?’: how Covid-19 lockdowns imperil street children
For millions of young people, coronavirus restrictions have made access to food, water and shelter even more precarious
Timothy, a teenager on the streets of Mombasa, wonders how he will eat. “Rich people can stay home … because they have a store well stocked with food,” he says. “For a survivor on the street your store is your stomach.”
However, says another, if the rumours are true and street children are arrested in the city during the Covid-19 crisis, he’d be happy to go to Shimo women’s prison, because there “you are sure to get free food, shelter and medical services”.
Continue reading...Deep inequalities of social distancing in South Africa – in pictures
In densely populated townships and cities, the army and police have been patrolling the streets to enforce strict measures to curb the spread of coronavirus
All photographs by Jérôme Delay for AP
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