Tigrayan rebels say they intend to advance further into neighbouring regions of northern Ethiopia but are still open to peace talks after fighting erupted last week and put paid to a five-month-long truce. The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have each blamed the other for unleashing the…
Within days of each other, South Africa’s police minister and the premier of its heartland province of Gauteng have blamed sky-rocketing violence on organised criminal gangs, comprising foreigners who had been police officers or soldiers in their countries of origin. Police minister Bheki Cele made remarks along these lines last week in commenting on the…
Five migrants died and 16 went missing after their boat sank off the coast of eastern Libya while attempting to reach Europe, authorities said on Tuesday. A rescue unit official told AFP that the boat with 27 people on board — all Egyptians — capsized off Tolmeta in the east, but without specifying when this…
A political storm has erupted in South Africa after a video went viral showing the health minister for the Limpopo province – which borders Zimbabwe – berating a Zimbabwean woman who was seeking healthcare. Responses have been divided. Some have called for Phophi Ramathuba to step down on the grounds that verbally abusing a patient…
What you need to know : The bombings came after a resumption of fighting on the ground between government forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) last week. The renewed clashes have shattered a five-month-old truce and cast a pall over efforts to try to end the nearly two-year conflict in the north of…
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) has joined several political parties in voicing opposition to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s response on the Phala Phala farm saga. Ramaphosa’s question and answer session in the National Assembly was delayed by more than an hour on Tuesday as some opposition MPs called for it to be held in person. The President…
IsiZulu has become the second language from Southern Africa after Swahili to be included on Duolingo, an American educational technology platform. Users will learn how to appreciate music like amapiano and gqom, communicate with family members, talk about eating amasi, and navigate the South African taxi system. Plans are under way to introduce isiXhosa on…
Thousands of former rebels swore an oath of loyalty in a ceremony held under tight security in South Sudan. Nearly 22,000 men and women — drawn from the main parties as well as the South Sudan Opposition Alliance — participated in Tuesday’s proceedings, which were originally scheduled to take place in 2019 according to the peace deal. South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir…
The South African medical fraternity is suffering from an exodus of nurses and doctors, leaving public hospitals in particular understaffed. Sibongiseni Delihlazo, the spokesperson for the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa), said at a recent meeting of the East, Central and Southern African College of Nursing (Ecsacon) in Johannesburg, that there has been an…
The Supreme Court has rejected three applications, including President-elect William Ruto’s request to bar the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) from being enjoined in the 2022 presidential election petition. The court also struck out the petition from former Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria and former Mbeere South MP Geoffrey King’ang’i, allies of Dr Ruto, who had…