KINSHASA – The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo is now the second biggest in history, with 426 confirmed and probable cases, the health ministry said late on Thursday. The epidemic in a volatile part of Democratic Republic of Congo is now only surpassed by the 2013-2016 outbreak in West Africa, where more than 28,000 cases […]

LUSAKA  – Britain’s Prince Harry on Monday offered Zambia support with boosting the country’s dwindling elephant population, as he began a two-day working visit without his pregnant wife Meghan. The Duke of Sussex, 34, was received at Lusaka airport by dignitaries and colourfully-dressed traditional dancers, later holding a closed-door meeting with Zambian President Edgar Lungu […]

The South African delegation participating in the G20 Summit will use the platform to promote and strengthen the interests of the country and the African continent, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) said on Thursday. Led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the delegation left South Africa on Thursday for Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the […]

NAIROBI – When the soldiers started fanning out in the cashew nut growing regions of southern Tanzania – it was a jolting sight for traders and, campaigners say, a watershed moment for a country once held up as a darling of development groups. The government said the troops were there last week to make sure […]

Disney has released the first trailer for the much-anticipated live-action adaptation of The Lion King. Disney tweeted the trailer just over ten hours ago, on the eve of Black Friday, with a short tweet announcing the release date: July 19, 2019. At the same time it aired the advert during the NFL’s annual Thanksgiving primetime […]

Civil rights organisation AfriForum is attending a United Nation’s Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, in an effort to muster support against the South African government’s proposed amending of the Constitution in order to enable land expropriation without compensation. AfriForum’s attendance at the UN’s Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law is part of […]

NAIROBI – Gunmen kidnapped a young Italian woman who was working as a volunteer, and shot and wounded another woman and four children in Kenya late on Tuesday, police and witnesses said – the first abduction of a foreigner there since raids blamed on Somali Islamist militants six years ago. Men armed with AK-47 rifles […]

HARARE – More than 20 people survived deadly flames that swept through a South Africa-bound bus on Thursday evening in Zimbabwe. The bus – on its way from Bulawayo to Musina – caught fire, killing at least 42 people, according to local media reports. Many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and more than […]

Hope abounds for South Africa’s lions as a new Parliamentary report has called for an end to captive lion breeding in South Africa! The news has been welcomed by local and international conservationists and NGOs, and the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Phillemon Mapulane, has been praised for his part in getting the […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has held discussions with the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, in Strasbourg, France; and thanked Europe for its role in South Africa’s development. The two leaders discussed strengthening cooperation between Africa and Europe, increased youth employment and the opportunities – and challenges – of immigration into Europe. President Ramaphosa said: “We […]

The travel time between Maputo and Kosi Bay has just been DRASTICALLY reduced… from six hours to 90 minutes! Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi today officially opened the new road that connects Maputo and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. It includes a 3km twin-tower suspension bridge – Ponte Maputo-Catembe or Maputo-Catembe Bridge – that extends 680 m […]

In the world of smartphones, China has Huawei, Korea has Samsung, while the United States of America has Apple. And soon South Africa will have Mara! Long-time dark horse Africa is now taking centre stage with the announcement of the Mara phone project that is touted to take the smartphone business by storm. Developed by […]

DAR ES SALAAM – Tanzania released two staff members of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday, a day after they were detained and their passports seized, the South African Foreign Ministry said. Tanzanian Immigration Department spokesman Ali Mtanda said Angela Quintal and Muthoki Mumo were arrested for violating the terms of […]

GABORONE – Around 400 buffaloes drowned after stampeding into the Chobe River along the border between Botswana and Namibia, possibly while running away from lions, the tourism ministry said. The Chobe River flows along the northeastern border of the Chobe National Park, known for the large breeding herds of elephants, giraffe, sable and African buffalo, […]

JUBA  – Retired South African Colonel William Endley was released from prison in South Sudan on Friday, with his face showing the pure joy – and relief – to have escaped the death sentence he was given earlier this year. Endley was one of two associates of rebel leader Riek Machar whom South Sudan freed […]

It is common cause that the performance of South Africa’s government, led by the African National Congress (ANC), has been worse than abysmal. Under former President Jacob Zuma, ANC functionaries pillaged numerous institutions of state. They enabled state owned institutions to be looted, mismanaged the provision of basic services and presided over an alarming downward […]

WINDHOEK – Namibia has scrapped a requirement for companies seeking mining exploration licences to be partly owned and managed by black Namibians, the country’s mining industry group said on Friday. The policy was introduced in 2015 to increase the participation of historically disadvantaged black Namibians in some of the country’s most lucrative business projects, but […]

Namibia’s desert landscape got a makeover this week as magical water poured down from the heavens. In some parts over 100mm fell according to the Namibia Meteorological Service, flooding rivers (see video below) and finishing with radiant rainbows. Well known Gauteng-based publicist Georg Knoke, who grew up in Namibia, said on Facebook: “Magic in Sossusvlei – […]

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s parliament has approved senior diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde as the country’s first female president, proceedings on state television showed, cementing another shift in the country’s political system from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Sahle-Work is at present U.N. under-secretary-general and special representative of the secretary general to the African Union. She replaces […]

South African businessman Andre Hanekom is still missing in Mozambique under mysterious circumstances. On Thursday his wife of 36 years, Francis, took to Facebook to urge people to sign a petition to the Government and Mozambique police to free him. The petition claims Hanekom, who had been living in Mozambique for 25 years, has been […]

N’DJAMENA – Two of six critically endangered black rhinos – relocated to Chad in May – have tragically died, Zakouma National Park’s management said, undermining efforts to restore their population in Chad after a nearly 50-year absence. Before the transfer of the six rhinos from Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa in May, the […]

LUSAKA – Zambia has revived plans it suspended two years ago, after protests by animal rights activists, for the controlled slaughter of up to 2,000 hippos over the next five years, its tourism minister said on Monday. Charles Banda said the hippo population could not be supported by the water levels in the Luangwa river […]

The Department of Environmental Affairs has urged community members to assist the police and conservation authorities to combat rhino poaching. “Community members are the eyes and ears of the police. They are the people who hear or even know about illegal activities such as wildlife crime and rhino poaching,” the department said. The call follows the […]

DAR ES SALAAM – A Tanzanian businessman and former member of parliament was seized by unidentified men in Dar es Salaam at a luxury hotel on Thursday, the regional commissioner said. The 43-year-old kidnapped man, Mohammed Dewji, is known as Africa’s youngest billionaire. Dewji is the owner and president of the multi-billion dollar revenue Mohammed […]

The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Regional Court President exposed in a recent BBC documentary for alleged corruption, linked to rhino poaching in South Africa, has been provisionally suspended. After considering the advice of the Magistrates Commission, Minister Michael Masutha on Friday 5 October 2018 provisionally suspended Nzimande from office. Nzimande has become embroiled in allegations of bribery […]