A South African court has dismissed an urgent application to halt a seismic survey by multinational oil giant Shell in an area called the Wild Coast. Four environmental groups petitioned the court to stop exploration off the east coast of the country claiming it would damage marine life. However Shell …
Read More »South Africa: increase in cases of covid-19 contamination
South Africa has seen a sharp rise in coronavirus infections across the country since Monday, as the Omicron variant is wreaking havoc, health officials said. Some 8,500 Covid infections have been registered in the last 24 hours. South Africa was the first country to detect the new variant, Omicron which …
Read More »South Africa: president Ramaphosa disappointed by African leaders
The South African Head of State, Cyril Ramaphosa has said he was disappointed by African leaders who have followed western countries in suspending flights to and from southern African states after the discovery of a new coronavirus variant. He said it was unfortunate, and that he would have preferred if …
Read More »South Africa: president Ramaphosa calls for lifting of travel bans
The South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned travel bans enacted against his country and its neighbours over the new coronavirus variant Omicron and called for their lifting. The president said he was “deeply disappointed” by the action, which he described as unjustified, and called for the bans to be …
Read More »COVID-19: WHO due to hold meeting over new variant in South Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) is due to hold a special meeting on Friday to consider the significance of a rapidly spreading new coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa. Experts in Geneva will decide whether the B.1.1.529 variant should be designated a variant of concern. A senior WHO official said …
Read More »South Africa: Cyril Ramaphosa urges men to end violence against women
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has asked men to play a greater role in preventing gender-based violence (GBV) in the country. “If each man gathers two men and the three pledge to never rape a woman, never lay a hand on a woman and hold each other accountable to this …
Read More »South Africa: four days of mourning for late FW de Klerk
South African Cyril Ramaphosa has declared four days of mourning for the last white leader, Frederik Willem de Klerk, who died on November 11 from cancer. The national mourning starts on Wednesday evening to Sunday evening and “the national flag will be flown at half-mast as a mark of respect,” …
Read More »South Africa: late FW de Klerk to be cremated in private funeral
Late South African president FW de Klerk, who died at 85 last week, will be cremated in a private ceremony on Sunday, his foundation has announced. “The FW de Klerk Foundation wishes to announce that FW de Klerk’s cremation and funeral will take place on Sunday, 21 November,” it said …
Read More »South Africa: results of local elections to be known on Thursday
The final results for local government elections in South Africa are expected to be announced later on Thursday, local media are reporting. President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to attend the announcement of the results that will happen from 18:00 local time, the presidency tweeted: President @CyrilRamaphosa will later today attend …
Read More »South Africa: power cuts affect vote counting
South Africa’s scheduled power cuts have affected the pace of vote counting following the local elections that took place on Monday, local media report. The electoral body had hoped to have counted 90% of the votes by Tuesday night but only 58% had been counted by Wednesday morning. The state …
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