South Africa

June 21, 2024 5:24 PM

Namibian court declares laws banning gay sex unconstitutional

A high court in Namibia declared two colonial-era laws that criminalised same-sex acts between men unconstitutional on Friday, in a landmark win for the LGBTQ community in the southern African country. The case was brought by Namibian activist Friedel Dausab with the support of British-based non-governmental organisation Human Dignity Trust. Dausab said he was "just happy" after the court's decision. "It's a great day for Namibia," he said. "It won't be a crime to love anymore." Consensual sa...

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 14: Cyril Ramaphosa is congratulated after being elected President for a second term at the First Sitting Of The National Assembly at Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) on June 14, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. The Chief Justice swore in the designated members and administered the oath or affirmation to the Republic of South Africa and obedience to the Constitution. (Photo by Jeffrey Abrahams/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

June 19, 2024 4:38 PM

South African President Ramaphosa starts new term with multi-party government

South Africa put on a display of pomp and ceremony on Wednesday for Cyril Ramaphosa's inauguration as president for a second term that will see his African National Congress share power with other parties after it lost its majority in parliament. African heads of state and dignitaries gathered outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria, seat of the South African government, to watch Ramaphosa's motorcade arrive with a guard of honour on horseback. Ramaphosa will head what he calls a government of...

June 15, 2024 10:19 AM

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa re-elected for second term

The South African parliament re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa, the African National Congress's (ANC) President, as the President of South Africa on Friday during the first sitting of the National Assembly of the 7th Parliament. In a post on X, the ANC announced Ramaphosa's re-election, stating, "Honourable Matamela @CyrilRamaphosa has been re-elected as the President of the Republic of South Africa during the First Sitting of the National Assembly of the 7th Democratic Parliament tonight at Cape Town...

June 14, 2024 3:12 PM

South Africa governing alliance emerges as new parliament convenes

The African National Congress has agreed to form a government of national unity for South Africa with three other parties including its largest rival, the pro-business Democratic Alliance, public broadcaster SABC reported on Friday. The ANC, which has been in power since the 1994 elections that marked the end of apartheid, lost its majority for the first time in a May 29 vote and two weeks of intensive behind-the-scenes talks with other parties came down to the wire. The SABC report came a...

SUQIAN, CHINA - NOVEMBER 23, 2022 - Financial Illustration: MPOX, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, China, November 23, 2022. The World Health Organization plans to rename monkeypox "MPOX". (Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

June 13, 2024 12:43 PM

South Africa reports second mpox death this week

A second person has died in South Africa this week from the viral infection mpox, the health ministry said on Thursday, less than 24 hours after it announced the first death. The second person who died was a 38-year-old man. He was admitted to a hospital in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province with extensive lesions, headache, fatigue, oral ulcers, muscle pain and a sore throat. He tested positive for mpox on Wednesday. "The patient has unfortunately demised in KZN the same day his test results ca...

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - SEPTEMBER 24: A South African woman is in her costumes during the 'Heritage Day' celebrations at the Boipatong Stadium, in Johannesburg, largest city of South Africa, on September 24, 2014. Heritage Day is a South African public holiday celebrated on 24 September. On this day, South Africans across the spectrum are encouraged to celebrate their culture and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people. (Photo by Cornell Tukiri/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

June 11, 2024 11:54 AM

South Africa’s unity government must harmonise wildly different visions

Talks to forge South Africa's post-election unity government will need to bring together parties with goals as contradictory as seizing white-owned farms and mines, ditching Black empowerment policies and tearing up the constitution. How well the African National Congress (ANC) harmonises these divergent and mutually hostile visions will determine the government's stability, its ability to make decisions and its policy priorities over the next five years. It will also test Nelson Mandela's 199...

June 6, 2024 3:05 PM

Spain to intervene in South Africa’s Gaza genocide case at World Court

Spain will request to intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel's actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice, its foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Thursday. Spain follows Ireland, which also announced it would intervene in the case. "We are doing it because of our commitment to international law, in our desire to support the court in its work and strengthen the United Nations, supporting the role of the court as the maximum legal entity in the system," Alb...

June 3, 2024 5:40 PM

All eyes on ANC as it discusses who to enlist to govern South Africa

South Africa was on tenterhooks on Monday for the African National Congress (ANC) to signal whom it will choose as a partner to govern the nation after it lost its majority in last week's election for the first time in 30 years of democracy. The ANC had comfortably won every previous election since the end of apartheid in 1994 but this time voters weary of joblessness, inequality and rolling power blackouts gave it just 40.2% of the vote, down from 57.5% five years ago. Its vote share was stil...

June 2, 2024 3:19 PM

South Africa awaits election results, coalition race begins

South Africans awaited confirmation on Sunday of a historic election outcome that will dismantle a 30-year African National Congress (ANC) majority, an announcement that will start the clock on a frenzied race to form a new ruling coalition. Voters, angry at joblessness, inequality and power shortages, slashed support for the ANC - the former liberation movement of the late Nelson Mandela - to 40% in Wednesday's election, down from 57.5% in the 2019 parliamentary vote. That means it must now s...

May 30, 2024 9:21 PM

Vote counting ‘concluded’ says South African Electoral Commission

A day after voting stations closed in South Africa, in one of the most hotly contested elections the country has seen since the end of apartheid, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has said on Thursday (May 30) they had seven days in which to announce the election results. Sy Mamabolo, chief electoral officer of the IEC, said historically the commission has been able to finalise 80% of the votes in 24 hours, however the 2024 elections have been “slowed down”, particularly in metropo...