PRETORIA, South Africa (AFP) — South African President Jacob Zuma announced his immediate resignation on Wednesday after the ruling ANC party threatened to eject him from office via a parliamentary vote of no confidence. Scandal-tainted Zuma said in a 30-minute national television address that he had “come to the decision to resign as president of the republic with immediate effect.” “I have served the people of South Africa to the best of my ability. I am forever […]
Africa
22 school pupils die in Nigeria road crash: official
KANO, Nigeria (AFP) — Twenty-two students and their driver were Tuesday killed when their bus collided with a truck in northern Nigeria, a road safety official told AFP. The students from a public secondary school in Bauchi state were on their way to the city of Kano for an excursion when their driver lost control while trying to dodge a pothole, Kabiru Daura, spokesman for the federal road safety corps (FRSC) in Kano said. […]
Chibok girls’ kidnapper jailed for 15 years
by Aminu Abubakar Agence France-Presse KANO, Nigeria (AFP) – A man involved in the 2014 kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in northeast Nigeria has been jailed for 15 years, the government confirmed on Tuesday. The conviction of Haruna Yahaya, 35, is the first in relation to the mass abduction, which triggered global outrage and sparked a worldwide campaign for the girls’ release. A total of 276 students were seized from the Government Girls Secondary […]
Zuma triggers crisis by refusing ANC’s exit order
by Susan Njanji and Ben Sheppard Agence France-Presse JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) – South Africa braced Tuesday for a major political showdown as scandal-tainted President Jacob Zuma reportedly rejected a direct order from the ruling ANC party to leave office. The power struggle over Zuma’s departure put the president at loggerheads with Cyril Ramaphosa, his expected successor, who is the new head of the African National Congress. The party’s powerful 107-member national executive committee (NEC) met for […]
S.Africa’s ANC to meet Monday as Zuma deadlock tightens
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — The top decision-making body of South Africa’s ruling ANC will meet on Monday following days of talks over President Jacob Zuma’s expected departure from office, a party spokeswoman said Sunday. “An NEC (national executive committee) meeting is scheduled for tomorrow in Pretoria,” ANC spokeswoman Khusela Diko told AFP, declining to reveal the meeting’s agenda. South Africa’s president-in-waiting Cyril Ramaphosa has said negotiations should be concluded within days. But Zuma, whose presidency has […]
S.Africa political deadlock as Zuma clings to power
by Ben Sheppard © Agence France-Presse JOHANNESBURG , South Africa (AFP) — South Africa’s political impasse deepened on Saturday with no resolution to extended talks over President Jacob Zuma’s expected departure from office after his own party called for him to resign. Cyril Ramaphosa, the president-in-waiting, and the ruling ANC party have said negotiations should be concluded within days, but have given no details about how Zuma will be eased out of power. The stalemate has left […]
Five children die in post-vote arson attack in Guinea
by Mouctar Bah Agence France-Presse CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) – Five young children perished in an arson attack during clashes in central Guinea on Tuesday, as anger over alleged fraud during weekend local elections turned deadly and tensions mounted ahead of the results. Sunday’s local elections were the first since the end of the era of military dictatorship and follow eight years of delays blamed on a lack of funds, political infighting and the 2013-16 Ebola crisis. Huts […]
Cape Town now faces dry taps by May 11
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) — Residents of drought-stricken Cape Town received rare good news Monday when city officials said they now face losing piped water to their homes on May 11 — a month later than previously forecast. But Capetonians are not yet out of the woods. If drastic consumption reductions are not achieved by so-called “Day Zero”, people will have to queue at 200 standpipes for daily rations of 25 litres (6.6 US […]
All 955 miners trapped in S. Africa rescued
by Beatrice Debut with Susan Njanji in Johannesburg Agence France-Presse THEUNISSEN, South Africa (AFP) – All 955 gold miners who were trapped underground for more than a day in South Africa following a power cut resurfaced unharmed on Friday, and were greeted by overjoyed relatives waiting at the site. “Everybody’s out,” mine spokesman James Wellsted told AFP, adding that there were no deaths or serious injuries reported. There were “cases of dehydration and high blood pressure but […]
950 gold miners trapped underground in S. Africa
by Béatrice Debut Agence France Presse THEUNISSEN, South Africa (AFP) — About 950 gold miners were stuck underground in South Africa on Thursday after a power cut, the mine’s owner said, though the workers were not reported to be in immediate danger. The Sibanye-Stillwater mining company said a massive power outage caused by a storm had prevented lifts from bringing the night shift to the surface at the Beatrix gold mine, in the small town […]
Egypt opposition urges boycott of presidential election
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Opposition parties and figures in Egypt called Tuesday for a boycott of the March presidential election in which incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi looks set to romp to victory. Branding the poll a “charade”, the coalition of eight parties and 150 public figures announced a campaign under the slogan “Stay at home” ahead of voting on March 26-28. “No to participation in this charade,” said Hamdeen Sabbahi, a presidential candidate in 2012 and 2014. […]
Spanish tourists ‘raped, robbed’ in southern Senegal
ZIGUINCHOR, Senegal, Africa (AFP) — A group of Spanish tourists were robbed and raped in Senegal’s restive Casamance region by armed men, a security source and state media said on Friday. The tourists’ vehicle was stopped near the village of Karonge, around 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the regional capital Ziguinchor, a security source told AFP. “There were four Spanish tourists. A man and three women were being driven by a Senegalese driver. They were […]