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South Africa is facing a nightmare before Christmas, as COVID-19 cases continue to soar. Here's the data behind Zweli Mkhize's 'second wave' announcement.
The president also stressed the importance of keeping the economy open after months of stifling movement restrictions.
He urged citizens not to drop their guard and continue adhering to the health rules, such as wearing face masks and respecting curfew times.
South Africa has recorded just over 800,000 coronavirus infections - more than a third of the cases reported across the African continent - and over 20,000 deaths.
AFP
Cyril Ramaphosa is preparing to address the nation, but this won't be a joyous family meeting. There are some serious matters that need to be discussed.
The Angolan Civil War, beginning at the time of the countrys independence from Portugal in 1975, was a 27-year struggle involving the deaths of over 500,000 soldiers and civilians. Initiated at the height of the Cold War, pro- and anti-communist forces in Angola set the stage for a proxy fight between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Though the fighting officially ended in 2002, Angola remains in economic and social turmoil with a massive refugee crisis and millions of landmines impeding farming practices.
Rich in diamonds and oil, Angola was one of the last African nations to receive independence from a European power. On April 25, 1974, a Portuguese military coup d’état protesting the country’s colonial practices successfully overthrew the regime. The combined forces of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and the National Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) created a transitional government with the Alvor Accord of 1974.
Within a year the government had disintegrated, and with aid from the USSR and the Cuban military, the Marxist-oriented MPLA under the leadership of José dos Santos had wrested control of most of Angola. Indirectly and through proxies, governments from the United States, Brazil and South Africa funded UNITA, providing munitions, intelligence reports, and mercenaries.
Heavy fighting continued until 1991 when a temporary agreement known as the Bicesse Accords was reached. Calling for an immediate ceasefire and the removal of both Cuban and South African troops, the agreement mandated a new national government and army, along with Angola’s first multi-party elections. A year later, MPLA candidate José dos Santos won 49% of the popular vote in the election compared to 40% for UNITA candidate Dr. Jonas Savimbi. When Savimbi disputed the outcome, UNITA resumed guerilla war against the MPLA.
In 1993 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 864 placing
President: Ian Khama (2008)
Land area: 226,012 sq mi (585,371 sq km); total area: 231,803 sq mi (600,370 sq km)
Population (2014 est.): 2,155,784 (growth rate: 1.26%); birth rate: 21.34/1000; infant mortality rate: 9.38/1000; life expectancy: 54.06; note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2014 est.)
Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Gaborone, 202,000
Monetary unit: Pula
Twice the size of Arizona, Botswana is in south-central Africa, bounded by Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Most of the country is near-desert, with the Kalahari occupying the western part of the country. The eastern part is hilly, with salt lakes in the north.
Parliamentary republic.
The earliest inhabitants of the region were the San, who were followed by the Tswana. About half the country today is ethnic Tswana. The term for the countrys people, Batswana, refers to national rather than ethnic origin.
Encroachment by the Zulu in the 1820s and by Boers from Transvaal in the 1870s and 1880s threatened the peace of the region. In 1885, Britain established the area as a protectorate, then known as Bechuanaland. In 1961, Britain granted a constitution to the country. Self-government began in 1965, and on Sept. 30, 1966, the country became independent. Botswana is Africas oldest democracy.
The new country maintained good relations with its white-ruled neighbors but gradually changed its policies, harboring rebel groups from South Rhodesia as well as some from South Africa.
Although Botswana is rich in diamonds, it has high unemployment and stratified socioeconomic classes. In 1999, the nation suffered its first budget deficit in 16 years because of a slump in the international diamond market. Yet Botswana remains one of the wealthiest and most stable
THE completion of the multi-million-dollar Kazungula River Bridge is certainly sweet music in the ears of Botswana and Zambia, but for Zimbabwe, it presents a headache over loss of transit fees. by ALFONCE MBIZWO/MTHANDAZO NYONI The new Kazungula River Bridge, which is expected to be functional by year-end, links Zambia’s Kazungula town with Botswana. It also offers an alternative route to road transporters from South Africa to Zambia and other northern countries in the region. Currently, the Beitbridge-Chirundu road is a key component of the Trans-African Highway Network Zimbabwean link between South Africa and Zambia. It is also part of the North–South Corridor Project and the Cape to Cairo Road, and a gateway to the common market for Eastern and Southern Africa. But Zimbabwe has neglected the roads that make up the corridor. The Beitbridge-Harare Highway was built in the 1960s and has far outlived its 20-year lifespan. After haggling over tenders since 2003, government finally started work on the dualisation of the road last year, with different companies working on parts of the project to expedite completion, but this may have come too late to save the situation. Zimbabwe still needs to address the bottlenecks at its Beitbridge Border Post which often sees haulage trucks stuck for days on end waiting for service. The Beitbridge port is the busiest transit border for cargo from South African ports with destinations in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and often as far as Tanzania. There are relatively few studies on the financial benefit the corridor brings to Zimbabwe but a situation analysis carried out in 2009 showed that the waiting time at the border was about 33 hours for south-bound traffic while for north bound traffic waiting time was about 45 hours. It was estimated that the cost associated with this waiting time was about US$29.3 million for south bound and US$35 million for north bound traffic per year. In contrast, the South Africa/Botswana Groblersbrug border post is quicker to process documentation at between eight-10 hours. Botswana roads are better maintained than Zimbabwe’s and fuel costs are lower. Distance-wise, Johannesburg to Lusaka, Zambia through Beitbridge is 1 525km while via Kazungula, the journey is 1 730km. But with Zimbabwe’s poor road network, congestion and long winding queues at the country’s points of entry, especially Beitbridge, truckers will likely avoid the frustrations of using the Zimbabwe route, losing the southern African nation billions of dollars in potential revenue to the new crossing point. According to a recent study, delays at Beitbridge are costing transport operators up to US$350 per day per truck, negating the cost benefit of its connectivity to multiple seaports in Durban and Mozambique. To complement the Kazungula Bridge, Botswana in 2016 said it was building several truck stop facilities for cross-border operators, making the route more attractive to haulage trucks. “It should be a wake-up call to Zimbabweans that the whole region cann
Ambassador Charles R. Baquet III was born December 24, 1941 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He attended public schools in the city and in 1963 he earned his B.A. in history from Xavier University in New Orleans. In 1975, he earned his M.A. in public administration from the Maxwell School of Government at Syracuse University in New York.
After graduating from Xavier, Baquet became a volunteer for the Peace Corps. From 1965 to 1967, he taught English and Social Science in the Somali Republic. In 1967, Baquet returned to the United States and joined Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), which functioned as a domestic version of the Peace Corps.
Baquet entered the U.S. Foreign Service in 1968 and a year later had his first overseas assignment as a consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France. In 1971 he returned to Washington, D.C. and worked at the State Department for the next four years.
From 1975 to 1976, Baquet was a general service officer at the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong, China and from 1976 through 1978 he was Counselor for Administrative Affairs in Beirut, Lebanon. He returned to Washington, D.C. and from 1979 to 1983, he worked as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations of the Bureau of Administration at the Department of State.
Baquet spent the years 1983 to 1987 as Director of the Regional Management Center at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France. After attending the senior seminar at the Foreign Service Institute in Washington, D.C. for one year, in 1988 he was assigned as consul general at the U.S. Consulate in Cape Town, South Africa. During his three years in South Africa he witnessed the end of apartheid, the release of Nelson Mandela, and the beginning of South Africa’s first complete democracy.
On March 25, 1991 President George H.W. Bush nominated Baquet to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti. After U.S. Senate confirmation, Baquet arrived in Djibouti City, the capital. As ambassador Baquet had the difficult task of continuing U.S. aid
Shambala Private Game Reserve, in Limpopo, was voted the world’s top luxury private game reserve in the World Travel Awards 2020.
Juba is one of the newest capitals in the world. It became the capital of South Sudan when that nation was declared independent on July 9, 2011. Juba, located on the White Nile River, is the largest city in South Sudan and in 2011 it had an estimated population of 372,410 people. Since then however the population has been growing rapidly as people from Europe, Asia, and the rest of Africa flock to the city because it is the commercial hub of South Sudan’s oil industry. It is also attractive as a crossroads for travelers moving between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Uganda.
Despite its status as a new capital city, Juba has a long history. Archaeological evidence shows the area has been inhabited since 3000 BCE. In 1862 Egypt established an army post near present-day Juba which served as the southern limits of that nation’s control over Sudan. Great Britain gained control of the region in 1899. In 1922 a group of Greek traders, who supplied British garrisons in the region, established the city. Soon afterwards rebels from North and South Sudan met there to declare a unified campaign to resist British rule.
Even though their numbers never exceeded 2,000 people, from the 1920s through the 1940s Greek merchants controlled much of the commerce of the region, supplying goods for the indigenous people as well as the British. They built and operated the famous Juba Hotel in the early 1930s partly to accommodate air travel passengers since by that point Juba was a base for aircraft flying from Europe to Cape Town, South Africa.
In 1947 Juba was the site of the Juba Conference which established the single colony and eventual nation of Sudan. Many in Southern Sudan, however, were opposed to that unification and began a civil war in the colony in 1955, a year before Sudan’s independence from Great Britain. That first Sudanese civil war continued until 1972. During the second Sudanese civil war (1983-2005) rebel leaders declared Juba the capital of the Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan.
Ethiopia, one of the only two independent African nations at the time, was invaded on October 3,1935 by Facist Italy under Benito Mussolini. The Italians, seeking revenge for their prior
humiliating loss to Ethiopia over 40 years earlier, committed countless atrocities on the independent African state. Poisonous gas, aerial bomabrdment, flame throwers and
concentration camps were all employed against the ill equipped Ethiopian people.
Black outrage throughout the world was unified. The League of Nations,
forerunner to the UN, was criticized sharply for supplying weapons to Italy and
not to Ethiopia. Such actions confirmed Black suspicion that the war was of racial
motivation and sought to extinguish the last light of African power in the world.
From Kingston to Johannesburg, from Detroit to Ghana, form Port-of-Spain to
Paris, Black men and women offered to go fight in defense of Ethiopia. And as
battles raged between Ethiopians and Italians in Africa, battles raged between
Blacks and Italians in the streets of New York. In South Africa, Black workers
began a lengthy march up the continent to assist their African brothers in Ethiopia.
Elsewhere, ex-service men discarded their European and American citizenships to
bring their military expertise to the defense of Ethiopia. The exiled Ethiopian
Emperor Haile Selassie became a near legendary figure to many. Not before or
ever since was such a strong sense of Pan-Africanism seen throughout the world.
And though Italy succeeded in defeating the African nation, Blacks everywhere
would continue the struggle until Ethiopia was free.
Spingarn Medal presented to YMCA secretary Max Yergan for his achievements as a missionary in South Africa, representing the gift of cooperation...American Negroes may send back to their Motherland.
On this date, President Ronald Reagan appointed Edward J. Perkins ambassador to South Africa.
We look back on this day in history and remember the people and events that shaped the world we live in today. Every day is worth remembering.
[East African] The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the African continent has reached 2,248,269 as of Sunday afternoon, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Sunday.
Born in Washington, D.C. on August 8, 1934, Julian Dixon represented part of Los Angeles in the U.S. House of Representatives for twenty-two years. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1957 to 1960, Dixon attended California State University, Los Angeles. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1962 and entered Southwestern University Law School in Los Angeles, California. He received a J.D. from the institution in 1967. Dixon initially practiced law soon after his graduation but later served as an aide to California State Senator Mervyn Dymally.
In 1972, Dixon was elected to the California State Assembly representing West Los Angeles. He was reelected twice and during his last term served as Chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus. In 1978 he was elected to a seat in the United States House of Representatives. As Democratic representative of California’s 32nd district, which includes much of West Los Angeles, Dixon joined campaigns for education, labor, health care, and environment reforms. A strong supporter of mass transit, he used his influence to allocate federal money to improved public transportation in Greater Los Angeles.
Dixon was a staunch advocate for civil rights. For much of his life he was an active member of the Los Angeles branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the local chapter of the Urban League. As a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, he backed legislation that called for the construction of a Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C. In addition, after the 1992 Los Angeles uprising, Dixon supported legislation that would provide business owners with money to rebuild their establishments.
Within the House of Representatives Julian Dixon served on committees concerned with defense, congressional ethics, and federal funding. He has chaired several committees including the House Ethics Committee and the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. As chair of the House Ethics Committee he led the investigation of House Speaker
Botswana bŏtswä´nə [key], officially Republic of Botswana, republic (2005 est. pop. 1,640,000), 231,804 sq mi (600,372 sq km), S central Africa. It is bordered by Namibia on the west and north, by Zambia at a narrow strip in the north, by Zimbabwe on the east, and by South Africa on the east and south. Gaborone is the capital and largest city. In addition to the capital, important cities are Francistown and Selebi-Phikwe.
Sections in this article:
South Africa held its first all-race elections for the national assembly and provincial parliaments.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The killing of a young Black man last month by a white man who complained that he was playing loud music has roiled Ashland, Oregon, forcing the liberal college town that is famous for its Shakespeare festival to take a hard look at race relations. The death of Aidan Ellison, 19, […]
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South Africa Struggles to Retain Power over Namibia
Installation of Namibian Government
Upon the dissolution of the League of Nations in 1946, South Africa refused to accept United Nations authority to replace its mandate with a UN trusteeship. A black Marxist separatist group, the South West African Peoples
The country's youngest craft gin distiller shares his 'spirit' journey and how it led him to Autograph Gin.
Republic of Zimbabwe
Current government officials
Languages: English (official), Shona, Ndebele (Sindebele), numerous minor tribal dialects
Ethnicity/race: African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1%
Religions: syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1%
Literacy rate: 83.6% (2011 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.): $7.496 billion; per capita $600 (2013 est.). Real growth rate: 3.2%. Inflation: 8.5% (2013 est.). Unemployment: 95%. Arable land: 10.49%. Agriculture: corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs. Labor force: 3.939 million (2013); agriculture 66%, services 24%, industry 10% (1996). Industries: mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel; wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages. Natural resources: coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals. Exports: $3.144 billion (2013 est.): platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing. Imports: $4.571 billion (2013 est.): machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels, food products. Major trading partners: South Africa, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy Botswana (2012).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 301,600 (2012); mobile cellular: 12.614 million (2012). Radio broadcast stations: Government owns all local radio and TV stations; foreign shortwave broadcasts and satellite TV are available to those who can afford antennas and receivers; in rural areas, access to TV broadcasts is extremely limited (2007). Radios: 1.14 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 16 (1997). Televisions: 370,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 30,615 (2012). Internet users: 1.423 million (2009).
Transportation: Railways: total: 3,427 km (2008). Highways: total: 97,267
It's not just players who are leaving Bloemfontein in search of greener pastures as Corniel van Zyl set to pack his bags for England.
SA and England will meet for the first time since the 2019 Rugby World Cup final when they clash on the Springboks’ end of year tour.
A newborn baby boy has been found dead in a plastic bag next to a block of flats in Turffontein, Johannesburg.
[East African] Rwanda has scoffed at accusations that its embassies abroad are actively engaged in the recruitment of spies and threatening of Rwandan refugees who are critical of the government.
[allAfrica] Cape Town -- As of November 30, the confirmed cases of Covid-19 from 55 African countries have reached 2,163,577. Reported deaths in Africa have reached 51,724 and recoveries 1,830,891.
The Malawian government has received the formal extradition request for fugitive self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary.
The Sierra Leone Civil War was an armed conflict in the West African country of Sierra Leone from 1991–2002. The war began on March 23, 1991, when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) under Foday Sankoh, with support of Liberian rebel leader Charles Taylor and his group, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NFPL), attempted to overthrow the government of Sierra Leonean President Joseph Momah. The Sierra Leone Civil War was one of the bloodiest in Africa resulting in more than fifty thousand people dead and half a million displaced in a nation of four million people. The conflict was particularly violent and long because both the RUF and the Sierra Leone government were often funded by “blood diamonds” mined with slave labor.
During the first year of the war, the RUF took control of the diamond-rich territory in eastern and southern Sierra Leone. On April 29, 1992, President Joseph Momah was ousted in military coup led by Captain Valentine Strasser who created the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). Strasser said the corrupt Momah could not resuscitate the economy, provide for the people of Sierra Leone, and repel the rebel invaders.
In March 1993, the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) sent mostly Nigerian troops to Freetown, the capital, and assisted the Sierra Leone Army in recapturing the diamond districts and pushing the RUF to the diamond districts and pushing the RUF to the Sierra Leone-Liberia border. By the end of 1993, many observers thought the war had ended because the RUF ceased most of its military operations. Yet what had begun as a civil war now had international implications as the Sierra Leone government was supported by ECOMOG, Great Britain, Guinea, and the United States while the RUF was backed by Liberia (now under the control of Charles Taylor), Libya, and Burkina Faso.
In March 1995, the Sierra Leone government hired Executive Outcomes (EO) a South Africa-based mercenary group to defeat finally the RUF. Meanwhile, Sierra Leone installed an
