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South Africa failed to foresee, disrupt deadly unrest, report says

South Africa Johannesburg Alexandra

Johannesburg, South Africa Reuters South Africa’s police and intelligence services failed to anticipate and disrupt days of arson and looting last year in which more than 300 people died, a report into the unrest commissioned by the President and released on Monday found. The violence was sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma […]

Farewell to “our national conscience” at funeral of South Africa’s Tutu

South Africa Desmond Tutu funeral1

Cape Town, South Africa Reuters President Cyril Ramaphosa lauded the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu as “our moral compass and national conscience” as South Africa bade farewell at a state funeral on Saturday to a hero of the struggle against apartheid. “Our departed father was a crusader in the struggle for freedom, for justice, for equality […]

South Africa warns of “vaccine apartheid” if rich countries hog shots

Coronavirus South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa

Johannesburg, South Africa Reuters South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that if wealthy nations hogged COVID-19 shots while millions in poor countries died waiting for them it would amount to “vaccine apartheid”. South Africa and India have been pushing for a waiver on some intellectual property rights for vaccines and medicines at the […]

African Union secures 270 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine

Nairobi, KenyaAP South Africa’s President says a task team under the African Union has secured 270 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the African continent, the largest such deal so far for the region.  President Cyril Ramaphosa, the current AU chair, says the doses will come from Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca via the […]

Murders of South African women as lockdown eases sparks online campaigns

South Africa women protests

Johannesburg, South Africa Thomson Reuters Foundation A spate of murders of South African women in recent weeks, including a heavily pregnant woman stabbed and hanged from a tree, highlighted the need for tougher police action on violence against women, women’s rights groups said on Tuesday. Two weeks after South Africa ended a nine-week ban on […]