South Africa President Ramaphosa emerges as stumbling block in ANC talks with potential coalition partners
As South Africa heads for a series of complex talks to form a national coalition government for the first time and establish stability, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said Ramaphosa would remain as party leader and any demands from others that he resign for talks to go ahead was “a no-go area.”
Curtains come down on ANC’s dominance of South African politics as vote tallying ends
Vote tallying from Wednesday’s poll was entering the final stages on Saturday morning, with results in from over 98 per cent of polling stations giving the ANC 40.29 per cent. The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), had 21.63 per cent and uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former president Jacob Zuma, managed to grab 14.71 per cent.
South Africa’s ruling ANC is on the brink of losing its majority in a landmark election result
South Africans vote for parties in national elections to decide how many seats each party gets in Parliament. Lawmakers then elect the president, and if the ANC is short of the 50 per cent mark, it will not have a majority of lawmakers and will need help from others to re-elect Ramaphosa for a second and final term.
Zambia’s former first lady and daughter friend arrested over properties worth over $2 million
Edgar Lungu was Zambia’s leader from 2015 to 2021, when he lost an election to current President Hakainde Hichilema, a longtime political rival. He has embarked on a political comeback
Army: Separatist gunmen suspected to be members of IPOB kill 11 in southeast Nigeria
IPOB campaigns for the secession of southeastern Nigeria where the majority belong to the Igbo group. The movement’s leader – Nnamdi Kanu, a British citizen arrested in Kenya in 2021 – is now on trial in Nigeria on terrorism charges.
South Africa on course to ‘coalition country’ with fears President Ramaphosa is not sitting pretty in ANC
The ANC has had a clear majority for all 30 years of South Africa’s democracy since the party swept to power in a 1994 election which officially ended the apartheid system of white minority rule, leading Nelson Mandela to become the country’s first Black president. It has been the dominant political force and its slipping below 50 per cent would be a momentous change for Africa’s most advanced economy.
One year-old Ghanaian toddler enters Guinness World Records as youngest male artist ever
The Guinness World Records confirmed the record in a statement and last week declared that “at the age of 1 year 152 days, little Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah from Ghana is the world’s youngest male artist.”
Gold valued at over $10 billion flows illegally out of Africa each year, new report says
An official within the UAE government’s media office said the country has taken significant steps to address concerns around gold smuggling and the risks it poses. The continued growth of the UAE’s gold market reflected the confidence of the international community in its processes, the official said, responding on behalf of the country’s press office without providing further identification.
Nigeria’s new anthem, written by a Briton, raises recolonisation concerns after contentious law is passed
Many Nigerians, however, took to social media to say they won’t be singing the new national anthem, among them Oby Ezekwesili, a former education minister and presidential aspirant who said that the new law shows that the country’s political class doesn’t care about the public interest.
South Africa poll: Zuma’s party gives ruling ANC a run for money as early results show it’s ceding ground
With results in from 16.7 per cent of polling stations, the ANC’s share of the vote in Wednesday’s election stood at 42.5 per cent, with the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA) on 25.8 per cent, data from the electoral commission showed on Thursday.
