Mafikeng, South Africa | AFP | South African police on Friday fired rubber bullets at protesters after President Cyril Ramaphosa cut short a foreign trip to deal with violent riots over alleged government corruption and poor public services. Shops were looted, roads were blocked and vehicles set alight in North …
Read More »KPMG banned from auditing South Africa’s state bodies
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa on Tuesday announced it has banned KPMG from auditing its government institutions following a series of scandals involving the international auditor in the country. The decision to terminate KPMG’s contracts is with “immediate effect”, auditor-general Kimi Makwetu’s office said in a statement. …
Read More »S.Africa authorities raid Gupta property over graft
Johannesburg, South Africa | South African officials on Monday raided a Johannesburg property belonging to the Guptas, a wealthy business family at the heart of graft allegations against former president Jacob Zuma. The Hawks police investigative unit and the tax service descended on the Guptas’ heavily protected compound in the …
Read More »S.Africa lays to rest ‘Mama’ Winnie Mandela
Soweto, South Africa | AFP | South Africa lays to rest anti-apartheid icon and Nelson Mandela’s former wife Winnie Mandela with full state honours at a stadium funeral in Soweto on Saturday. Tens of thousands of mourners burst into loud cheers as the casket carrying her remains was wheeled into …
Read More »South African woman jailed for racist rant in appeal bid
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The first South African to be jailed for racist slurs went to court on Wednesday in a bid to appeal her conviction and three-year jail sentence. Former realtor Vicki Momberg, 49, was last month sentenced to three years with one year suspended after being …
Read More »S.Africa bids emotional farewell to ‘Mama Winnie’ Mandela
Soweto, South Africa | AFP | Thousands of mourners flocked Wednesday to the heart of South Africa’s sprawling Soweto township, a centre of anti-apartheid resistance, to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela’s former wife and struggle hero Winnie Mandela. Her grandson Bambatha Mandela described Winnie, who died on April 2 after a …
Read More »Top S.Africa court ends Pistorius’s final appeal bid
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s highest court has rejected Oscar Pistorius’s request to appeal against his 13-year jail term, ending the long legal battle over his killing of his girlfriend in 2013. The former Paralympic athlete, 31, had asked the Constitutional Court to review the jail term, which …
Read More »Zuma appears in court over graft, says charges ‘politically motivated’
Durban, South Africa | AFP | South African former president Jacob Zuma appeared in court Friday on corruption charges over a multi-billion dollar 1990s arms deal, with the judge adjourning the case after a 15-minute hearing. Zuma, 75, smiled broadly and gave a thumbs-up as he walked into the …
Read More »South Africa’s Zuma due in court on graft charges
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Former South African president Jacob Zuma is to appear in court Friday on 16 corruption charges over a suspect arms deal that dogged much of his rule before he was ousted in February. Zuma will attend the brief preliminary hearing at the Durban High …
Read More »In mourning, S.Africa defends Winnie Mandela as a hero
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | In life, Winnie Mandela was known as a brave anti-apartheid activist whose reputation was badly tainted by criminal convictions and thuggish gang violence. But in death, her chequered record has largely been forgiven in South Africa, with the president declaring 12 days of mourning and …
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