Cape Town Streets Turned Into A Cyclist's Paradise!

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A South African Reported on Cape Town

Sjanel Lucas Cape Town is gorgeous, that alone is reason enough to move here but it is also the only city in South Africa that has good governance instead of crippling corruption. It’s located in the only province with good governance instead of crippling corruption. It’s the only city where you walk around safely in the city center carrying an expensive camera. Yes, there’s crime here, but compared to other SA cities it’s negligible and mostly confined to gang violence in their locality that rarely spreads outside of their territories. You avoid those and you’ll be just fine. Also, my 22 year old just bought a house here. She graduated last year and has been working for 6 months. Not some crazy paying job. Just a regular job along with her boyfriend who works a regular job and graduated a year before her. Gen Z, both of them.

Burundi Chooses The Status Quo

As Elections Approach and Regional Tensions Rise, Burundi Chooses the Status Quo Burundi Burundi officially kicked off its 2025 election campaign season in early May at Ingoma Stadium in Gitega, the capital. Thousands of candidates dressed in their party colors paraded in a ceremony attended by politicians and political hopefuls. Attendees described it as a milestone for the country. “This is a first in Burundi’s democratic history,” Jean De Dieu Mutabazi, president of the Rally for Democracy and Economic and Social Development (RADEBU) party, told Africanews, adding he was optimistic about the election remaining peaceful. “It’s a very symbolic event, showing progress in our democratic culture and reducing political animosity between rivals.” If only that were so, say analysts. Despite a transition in 2020 from brutal autocrat Pierre Nkurunziza to President Évariste Ndayishimiye, who when he took office said he wanted to promote reform and civil liberties, five years later, the country has reverted back to a state of repression and brutality. For example, in spite of the ceremony celebrating the candidates running in federal and local elections on June 5, the leading opposition party, the National Congress for Liberty (CNL), has been suspended, and independent candidates have mostly been excluded from the election. “Recent events suggest that the political and security outlook in Burundi still mostly resembles the dim period of 2015-2016,” wrote Teresa Nogueira Pinto, an Africa analyst, in GIS, referring to the repression and political violence under Nkurunziza. “Despite some changes…, the (ruling) National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) has further consolidated its power…(by) … resorting to repression, including violent measures, against its opposition.” One example of that, analysts say, is how the president has legitimized the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the ruling party. The group has become a paramilitary force acting on behalf of the party and has been accused of torturing and assassinating opposition figures and others found disloyal to the government. Recently, it was granted official status by the legislature as the Reserve and Development Support Force and charged with defending the country and promoting patriotism. The president has also severely restricted civil liberties and political freedoms, say human rights organizations. For example, the government has excluded former CNL leader Agathon Rwasa, who came second in the 2020 presidential race, from the current election. It did so by implementing a new electoral code that makes it difficult for independent candidates to run, a measure designed specifically to block Rwasa’s candidacy, wrote Nigeria’s News Central. Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders recently warned of escalating violence against journalists sanctioned by the government, while members of opposition parties complain they face harassment, intimidation, and violence. As a result, analysts say, the elections will bring little change to a country facing deep problems that are becoming more destabilizing, analysts said. Burundi’s already fragile economy still hasn’t recovered from the disruptions stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. High inflation and shortages of necessities including fuel have hit hard in a country where the majority of the population lives below the poverty line. Now it is being further destabilized by the war in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) next door: More than 100,000 refugees have crossed the border into Burundi since February, the Associated Press reported. United Nations officials say the situation is dire. Meanwhile, the war has escalated tensions with Rwanda, which is supporting the M23 rebels in the DRC with troops. As a result, Rwandan and M23 fighters are sparring with soldiers from Burundi, which supports the Congolese government. Burundi’s soldiers are also fighting the Burundian anti-government group, the Resistance for a State of Law in Burundi (RED-Tabara), based in the DRC. Burundi has long accused Rwanda of supporting the RED-Tabara, which has escalated its attacks in Burundi over the past year. In March, Ndayishimiye accused Rwandan leader, Paul Kagame, of planning to attack Burundi. Meanwhile, locals near the Burundian borders with the DRC and Rwanda say the halt of cross-border trade because of these tensions has hit the local economy hard, causing a loss of income and shortages of fuel and other commodities. They add that it has become impossible to acknowledge friends and family in the neighboring countries without being targeted by the government. Now, they are sure war is approaching. “Since the (war broke out in the DRC), we are afraid,” one resident of Buganda near the border with the eastern DRC, told Afrique XXI. “When the war breaks out, we will be the first victims.” Share this story

South Africa Proposes 10- Year Purchase Deal For US LNG

South Africa Proposes 10-Year Purchase Deal For U.S. LNG By Alex Kimani, 4 hours ago South Africa has proposed to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States over a 10-year period as the country looks to secure a trade deal with the Trump administration, a ministerial statement by the South African government has revealed. South Africa plans to import 75 to 100 million cubic metres of LNG per year from the U.S., the world’s top LNG exporter. According to Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, South Africa’s Minister in the Presidency, the deal would “unlock approximately $900 million to $1.2 billion in trade per annum and $9 billion – $12 billion for 10 years based on applicable price.” According to Ntshavheni, U.S. LNG will not replace South Africa’s current supplies but rather complement them. Ntshavheni, South Africa’s cabinet spokesperson, said her country would also explore areas of cooperation with the U.S. in various technologies, including fracking, to help unlock the country’s gas sector. South Africa's Karoo region holds significant gas reserves, however, the country has a moratorium on shale gas exploration over environmental grounds. The proposed trade package also includes a quota of 40,000 vehicles per year to be exported duty-free from South Africa; duty-free supplies of automotive components sourced from South Africa; 385 million kilograms of duty-free steel per year and 132 million kg of duty-free aluminium per year. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is credited with proposing the LNG deal during his visit to the White House a week ago, when U.S. President Donald Trump blamed him for “genocide” against white farmers and controversial government policies, such as black economic empowerment and land reforms. Ramaphosa had hoped to use the meeting to mend fences with the Trump administration after Trump cancelled aid to South Africa, accusing the government of committing “egregious actions.” South Africa-born billionaire and a Trump super-ally, Elon Musk, has condemned the South African leadership for supporting “openly racist policies.”Musk is considered to be a big reason behind the animosity towards South Africa by the Trump administration, where white South Africans disproportionately control most of the country’s land and wealth despite constituting just 7% of the population. Back in March, Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state, declared South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S., Ebrahim Rasool, persona non grata and expelled him from the country. The administration has criticised South Africa’sgenocide court case against Israel. South Africa currently imports most of its gas from Mozambique via pipeline, with Mozambique’s $20 billion natural gas and LNG project facing repeated delays. The project was halted in 2021 due to violence in the Cabo Delgado region, specifically an attack by Islamic State-linked militants. TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) is currently seeking approval from the Mozambican government to lift a force majeure declaration on the project, and hopes to start production by 2029. Total is the project’s main operator with a 26.5% stake, followed by Japan’s Mitsui & Co with 20%, while Mozambique's state-owned ENH owns a 15% stake. Despite the violence, the project is viewed as crucial for the region's economy and Mozambique's economy, with the Southern African country projected to earn US$23 billion from the Coral Norte project over three decades. The LNG plant will liquefy 13.12 million metric tons of natural gas per year (tpy). Whereas 18 African countries produce some natural gas, Algeria, Egypt, and Nigeria account for nearly 90% of all gas produced on the continent. Nigeria has the continent’s largest gas reserves at 206.5 trillion cubic feet. The oil and gas sector in Africa’s most populous country is responsible for 95% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and 20% of GDP. Source: LNG Industry Currently, Africa has several big LNG projects in progress or awaiting FID (Final Investment Decision). These include Rovuma LNG, Coral North FLNG, Mozambique LNG, and Tanzania LNG. These four projects will be instrumental in ramping up the continent’s LNG export capacity over the next decade. The Coral South FLNG is a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility located offshore Mozambique, specifically in the southern part of Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin. It is designed to process 450 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the Coral reservoir, liquefying 3.4 million metric tons annually for export. The facility is the first FLNG deployed in deep waters on the African continent. Meanwhile, Rovuma LNG is a 12-train project with a total capacity of 18 million tpy; Mozambique LNG has a total export capacity of 43 million tpy while Tanzania LNG will provide 10 million tpy worth of capacity. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Saudi Arabia to Review Spending Priorities After Oil Price Slide EIA Shows US Crude, Product Inventories Fell Upstream Spending and Production Holds Steady in Canada 61

Senegal Indicts Fifth Minister In Ongoing Corruption Crackdown

Senegal Indicts Fifth Minister in Ongoing Corruption Crackdown Senegal Senegal’s anti-corruption special court on Monday indicted former Minister of Community Development Amadou Mansour Faye on charges of embezzling more than $4.6 million of Covid-19-related public funds, Africanews reported. Faye, who is the brother-in-law of former president Macky Sall, is the fifth official from the previous administration to be charged by the High Court of Justice, a special organ responsible for trying former government officials for crimes committed while in office. According to Faye’s lawyer, the court denied the minister bail and ordered his detention. This case is part of a broader crackdown on corruption by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was elected last year on promises to promote transparency and accountability. Last week, the anti-corruption court charged two other former ministers from Sall’s administration for embezzlement and misappropriation related to Covid-19 funds, and two others for taking bribes and “complicity in embezzlement.” These cases highlight the new government’s focus on fighting corruption at the highest levels of governance. According to a government spokesman, Senegal intended to summon Sall to court after officials found irregularities in the treasury’s bookkeeping made during his presidency. The former president dismissed the accusations as politically motivated.

Tanzania: When Promises Wither Tanzania's Leaders Start Using An Old Playbook

When Promise Withers: Tanzania’s Leader Starts Using an Old Playbook Tanzania When Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan took office in 2021, the hope was that she would be a different kind of Tanzanian leader, one that would allow civil liberties, stop repression, and promote the development the country so desperately needs. In the first year, she go off to a good start, say observers, promoting the “Four Rs” of reconciliation, resilience, reforms, and rebuilding, becoming a marked contrast to her predecessor, dictator John Magufuli, who, when he died, catapulted his vice president, Hassan, into the country’s top post. The president, from the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which has held power since 1977, released political prisoners, removed restrictions on media outlets, began working with the opposition, lifted a ban on opposition party rallies, and started a program of electoral reform. But that was then, before a crackdown on the opposition began last year and is intensifying in the runup to elections later this year. “The façade of progressive change that had been constructed under Samia is crumbling and could presage a return to authoritarian rule in Tanzania,” wrote World Politics Review. Recently, the government arrested the country’s main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, for treason and other crimes, charges he denies as politically motivated, and come ahead of elections in October. The accusations are in relation to social media posts he made calling for Tanzanians to boycott the elections, citing the possibility of rigging. His party last year began a “No Reforms, No Election” campaign, which calls for reforms to the country’s electoral system, such as an independent election commission and an ability to challenge the results in court. Without these, the party says, the current system is weighted on the side of the ruling party. The treason charge carries the death penalty. As the BBC explained, Lissu, who was shot 17 times in an assassination attempt in 2017 and arrested multiple times over the years, “is the great survivor of Tanzanian politics – and one of its most persecuted politicians.” At the opening of his trial last week, Lissu, the chair of Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) appeared sanguine and said he was “hopeful,” telling his supporters that “all will be fine.” Still, the government has also banned his party from running candidates in the election after it refused to sign a code of conduct mandated by the Independent National Electoral Commission in order to participate in the elections. Party officials say they refused to sign because of the absence of election reforms, Africanews reported. Now, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, October’s election promises to be a repeat of local elections in November, where many CHADEMA candidates were disqualified, and the CCM ended up winning 99 percent of the local races. Meanwhile, the abductions and disappearances of CHADEMA members continue, say human rights groups. Dioniz Kipanya, a CHADEMA party official, disappeared in July after leaving his house, Amnesty International detailed, calling him and others who have disappeared the victims of a “campaign of repression.” Among these are two CHADEMA youth activists who were kidnapped in August by a group of men suspected to be police officers. And the body of Ali Mohamed Kibao, a senior CHADEMA member, was found in September after suspected security agents had abducted him from a bus while he was travelling home. According to a post-mortem his body had been soaked in acid and bore signs of a beating. Some say the wasted promise of Hassan’s presidency is due to hardliners in her party whose support she needs to remain in power and whose influence is very strong. “President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s ascent to power following Magufuli’s death provided an opportunity for the country of 67 million to exhale and (pivot) back toward Tanzania’s historically more moderate political culture,” wrote the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. “In the process, the lines between the party and the state have become blurred. Like other liberation parties in Africa, some CCM members feel entitled to govern indefinitely and, emboldened by Magufuli’s tenure, are willing to resort to whatever tactics needed to maintain their absolute hegemony.”

South Africans Dispute Claims Of "white Genocide"

South Africans Dispute US Claims of ‘White Genocide’ South Africa South Africans on Thursday reacted with dismay to US President Donald Trump’s claims of a White genocide in South Africa, accusations that dominated a meeting between the American leader and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and led many to wonder if his trip overseas accomplished its purpose – to repair relations, Reuters reported. Ramaphosa had said before the trip that he hoped the conversation with Trump on Wednesday could be an opportunity to make a fresh start with the US, after relations between the two countries became strained since January. Since February, Trump has canceled aid to South Africa, offered asylum to White Afrikaners, and expelled the country’s ambassador. During the meeting, however, Trump repeatedly said that South Africa’s White minority farmers are being systematically killed and that their land is being seized, according to the BBC. Data collected by White farmers themselves, however, does not indicate a genocide. South Africa, meanwhile, has one of the highest murder rates in the world, but the overwhelming majority of victims are Black. Ramaphosa signed a new law this year that defines how land appropriations for “a public purpose” or “in the public interest” are to be compensated. It also allows for a limited number of cases where land expropriation would not be compensated.