Saturday, March 16, 2024

South Africa Will Prosecute Its Citizens Participating In The Gaza War In Israel

The Blacklist SOUTH AFRICA The foreign minister of South Africa this week said that citizens of the country taking part in Israel’s war on Gaza will face prosecution when they return home, adding to tensions with Israel after South Africa accused it of genocide at the International Court of Justice, the Associated Press reported. At an event discussing South Africa’s support for Palestine and the petition filed at the United Nations’ Hague-based top court, Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said she “already issued a statement alerting those who are South African and who are fighting alongside or in the Israeli Defense Force,” or IDF. “We are ready. When you come home, We’re going to arrest you,” she warned. The foreign ministry added that dual citizens of Israel and South Africa arrested for participating in the war could have their South African citizenship revoked. While the number of South Africans participating in Israel’s war effort is unclear, numbers published in other countries, such as France, have sparked discussions over creating similar measures, the Anadolu Agency noted. Meanwhile, Israel has declined to provide the number of foreign soldiers in the IDF’s ranks. Nonetheless, the IDF is currently attempting to determine which nations might follow South Africa’s lead, Israel’s Haaretz reported. It plans to contact soldiers with dual nationality and advise them on visiting their home countries. Citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Latvia are already banned from flying to these countries for security reasons. South Africa’s latest move has deepened a rift with Israel, following a court case launched by the former against the latter on charges of genocide, ongoing in the Hague. In response, Israel has accused South Africa of being complicit with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose attack on Israel on Oct. 7 left more than 1,200 dead and triggered the current war. Pandor rejected claims that her government had a political agenda in its support for Palestinians in the run-up to elections later this year. She said that the relationship between her country and Palestine is one “of freedom fighters, of activists, of nations that share a history. A history of struggle for justice and freedom,” referring to South Africa’s history of racial segregation, known as Apartheid. South Africa has accused Israel of conducting an apartheid against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Share this story

Monday, March 11, 2024

More Trouble Between The Congo And Rwanda

The Crows Gather DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO Rwanda’s incursion into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has sparked violence, massive displacement and concerns about the possibility of a new war in one of the poorest, most unstable regions in the world. Irredentist Rwandan leaders claim that colonial mapmakers cleaved off sections of their country and mistakenly gave these territories to the DRC, wrote African Arguments. These claims are partly responsible for the First Congo War of 1996-1998 that kicked off years of suffering and more alterations to the region. Also responsible was the DRC’s bloody history of colonialism and dictatorship, as University of Johannesburg visual art lecturer Ruth Sacks described in the Conversation. Now Rwanda is supporting M23 rebels whom Western leaders claim would grant Rwanda access to the DRC’s vast mineral resources in the lawless eastern regions of the country, reported Agence France-Presse. The DRC possesses an estimated $24 trillion of raw minerals like cobalt and lithium, which are crucial for electric batteries and other green energy technologies, added Crux. Rwanda has a history of economic-based disputes with another neighbor, Burundi, noted World Politics Review. A coalition of forces from the DRC, as well as Burundi, Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania, has been fighting the M23 rebels in the eastern DRC, Xinhua explained. The DRC has also allegedly hired American, Romanian, and other mercenaries to fight its battles against the M23 rebels and other threats, according to the New Times, a Rwandan news outlet. The rebels most recently have been vying for control of Goma, a provincial capital, near the Rwandan border. Thousands have fled the region as the fighting has grown more intense and the number of casualties has risen in what the Red Cross called an “extremely worrying” and “unprecedented” situation. “We’re scared of dying of hunger,” Sandrine, a 32-year-old mother of eight, told the Norwegian Refugee Council after she fled her village near Sake, a town around 15 miles from Goma. “We also hear gunfire every day. We don’t have anything to eat and the food in the markets is too expensive to buy. We have nowhere to sleep – we had to leave everything behind, including our mattresses.” The suffering has also angered many Congolese who feel as if their country is under attack. In the capital of Kinshasa, demonstrators have taken to the streets, burning flags and protesting outside embassies, to criticize the West for not deterring Rwanda from stirring up a rebellion, the BBC wrote. They say that Rwanda has been the West’s darling, allowing the US and Europe to ignore its actions. Meanwhile, Western critics have also blasted major American and European governments and corporations for not ensuring that high-tech and other supply chains respect the human rights of workers in the DRC and elsewhere, said Vogue magazine. But, it added, everyone – the Russians, the Chinese, Europe and the US – is happy to look away from the misery, as long as the mining goes on.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Zimbabwe Hit with US Sanctions

Shunned ZIMBABWE The US government this week imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe’s newly reelected president, his vice president and other senior officials, based on their alleged involvement in corruption and human rights abuses in the southern African country, Al Jazeera reported. On Monday, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a series of sanctions targeting three companies and 11 people, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, aimed at “Mnangagwa’s criminal network of government officials and businesspeople.” Mnangagwa and his officials are accused of protecting gold and diamond smugglers operating in Zimbabwe, taking bribes and aiding smugglers in the sale of those precious resources on illegal markets. Gold is the country’s biggest export. The government is also suspected of committing various human rights abuses, including abductions, physical abuse and unlawful killings, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The new measures follow a review by the US Treasury of a previous sanctions program that had been in place since 2003. Those sanctions were imposed after the appropriation of land from white farmers by Mnangagwa’s predecessor, Robert Mugabe. Only those on Monday’s list will be sanctioned. Following the US move, Zimbabwean government spokesperson Nick Mangwana welcomed the removal of the 2003 sanctions, calling them “a great vindication” of Mnangagwa’s foreign policy. However, he described the new measures as “illegal,” adding that as long as the president and others are under sanctions, “we are all under sanctions.” Still, Zimbabwe’s neighbor, Zambia, also welcomed the lifting of the 2003 sanctions, with President Hakainde Hichilema describing the decision as “further evidence that (President Joe) Biden listens to his African partners.”

Monday, March 4, 2024

A Tiny African Country WIth A Most Strategic Location

Location, Location DJIBOUTI An Iranian ship named the Behshad was docked off Djibouti near a Chinese military base for weeks, allegedly transmitting commercial shipping information to the Houthis, a Yemeni militant group that has been attacking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The Behshad received at least four shipments of supplies, according to TradeWinds, a news outlet that covers global shipping. Despite the small Horn of Africa nation’s tolerance of the Behshad, however, Djibouti still isn’t immune to the chaos that the Houthis are sowing to assert their influence in the region, especially as the West continues to support Israel’s war against Hamas, another Iran-backed group, in the Gaza Strip, regardless of the toll on civilians. The Iranian-supported Houthis, for example, have cut undersea telecommunications cables that run between Djibouti and Saudi Arabia, added i24 News, citing Israeli media reports. These lines connected Europe, Africa, and India. Ships struck by Houthi missiles have leaked their toxic cargoes into the region’s water, too, added Agence France-Press. American and British forces have conducted strikes to dissuade the Houthis from continuing their piracy and aggression, but those efforts have yet to yield success. Djibouti, a Muslim-majority nation, appears to have allied with China to help reduce its risk exposure to these problems, however. As the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat explained, Chinese ships appear to have immunity from Houthi attacks, leading to a boom at Djibouti’s ports as more shippers hire Chinese carriers to move their products through the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, as he navigates these developments at sea, Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh has become increasingly concerned about events transpiring in Ethiopia, his country’s neighbor to the west and south. Currently, Ethiopian trade passing through Djibouti and vice versa comprises 75 percent of the latter country’s gross domestic product. But, as World Politics Review wrote, Ethiopian leaders are moving ahead with plans to build a new port in Somaliland, an unrecognized independent state that is technically part of Somalia. Ethiopia lost its access to the sea when nearby Eritrea won its independence in 1993. Five years later, after a war with Eritrea ended, Ethiopia moved its export routes to Djibouti. Now, however, Ethiopia plans to gain access to the port of Berbera in Somaliland as well as a 13-mile stretch of coastline where Ethiopia – an otherwise landlocked country – could establish a naval base. Somalian officials have panned the idea, Al Jazeera reported, saying Ethiopia has no right to sign a deal with Somaliland. Somali leaders are warning Ethiopia to not move forward, saying it risks regional harm, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told Al Jazeera. In what looks like a policy to engage – rather than let events transpire without attempting to influence them – Guelleh has tried to play a mediating role between Ethiopia and Somalia to help them hash out their disagreement. As world leaders tread carefully in this minefield, Djibouti worries about its lost income from the port deal being realized. The country of about one million has few natural resources, an authoritarian leadership and a GDP, of $3 billion annually, equivalent to China’s output every two hours, wrote Brookings. But it does have one key resource that the American and the Chinese militaries, as well as the French, Japanese, Italians, Spanish, Russian, Indians, and Saudi Arabian all covet, and as a result, inspired another great power rivalry: its strategic location that comes with a deep-water port complex. Share this story

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Social Unrest In Guinea

Speaking Up GUINEA Deadly clashes erupted in the Guinean capital this week after unions called for an open-ended general strike against the country’s military junta, a rare protest in the West African country after the army seized power in a coup more than two years ago, Al Jazeera reported. A confederation of the main unions urged public and private sector workers to strike for the release of prominent media activist Jamal Pendessa, who was sentenced to six months in prison last week – with three months suspended. Unions also demanded lower food prices and an end to media censorship. The unrest has paralyzed the capital, Conarky, with businesses and schools being shuttered, while hospitals provided reduced services. Skirmishes took place in some of Conarky’s outskirts, where two young men were shot dead. The strike comes a week after the military dissolved the country’s transitional government – first formed in July 2022 – without giving any reason, nor saying when a new one would be installed. The army also ordered the confiscation of government officials’ passports and the freezing of their bank accounts. Protests have become very rare in Guinea since Gen. Mamady Doumbouya led the military to take power in September 2021. A year later, the military government banned all demonstrations, as well as detained a number of opposition leaders, civil society members and journalists.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Zimbabwe-Swimming With Crocodiles

Swimming With Crocodiles ZIMBABWE A Zimbabwean court recently gave opposition leader Job Sikhala a suspended sentence of nine months in prison for making falsehoods on social media. The charges stem from his allegation that a police officer killed a child at a bus stop. Sikhala’s attorney said the southern African country’s top court had found that the law he supposedly violated was unconstitutional, Africa News reported. Amnesty International called the decision a “travesty of justice.” The ruling came less than a month after a court freed Sikhala after almost 600 days in jail on pretrial detention for charges that include inciting public violence in 2022. As France 24 noted, the leader of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change political party has been arrested dozens of times since he entered politics in 1999 and challenged the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). These developments occurred as ZANU-PF candidates won a two-thirds majority in parliament earlier this month, paving the way for lawmakers to amend Zimbabwean laws to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term in office – a pattern that has been repeated across Africa as longtime leaders seek to flout term limits, Voice of America reported. Many hoped Mnangagwa would usher in a new era in the country after taking the helm following the ousting of longtime dictator Robert Mugabe in 2017. Instead, after winning reelection last summer, he appears to be continuing the same strongman tactics that Mugabe leveraged successfully to retain power for 37 years. Another opposition leader, for example, Nelson Chamisa, recently quit the Citizens Coalition for Change, saying ZANU-PF operatives had infiltrated the party. Speaking to Al Jazeera, he compared working in the party to a “swim in a river with hungry crocodiles.” “Crocodile” is Mnangagwa’s nickname. “Mugabe’s removal from power gave way to cautious optimism about a new dawn in the country’s post-independence affairs,” wrote World Politics Review. “But more than five years since he was succeeded in office by Mnangagwa, the hope for a more peaceful and prosperous Zimbabwe has all but evaporated.” Meanwhile, the economy hasn’t been faring much better than the political landscape: It has been growing, but inflation has cut into those gains and poverty remains widespread, according to the World Bank. The president and his allies, meanwhile, have pledged that the economy will improve significantly this year due to the recent discovery of oil and gas in the country as well as improvements in the mining and tourism industries, Voice of America reported. But economists were skeptical, and Zimbabweans continued to emigrate elsewhere in search of opportunities.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

South African Rugby gets A $1 Billion US Cash Injection

Editor's notebook ADRIAAN BASSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF The R1bn SA Rugby equity deal... and an elephant called Jurie Two years ago, I published a column in this space titled "Has Jurie Roux captured SA Rugby?". Roux, the now former CEO of SA Rugby, and his employers weren't thrilled. He took me to the Press Ombudsman and lost because his complaint was filed late. Two years later, the question remains relevant to every rugby fan who holds SA rugby and the Springboks dear. This time, Roux's influence is evident in the latest controversy to hit the governing body of rugby in South Africa – a R1.4-billion private equity deal with the little-known Ackerley Sports Group from Seattle in the United States. A bit of background: in 2015, Stellenbosch University issued a summons against Roux, the former financial director of the university, to repay R37 million he had unlawfully transferred from the university's reserves to Maties rugby club. The money was used to pay the accommodation and fees of Maties players like Peter Grant, Juan de Jongh and Ernst Joubert. Because of his impressive track record at Maties, Roux was appointed CEO of SA Rugby in 2010. On Roux's request, the university agreed to remove the matter from the roll of the Western Cape High Court and from public scrutiny, and initiate a private arbitration chaired by a senior advocate. In December 2020, the arbitration ruled in the SU's favour and ordered Roux to repay the R37 million. Roux appealed. In December 2021, he lost again. The heavyweight appeals panel found some Maties money ended up in Roux's account. But still, Roux wasn't done fighting a legal battle, possibly because he didn't have R37 million in spare cash lying around. So he returned to the Western Cape High Court and asked Judge Vincent Saldanha to set aside the arbitration award in 2023. He lost. And Saldanha ordered Roux to pay back not only the R37 million but also interest and legal costs. By this time, Roux's bill probably stood at around R50 million. He applied for leave to appeal and lost again. His petition to the Supreme Court of Appeal is expected to be ruled on in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, his accomplice in the so-called "Sparries" (savings) scam at Stellenbosch, Chris de Beer, was convicted of fraud by the Bellville Commercial Crimes Court two weeks ago and handed a five-year suspended prison sentence. The National Prosecuting Authority allegedly made a deal with Roux's lawyers to allow the arbitration process to come to fruition before criminal proceedings were instituted. That day is coming closer. Meanwhile, Roux was merrily conducting his business at SA Rugby, a body with the backbone of an amoeba. Year after year, SA Rugby found excuses as to why they could not act against Roux despite the very serious allegations he faced. Then suddenly, at the beginning of last year, SA Rugby president Mark Alexander announced Roux would "amicably" part ways with SA Rugby, but "be contracted to complete the implementation of the mooted equity transaction, as well as the handover to his successor, who will be appointed once the equity negotiations are finalised". Those in rugby administration saw this as a cynical move to remove Roux's name from the SA Rugby letterhead, but he remained working at SARU House in Plattekloof. His package as a consultant remains a state secret, but is rumoured to be more than what he earned as CEO. Different ballgame For the past year, Roux was exclusively negotiating with CVC, a private equity firm based in Luxembourg, London and New York, to buy a stake in a new company in which SA Rugby would be the majority shareholder. The argument is that such a transaction will inject much-needed cash into SA Rugby and help establish the Springboks as a global brand. But suddenly, at the end of last year, Roux, Alexander and acting SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer (the late Louis Luyt's son-in-law) announced to the provincial unions they were now concluding a deal with Ackerley Sports Group from Seattle, which owns stakes in American sports teams and Leeds United, that plays in the English first division. If CVC is a Porsche, Ackerley is a Kia Picanto (no offence to Picantos), also a car, but a completely different ballgame. Alexander, Roux and Oberholzer are passionately trying to convince the provinces they should go with Picanto's offer. The deal on the table is reportedly a R1.4-billion injection into SA Rugby. Still, it is entirely unclear what Ackerley brings to the Springboks or why Roux moved his loyalties from Luxembourg to Seattle. The deal gets even more murky with the revelation that Ackerley doesn't have enough money, but was shopping around elsewhere in the United States to fund the transaction. The country's four largest franchises, the Bulls, Sharks, Lions and Stormers, are now desperately trying to determine what is going on. Their hard-hitting letter to the SA Rugby bosses, which News24 revealed last week, shook the earth in Plattekloof. Remember that they are the key shareholders of SA Rugby who will have to pay the private equity partner its share before profits, if any, are divided between the unions. A key question in the franchises' letter to SA Rugby is finding out the transaction costs, commissions and success fees if the Ackerley deal is concluded. And herein lies the nub: the country's largest rugby clubs, all owned by private investors, know Roux desperately needs R50 million to repay Stellenbosch University or face a dire financial future. It is wholly reasonable for all Springbok fans to fear the private equity deal is not being brokered in the sport's best interests, but to line the pockets of a few individuals.