An Interesting New Mexican Restaurant in Cape Town

https://www.news24.com/life/food/restaurants/reviews/bite-club-cape-towns-newest-mexican-eatery-brings-the-fiesta-but-not-all-the-flavours-20250426

Black And White Farmers Are Still Suffering From The Zimbabwe Government Land Garb

https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/white-and-black-farmers-still-bear-the-scars-of-zimbabwes-land-grabs-20250423?lid=41yr1zqlxewj

An Afrikaaner Farmer Says It's Rough Being A Farmer In The US

‘It’s tough!’: Afrikaner farmer shares his experience working in the US An Afrikaner farmer working in the US has shared his experience in light of US President Donald Trump’s offer to… By Megan van den Heever 15-04-25 09:13 in Featured An Afrikaner farmer working in the US An Afrikaner farmer working in the US has shared his experience on TikTok. Images via TikTok: @h2a_groot_ockert Ockert du Plessis, an Afrikaner farmer residing and working in the United States, is using his social media platforms to share insights and challenges from his journey. He’s also offering advice to South Africans considering a move to the US for work opportunities. This comes in the wake of a recent Executive Order by US President Donald Trump, which grants refugee status to Afrikaners. Trump’s controversial comments accusing South Africa of “racial discrimination,” “genocide,” and “land confiscation” from white citizens have sparked significant attention. Afrikaner farmer in the US shares the challenges: ‘It’s not easy’ Ockert du Plessis has been sharing his experiences living abroad on his TikTok account. After being retrenched in South Africa, the qualified electrician moved to the US with his family in 2021. He explained that he spent four years without work before researching opportunities to move to America. Despite lacking any farming experience, Ockert and his family were able to secure a job with the help of another farmer. Through this role, he gained valuable experience and eventually found another job that further developed his skills. Responding to a follower, Ockert claimed that South Africans, particularly Afrikaners, hoping to work abroad should have some experience. While he admitted that it was “possible,” he added that farmers in America were looking for skilled workers. He said, “It gets tough… It’s who and what you know. It’s a dog-eat-dog world.” He added, Don’t let farming in America be your only option; there are other international job opportunities.” In another viral video from 2023, Ockert du Plessis claims that his move to the US was the best option for him as an Afrikaner. He said: “We all know about the state of South Africa. America is worth it. I take care of my family more than what I could; I save more than I could. We drive better cars; I can pay off my house quicker. “Will I do it for the rest of my life? No! But while God has given me this chance to work here, I will work here”. COUPLE BEGS TRUMP FOR HELP Meanwhile, an Afrikaner couple has requested US President Donald Trump to grant them refugee status as a matter of urgency. In a TikTok, Armand Cilliers and his wife Vilanie claimed that their environment was “unliveable due to racial discrimination” and “systematic injustice.” The couple claimed that they had been the victims of farm attacks, which were a “grim and frequent occurrence.” Vilaner said: “This is not living or merely existing. This is a targeted rat race in a maze to keep us hostage and trapped, with the only outcome being gathered and killed. It is not a question of if we die; it is a question of when”. Like many Afrikaners, the couple added that they hoped to be considered for President Trump’s refugee status programme. She added: “We long for the American dream we hear about. We want to be contributing citizens to a country that puts God and family first. Our family shares your vision.”

Economic Growth: South Africa Vs Poland

Economic growth in South Africa and Poland reveals a clear winner Daily Investor • 15 April 2025 https://dailyinvestor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/South-Africa-Poland-1024x576.jpg Although both South Africa and Poland became democracies in the early nineties, their economic growth and GDP per capita had very different trajectories. South Africa held its first democratic elections in 1994, after which the new government inherited a struggling economy. The economy’s annual average growth rate was 1.0% between 1985 and 1990, falling to 0.2% between 1990 and 1994. President Nelson Mandela and Deputy President Thabo Mbeki stabilised the country’s finances and achieved an average economic growth rate of 3.0% between 1994 and 2000. It created a solid foundation for future growth, which was achieved after Mbeki took over the presidency from Mandela. Under Mbeki, with Trevor Manuel as Finance Minister, the country achieved an average economic growth rate of 4.2%. Mbeki’s administration saw the country run consistent budget surpluses, reducing government debt and enhancing its credit rating. However, it changed rapidly after Jacob Zuma dethroned Mbeki as ANC President and Pravin Gordhan took over from Manuel as Finance Minister. South Africa’s strong GDP growth during the Mbeki era stopped, and the country’s debt rapidly increased. The trend accelerated under Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency, with many economists warning that South Africa is facing a fiscal cliff. In 2008/09, South Africa’s gross loan debt amounted to R627 billion, or 26% of gross domestic product (GDP). Net loan debt was R526 billion, or 21.8% of GDP. Over the next fifteen years, under Zuma and Ramaphosa, the government’s gross loan debt ballooned to R5.21 trillion, or 73.9% of GDP. Under Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s average real GDP growth rate was 2.6%, which increased to 4.2% under Thabo Mbeki. However, it plummeted to 1.7% under Jacob Zuma’s and declined further to 0.6% under Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency. https://dailyinvestor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/5.jpg Poland’s economic growth Poland became a Soviet satellite state under the influence of Joseph Stalin at the end of the Second World War. The Polish Committee of National Liberation, a communist party, took governing control in Poland with Stalin’s backing. The Polish Workers Party took over in 1948 and built a communist state over the following decade. Industries were nationalised and land was expropriated and redistributed. Poland became a government-controlled economy. Through the 1960s and 1970s, Poland started facing significant spikes in food prices, which the government delegated in an attempt to reduce its government deficit. During this period, Poland borrowed significant amounts of money from the West, leaving Poland with significant debt. Resistance followed with the formation of the Solidarity trade union, which stood for workers’ rights and freedom of speech. They also stood against the communist government’s use of intimidation and force to control citizens into silence and limit their freedoms. The Polish government implemented martial law on its citizens to prevent the Solidarity movement from growing. By 1988, Poland faced mass strikes and unrest, and the government could not suppress the growing demand for change within Poland. This led to a partially free election in June 1989, where the Solidarity union won by a landslide victory. This led to the amendment of Poland’s constitution and the disbandment of the communist party. By 1993, the last Soviet troops left the country. Today, Poland is a democratic republic with Western values, including freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and a free press. It also implements the rule of law and the separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. https://dailyinvestor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1-4.jpg Poland versus South Africa Poland became a democracy at a similar time to South Africa’s, and by 1995, their GDP per capita was almost identical. However, where Poland moved from communism to a free-market economy and capitalism, South Africa became more socialist. Poland privatised state-owned enterprises, opened the economy to international trade, and joined the European Union. These changes helped Poland become one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe and rapidly increase its GDP per capita. Poland went from a struggling socialist economy into a thriving, modern, market-driven country. It is one of post-communist Europe’s biggest economic success stories. In comparison, South Africa went the other way and became deeply steeped in communist and socialist idealism. South Africa’s economic policies became business-unfriendly, and the state increased non-productive expenditure. Cadre deployment also caused widespread mismanagement and corruption, and state-owned enterprises collapsed. The result was that South Africa’s GDP per capita declined, compared to Poland’s, which significantly increased. https://dailyinvestor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1-3.jpghttps://dailyinvestor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/4-2.jpg Warm regards Cliff photo CLIFF HALL indlovu@axxess.co.za 0827810544

South Sudan Is Falling Into A Civil War

A Perfect Storm: A New Civil War in South Sudan Threatens Entire Region South Sudan When oil-rich South Sudan split off from Sudan in 2011, there were great hopes for the world’s youngest country. Two years later, those hopes were dashed by a civil war. Since then, a shaky peace established by an agreement in 2018 between President Salva Kiir’s South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Government (SPLM-IG), aligned with the Dinka people, and Vice President Riek Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), aligned with the Nuer ethnic group, has held. That’s now falling apart, as a standoff between Kiir and Machar is once again threatening to ignite a new round of ethnic killing that could destroy the fragile country and impact the entire region. “South Sudan is teetering on the edge of a relapse into civil war,” said Nicholas Haysom, the head of the United Nations mission in South Sudan. “A conflict would erase all the hard-won gains made since the 2018 peace deal was signed. And it would devastate not only South Sudan but the entire region, which simply cannot afford another war.” South Sudan broke off from Sudan and won independence in 2011 after years of internecine warfare pitting the mostly Muslim Sudan to the north against the mainly Christian and animist south. Two years later, civil war broke out in South Sudan after President Kiir and Vice President Machar began feuding. About 400,000 people died in the five-year conflict, more than 2.4 million people fled the country, and another 2.3 million were displaced internally. Much of the fighting stopped after the peace agreement in 2018, which divided power between the two sides. Still, not all of the groups that eventually became involved in the war signed on to the agreement, the Associated Press reported. And the peace agreement itself was not properly implemented, said analysts. “Make no mistake: War never stopped in South Sudan,” wrote Clémence Pinaud of Indiana University and author of War and Genocide in South Sudan in Foreign Policy magazine. “The peace agreement was already under threat.” The latest escalation of violence erupted in early March after a youth militia from the Nuer called the White Army overran South Sudanese army barracks in the city of Nasir, in the oil-rich Upper Nile province. It attacked a UN helicopter which was attempting to evacuate the captured soldiers and their leaders, killing 28 people. In response, Kiir blamed Machar and his forces and launched retaliatory aerial bombardments on civilian areas in Upper Nile State, using barrel bombs that allegedly contained highly flammable accelerants. Kiir has also cracked down on officials and communities associated with Machar and entered the vice president’s home to arrest him. Soon after, the party ousted Machar, deepening divisions within the Nuer community, too. Even before the attack in March, the conflict had been heating up. In the first few months of this year, for example, Kiir’s forces attacked opposition forces, politicians, Nuer people, and other ethnic communities in states such as Western Equatoria and Bahr el-Ghazal, as well as Nasir. Now, witnesses say soldiers are filling the streets around the capital, Juba, and surrounding areas as the White Army and national forces mobilize. Meanwhile, soldiers from Uganda are arriving to help Kiir’s forces. Observers say the situation is reminiscent of the eve of the civil war in 2013. “What happens in the coming days will determine the oil producer’s fate and that of the wider region,” wrote Bloomberg. “A return to fighting would mean active conflict with the potential for major civilian casualties engulfing a swathe of eastern Africa stretching from the Great Lakes to the Red Sea. That would have ripple effects, potentially drawing in Uganda … and Ethiopia, which shares a border with the nation.” And it could widen further, involving Sudan, where the government’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) continue to battle the Rapid Support Forces (RSF): Both are backed by an array of foreign actors including Russia, Turkey, Egypt, China, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, the International Crisis group warned. “From there, it risks merging with the war in Sudan, potentially triggering prolonged proxy fighting in South Sudan,” the think tank wrote, with SAF and RSF forces overrunning parts of South Sudan. “It could result in renewed massacres and ethnic cleansing, turn South Sudan’s territory into a free-for-all of various militias and illicit activity, and open a new arena for a proxy war in the region.” Before the breakdown of the peace agreement, the young country was already struggling with 2 million internally displaced people, 1.1 million refugees fleeing the war in Sudan, 7.7 million people facing “catastrophic” levels of hunger, and an economy that has all but collapsed, partly due to the war in Sudan. “All the dark clouds of a perfect storm have descended upon the people of the world’s newest country – and one of the poorest,” said UN Chief António Guterres. “Let’s not mince words … What we are seeing is darkly reminiscent of the 2013 … civil war.” South Sudanese say they can’t handle another one. “Another war will destroy our lives,” Choul Magil, whose brother and father were killed in the civil war, and which led him to flee the country for years, told the Wall Street Journal. “I can’t afford to run away again. I wish Kiir and Machar would resolve their differences and leave us in peace.”

American Preacher Rescued From Kidnappers In South Africa After Gun Battle

American preacher rescued from kidnappers in South Africa after gun battle Share CNN logoUpdated: 7:50 AM EDT Apr 16, 2025 Infinite Scroll Enabled By Nimi Princewill, CNN Josh Sullivan Josh Sullivan SOURCE: Fellowship Baptist Church An American preacher who was taken hostage by armed men while preaching a sermon in a South African township last week has been rescued in a fierce gun battle with his kidnappers, police said Wednesday. Josh Sullivan, 45, was kidnapped last Thursday during an evening service in Motherwell, a township in Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, the Fellowship Baptist Church said. Advertisement The South African Police Service said officers launched a rescue operation after receiving intelligence the pastor was being held by his abductors at a house in KwaMagxaki, another township in the city. A rescue team was sent to the location, a police statement said, “leading to a high-intensity shootout” that left “three unidentified suspects” dead. “As officers approached the house, they observed a vehicle on the premises. The suspects inside the vehicle, upon seeing law enforcement, allegedly attempted to flee and opened fire on the team,” the statement read. It added that Sullivan, whom the Associated Press reported is from Tennessee, was found inside the vehicle “miraculously unharmed” and “is currently in an excellent condition.” Tom Hatley, whom Sullivan had said on his website he was training under, also announced the rescue. “Josh has been released,” Hatley wrote in a Facebook post along with a picture of Sullivan and his family. “I just got ‘the go ahead to let it be known,’” he added while urging for privacy from the public. “Also, PLEASE respect The Sullivans' privacy and their parents. A lot of folks love The Sullivans and they love you back, but give them some time,” he said in another post. Kidnappings are at a record high in South Africa with an average of 51 abductions every day, authorities said last year. The country also grapples with deadly mass shootings and a murder rate that is among the highest in the world. Sullivan’s abduction comes two months after renowned Islamic cleric Muhsin Hendricks was shot dead by armed men in Bethelsdorp, also in the Eastern Cape province. Sullivan, who describes himself as “a church planting missionary,” arrived in South Africa in 2018 with plans to “finish language school … and plant a church to the Xhosa speaking people,” he said on his website.

Zimbabwe Begins Paying Off White Farmers

Zimbabwe Begins Paying White Farmers For Seized Land Zimbabwe Zimbabwe’s government began paying compensation to White farmers who saw their land seized under a controversial government program in the early 2000s, the BBC wrote. This payment is the first installment of a 2020 compensation agreement signed by the state and local White farmers, which will see Zimbabwe pay a total of $3.5 billion in compensation. The payments will cover 378 farms out of the 740 deemed eligible for compensation. Only one percent of the total $311 million assigned for the first round of payments will be paid to farmers in cash, and the rest will be paid through US-dollar-denominated Treasury bonds. Now that the payments have started, more farmers have shown an interest in receiving compensation, even if the majority have yet to accept the deal and continue to retain their ownership deeds. Part of the reluctance of some farmers to accept the deal are the terms: The government has agreed to only compensate former farm owners for “improvements” made on the land – such as buildings or wells – while refusing to pay for the land itself, arguing it was unjustly seized by colonialists. It is prioritizing compensation for foreign investors with farms protected by bilateral investment agreements. When Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980 and shook off White minority rule, most of the country’s farming land was in the hands of about 4,000 White farmers. Land reform starting in 2000 aimed at restitution, mainly undoing colonial-era landgrabs from Black farmers, according to the Associated Press. Since then, thousands of White farmers were pushed off their land by government forces and vigilantes, often violently, in an attempt to rectify colonial-era land seizures. However, the program spooked Western investors and strained relations with the West. As a result of the program, Zimbabwe has been frozen out of the global financial system for over two decades, leaving the southern African country with a tanking economy and a massive foreign debt. Analysts see the compensation plan positively, saying it could be effective in repairing relationships with the West and averting international court judgments.

Gabon: The Emperor's New Clothes

The Emperor’s New Clothes: Coup Leader Ahead in Gabon’s Elections Gabon In August 2023, Gabon’s rulers were deposed in a coup. But unlike other countries in West Africa that have experienced coups, many voters hailed the change. After all, the Bongo family that presided over the country for 56 years were rapacious, brutal, and widely despised. “I am joyful,” Jules Lebigui, an unemployed young man in the capital Libreville, told Reuters soon after the coup. “After almost 60 years, the Bongos are out.” After the coup, the first in Gabon, its leader Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema and the ruling junta formed the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions, dissolved the constitution and all state institutions, and set about building new ones they pledged would establish democracy in the country. Soon after, he became interim president and oversaw the implementation of a new constitution, which was approved by a referendum in 2024, and a new electoral law in January. Nguema won plaudits for freeing political prisoners detained by Ali Bongo, the former president, allowing exiles to return home and launching an anti-graft drive that targeted the Bongo clan and other elites. And to build support for this transition, he also allowed some members of Bongo’s regime to participate in his government along with opposition figures: For example, he allowed Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo to return as president of the country’s top constitutional court, noted Africanews. The transitional government also introduced free school tuition, repaired more than 370 miles of roads, and launched youth work programs to tackle an unemployment rate of almost 40 percent among those under 35. He vowed to return the country to civilian rule sooner rather than later and initially set elections for August 2025 before moving them up by four months. The interim president did, more or less, what he said he would do, to the widespread approval of the public, observers said. And now, ending months of speculation over whether he would run, he’s the front-runner in presidential elections set for April 12. “Gabon is experiencing a historic moment,” Apoli Bertrand Kameni of the University of Freiburg in Germany told Deutsche Welle. “Things will follow the course (set) by the new authorities because for many of the Gabonese, the military has produced more achievements in one year than the old regime (did in decades).” Still, in spite of Nguema – a member of the Bongo clan himself – ushering in numerous changes, it’s not quite the fresh start that many in the country had hoped for, say analysts. “In other words, far from being a revolution to overthrow the old order, the ouster of Ali Bongo was a palace coup, and all that has followed it essentially amounted to ostensibly reshuffling an intricately stacked deck,” wrote World Politics Review. “But that in turn underscores the fact that Oligui does not embody the clean break with the past that he has long claimed to represent and which many Gabonese yearn for.” For example, some believe the changes strengthen the presidency to a dangerous extent. Others say term limits are necessary to prevent another multi-decade dynasty. And in spite of the enthusiasm of the country’s new rulers to hold elections, some members of the opposition say the new constitution and electoral code favor the junta’s candidate. Analysts agree. Despite the unlevel playing field, 22 opposition leaders submitted their candidacies to the Ministry of Interior, which is now in charge of elections, but only seven were accepted, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Opposition candidates with the most name recognition, like Albert Ossa and Pierre Moussavou, for example, were barred from running due to an age limit that was written into the new electoral code. Others were prohibited from running due to inadequate parental citizenship and marriage certificate documentation. “Oligui has followed a carefully choreographed sequence of actions to pave an unobstructed pathway to claim the presidency,” the think tank wrote. “Given the legacy of vote rigging in Gabon and the tightly structured post-coup transition, prospects of a free and fair process are dim.” Economically, things have not changed much either. Gabon is the third richest country in Africa as measured by GDP per capita, according to the World Bank. Even so, about one-third of Gabon’s 2.5 million people live in poverty. The country is also still far too dependent on oil in spite of attempts to diversify its economy. Its unemployment is high as its public debt, expected to exceed 80 percent of GDP this year. Regardless, Oligui is expected to win the election. And he’ll likely get the benefit of the doubt from the public – for a while, say analysts. “The positive thing is that since we went through a military coup, I want to believe that most of the population of Gabon wants a better democracy,” Herbert Mba Aki of the Omar Bongo University in Libreville, told OkayAfrica. “I want to believe that these new rules (set by the new constitution) will be respected and not be used for political purposes or for personal purposes.”

Independence Veterans Pressure Zimbabwean President To Resign

Independence Veterans Pressure Zimbabwean President To Resign Zimbabwe Police are on heightened alert and patrols in the country’s capital Harare and other cities this week, following calls by veterans for mass protests against President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his plans to extend his term in office until 2030, Reuters reported. More than 95 people were arrested at demonstrations Monday and Tuesday with the streets in Harare and other cities otherwise quiet as many businesses and schools closed their doors, and traffic fell to a handful of vehicles. Authorities reportedly fired tear gas at protesters, who were chanting “We reject 2030” – referring to plans by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party to extend Mnangagwa’s presidential term. The demonstrations were led by veterans of the country’s war of independence, which ended in 1979, with protest leaders calling on Zimbabweans “not to be cowards,” added the BBC. Veterans remain influential in ZANU-PF and initially supported Mnangagwa, who came to power in 2017 following a coup that ousted his former mentor, the longtime dictator Robert Mugabe. But veterans have grown resentful of the president and accused him of attempting to cling to power. In January, ZANU-PF said it wanted to extend the incumbent’s term in office by two years until 2030. Meanwhile, some veterans want Vice President Constantino Chiwenga to replace Mnangagwa. Chiwenga has not made any public comments about such calls. Meanwhile, officials have denied rumors of a dispute between the vice president and president. Mnangagwa – whose final five-year term expires in 2028 – has repeatedly denied plans to prolong his presidency, although veterans claim that he is pursuing an extension through proxies. Zimbabwe’s 2013 constitution limits presidents to two five-year terms.