South African Breeder Is Accused of $14 Million Rhino Horn Smuggling Ring

South African breeder is accused of $14 million rhino horn smuggling ring By Michelle Gumede, 10 hours ago South AfricaRhino Syndicate Crime Invision South African prosecutors have accused a well-known rhino breeder of operating a global rhino horn smuggling network alongside five other people. John Hume, 83, owns one of the world's largest rhino herds at his Johannesburg ranch. He and the others are accused of a scheme involving 964 rhino horns valued at $14.1 million. Hume has not publicly commented. Hume was granted $5,000 bond by the Pretoria magistrates court, according to the National Prosecuting Authority, after he and the others handed themselves over to police on Tuesday. Bail conditions included turning over their passports. Prosecutors said they next appear in court on Dec. 9. A seven-year investigation by South African authorities found the suspects allegedly secured permits under false pretenses to buy and sell rhino horns domestically while funneling the horns into illegal markets in Southeast Asia. Under South African law, domestic trade is permitted with valid permits. However, international commercial trade in rhino horn is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. According to a blog promoting the private reserve that he opened in 2009, Hume and his staff at Rhinos of Buffalo Dream Ranch care for over 1,600 rhinos, including over 1,000 that have been bred there. The six suspects, including a lawyer, insurance broker and game reserve manager, are charged with 55 counts including racketeering, fraud, theft and money laundering. The country's environment minister, Dion George, called the investigation “a powerful demonstration of South Africa’s resolve to protect its natural heritage.” South Africa fights an ongoing battle to protect endangered rhinos, with a reported 103 killed between Jan. 1 and March 31, according to the government. Authorities have focused in recent years on criminal syndicates they believe are behind much of the poaching. The country has the world's largest rhino population with an estimated 16,000 to 18,000, according to conservation groups. That includes white rhinos and the critically endangered black ones.

Angola: Nothing To Lose Protestors Will Continue Despite Crack Down

Nothing to Lose: Frustrated Angolans Say They Will Continue Protests Despite Crackdowns Angola A few weeks ago, the National Association of Taxi Drivers of Angola called a strike to protest a 33 percent increase in the price of fuel in the capital city of Luanda. The local police department, however, banned the strike, calling it a rebellion. The strike morphed into a popular uprising in Angola, one of Africa’s leading oil producers. Thousands of people hit the streets in cities across the country for three days to protest the ban, the petrol price increase, and the rising cost of living. “The fuel price issue is just the last straw that has reignited widespread public discontent,” Laura Macedo, who was participating in the protests, told the BBC. “Hunger is rife. People are fed up.” There were violent clashes between protesters and police, who used live ammunition and accused the strike leaders of terrorism. When the violence was over, dozens lay dead, hundreds more were injured, and more than 1,000 had been jailed. Analysts say such events are routine for Angola, which has been ruled with an iron fist by the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975. But many Angolans are tired of the situation now, say observers. “The protesters are frustrated not only by the fuel hike, but also …the perceived indifference of the government to the struggles of everyday Angolans,” wrote Deutsche Welle. The government says the petrol price hike is necessary: Subsidies for fuel account for about 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), and debt exceeds 60 percent of GDP. It adds that the crackdown was justified because of the looting and vandalism that occurred during the protests, calling the unrest “unpatriotic” and a threat to “unity, reconciliation, peace and progress.” But observers say almost all protests, no matter how peaceful, elicit harsh responses. For example, earlier this year, the Angolan Student Movement took to the streets to demand more investment in public education and improved conditions for teachers and students. Police responded with violence and arrested at least 50 students and three journalists covering the protest. A protest in early July against the rise in fuel prices and the elimination of subsidies for public transportation was also met with excessive force, wrote Human Rights Watch. Desperate conditions in Angola mean that protesters are going to keep coming back, say analysts. The capital may be full of gleaming skyscrapers and colonial architecture, but that shiny exterior hides grim statistics. Despite its oil-rich soil, Angola’s minimum monthly wage is under $76, one of the lowest globally. The average person earns $200 a month, and more than 80 percent of those with jobs work in the informal sector. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate among 15-24 years old is 54 percent. As a result, the MPLA has sunk deeply in the polls. President João Lourenço came to power after a disputed election in 2017, replacing José Eduardo dos Santos, who ran the country for 38 years. Lourenço promised to reform the economy, restore democracy, and crack down on corruption. But midway through his second and final term, he hasn’t delivered, observers say. Instead, the opposition has made gains, with the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) winning the capital in the 2022 elections and the MPLA just barely squeezing out a majority nationwide. Now some worry that the protests will continue and become more violent, eliciting harsher crackdowns and threatening the stability of the country. “A greater use of force won’t stop future protests,” David Boio, a sociology professor in the central Angolan city of Huambo told Bloomberg. “These young people have nothing to lose.”

Fighting Resumes Between The Congo and M23 Rebels Despite Cease Fire

Fighting Resumes Between DRC and M23 Rebels Despite Ceasefire Democratic Republic of the Congo / Rwanda Fighting has broken out between the Congolese army and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), despite agreeing to a ceasefire last month, Le Monde reported. The DRC and the M23 rebels, which have been clashing since Friday near the town of Mulamba in the South Kivu province, signed a declaration of principles in Qatar on July 19 and a permanent ceasefire following a US-brokered peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda in late June. M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka accused the DRC on Monday of “offensive military maneuvers with a view to a large-scale conflict.” On Tuesday, the DRC army said daily attacks by M23 were taking place and that it “reserved the right to respond,” added France 24. According to the declaration of principles, the DRC and the M23 rebels committed to a ban on aerial, ground, maritime, and lake-based attacks, as well as acts of sabotage, hate propaganda, and any attempt to gain new ground by force. The deal also held a provision to restore DRC authority across the eastern part of the country held by the M23 rebels. M23 has gained significant territory in resource-rich eastern DRC after it invaded the region earlier this year, also taking the regional centers of Goma and Bukavu. The conflict has killed thousands of people and displaced millions, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Nigerian Military Target Bandit Group Terrorizing Local Population

Nigerian Military Target Bandit Group Terrorizing Local Population Nigeria The Nigerian military launched air and ground raids over the weekend that killed more than 100 gunmen, known locally as bandits, suspected to be members of criminal gangs operating in the northwestern Zamfara state, the BBC reported. The air force said it conducted the raid Sunday in the restive Zamfara state’s Bukkuyum area, where fighter jets and ground troops targeted a gathering of more than 400 gang members at their camp in the Makakkari forest. The operation aimed to eliminate the gunmen, suspected of carrying out high-profile kidnappings in the region, after surveillance detected the bandits preparing to attack a farming village. A spokesperson for the air force said the strikes killed several notorious bandit leaders and dozens of their soldiers, including some trying to flee the area, according to France 24 Armed groups of bandits have plagued communities in northwest and central Nigeria for years, attacking villages, abducting residents for ransom, and setting homes on fire after looting them. In the past two weeks, armed gangs have attacked nearby settlements, leaving dozens of people dead and abducting numerous others. In an attack on Bukkuyum’s Adabka village Friday, an unknown number of residents were kidnapped and at least 13 members of security forces were killed. Nigeria’s banditry crisis began as a dispute over land and water rights between herders and farmers but has now morphed into an organized crime war, with gangs targeting rural communities that have little to no government support. In these impoverished areas, cattle rustling and kidnapping are lucrative activities, while the gangs also impose taxes on farmers and artisanal miners. The conflict is worsening malnutrition in the northwest by forcing people to abandon their farms, a situation further complicated by climate change and Western aid cuts. The violence has persisted despite efforts by the government, with analysts explaining that the military is stretched thin while bandits expand beyond their stronghold in the northwest into central Nigeria. Bandits, mostly driven by financial gain, have been teaming up with Nigeria’s jihadist groups, which have been engaged in a separate armed insurgency in the northeast for the past 16 years.

(2 Year Old Belgian Nobleman To BE Tried For The Murder Of The Leader Of The Congo Over 60 Years Ago

The Long Arc of Atonement: Belgium to Try Nonagenarian Nobleman For Six-Decade-Old Congolese Murder Belgium On June 30, 1960, Patrice Lumumba gave a landmark speech at a handover ceremony marking the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s independence from Belgium, telling the audience in an indictment of colonialism that “…(it was a) humiliating slavery which was imposed on us by force.” With that speech, the fiery critic of colonial rule became an African icon. But the country’s first prime minister also angered the West, especially Belgium and its ruler, King Baudouin, who was in attendance that day, and who, according to witnesses, spoke about independence as if it were a gift from his country. Seven months later, Lumumba was dead, ousted in coup, shot and dismembered with his body burned in acid – essentially disappeared – with the backing of Belgium and the United States: Belgium opposed Lumumba’s plans to nationalize the country’s mines, while the US was threatened by his closeness to the Soviet Union in the midst of the Cold War. Now, more than six decades later, Belgium is set to try one of its scions of society, Étienne, Count Davignon, 92, for complicity in Lumumba’s murder in what is the latest attempt by European countries to atone for their colonial legacies. “There are very few cases where a former colonial state agrees to address colonial crimes and to consider (trying perpetrators) … even if it’s a very long time after,” Christophe Marchand, a lawyer for the Lumumba family, told the Guardian. “The idea is to have a judicial trial and to (discover) the truth about what happened, and not only the role of Étienne Davignon – because he was just one part in the whole criminal enterprise.” In June, Belgian prosecutors announced they would try Davignon, who in 1961 was a well-connected diplomat-in-training in the Congo when Lumumba, 35 – along with two other officials – were killed. Davignon is the only one out of 10 Belgians accused of complicity in the murders who is still alive. If he goes on trial, Davignon would be the first Belgian to face justice in Lumumba’s killing. “We’re moving in the right direction,” Juliana Lumumba, the daughter of the former Congolese leader, told Belgian broadcaster RTBF. “What we’re seeking is, first and foremost, the truth.” The “truth” about Lumumba’s murder has been the subject of numerous books and articles over the past few decades, and now even two recent films. Lumumba became Congo’s first prime minister after it gained independence from Belgium, whose rule was brutal even by colonial standards. Meanwhile, besides being despised and feared by Belgium and the United States, he was presiding over a divided country and was ousted in a coup orchestrated by separatists a few months after taking office. Imprisoned, he escaped but was recaptured and transferred to the southern region of Katanga, where he was executed on January 17, 1961, with the support of Belgian mercenaries. His body was never recovered. Davignon, meanwhile, who went on to serve in high-level positions in the Belgian government and also in business, also served as vice president of the European Commission in the 1980s. He is accused of involvement in the “unlawful detention and transfer of a prisoner of war,” his “deprivation of the right to a fair trial,” and his “inhuman and degrading treatment,” Belgian prosecutors said. He had also been charged with intent to kill but that charge is expected to be dropped. The first hearing in the case is set for January 2026. The case is the latest effort by Belgium to reckon with its role in Lumumba’s killing.  In 1999, Belgium launched a parliamentary commission to examine the murder after the publication of an explosive book on the subject. The commission concluded that Belgium had “moral responsibility” for the assassination. The government apologized to the Democratic Republic of the Congo a year later. About a decade later, Juliana Lumumba’s brother François filed a complaint with the courts, accusing the Belgian state of war crimes and torture, and of complicity in the murder of his father. In 2022, Belgium returned a tooth belonging to Lumumba to his family: It was seized by Belgian authorities in 2016 from the daughter of a policeman, Gérard Soete, who had admitted to dismembering Lumumba and the other two officials, and taking two teeth, while working in the Congo. These efforts fall short, say Lumumba’s family members, who add that his murder reverberates to this day. “It was Congolese democracy that was beheaded with Lumumba’s assassination – Congo still suffers from it today,” a relative of the former prime minister, Jean-Jacques Lumumba, told Afrique XXI. “The fact that this democracy was halted in its early stages plunged the country into the chaos we still know.” Share this story

Mali: Dozens Of Soldiers Arrested For Alleged Coup

Dozens of Soldiers Arrested in Mali For Alleged Coup Mali Malian officials arrested dozens of soldiers suspected of plotting to overthrow the ruling military junta, which itself came to power through a coup, amid growing discontent among the military and the public over the ongoing turmoil across the nation, France 24 reported. A Malian security official told Agence France-Presse that at least 20 people were arrested, while a lawmaker in the National Transition Council put the number at 50, saying they were all soldiers who shared the goal of overthrowing the junta. Among those arrested was Gen. Abass Dembele, a respected military officer and former governor of the central Mopti region. The wave of arrests highlights rising tensions within the military government amid reports of a jihadist insurgency gaining ground in the north region of the West African country. Analysts say there is also growing political tension following the junta’s crackdown on former prime ministers Moussa Mara and Choguel Maïga, accused of damaging the state’s reputation and embezzlement, the BBC noted. Mara, a vocal critic of the military government, has been in custody since Aug. 1, while Maïga faces ongoing judicial proceedings. Junta leader Gen. Assimi Goïta, 41, seized power in a coup in 2020 and then again in 2021. He had promised elections to return the country to civilian rule last year but has not set a date. In July, the transitional period was extended by five years, allowing Goïta to stay in power until at least 2030. In May, the junta also dissolved all political parties after rare anti-government protests, a move that Mara called a serious setback to the reconciliation efforts launched by the military leaders last year. Mali has been grappling with Islamist insurgencies since 2012, a key reason for the military takeover. However, violent attacks by militants linked to Al-Qaeda or Islamic State groups have escalated in the country. Along with its neighbors, Niger and Burkina Faso, the junta expelled French troops after the coups and formed new alliances, notably with Russia, whose mercenary Wagner Group and its successor Africa Corps have helped in the fights against jihadists and separatists, but are also accused of human rights violations.

Zimbabwe: Is "Trying To Right A Wrong" Zimbabwe Divises The Country

In Trying To Right a ‘Wrong,’ Zimbabwe Divides the Country Zimbabwe When Zimbabwe earlier this year decided to pay reparations to White farmers who were forced off their land 25 years ago – often at gunpoint – many believed the country could turn the page on its past. However, most of the farmers offered money said thanks, but no thanks. They believe they are getting a bad deal, saying that the majority of the payment, in bonds that mature in 10 years, is too little, too late. “The limited number of farmers who have accepted the government’s revised deal have generally done so because they are destitute and require urgent funds for food, accommodation and healthcare,” Deon Theron, 71, who was forced off his farm in 2008 and represents 1,000 other White farmers, told the Associated Press, adding that there are no guarantees the bonds would be honored in a decade. White farmers also say the new program is a stunt to curry favor with US President Donald Trump, who began a refugee resettlement program this year for White South African farmers he claims face threats from the government. Meanwhile, the push to reconcile the past is dividing the country, with many Zimbabweans furious over the deal. “There is no justification whatsoever for compensating the former commercial farmers because for decades, they made huge amounts of money from that land,” Kudzai Mutisi, a Zimbabwean analyst, told Voice of America. “And that land, they acquired these through colonization – they never bought the land – it is something that they acquired through use of brutal force. But here we are: A Black government trying to compensate the abuser. It is irrational, it is bizarre and it should be stopped immediately.” Before the turn of this century, the country had about 4,000 White farmers. White Zimbabweans then made up 4 percent of the population and owned half of all the land in the country. But long-time dictator Robert Mugabe, facing growing opposition to his rule, particularly from independence war veterans, launched a land reform program to seize these parcels in 2000, ostensibly to redress colonial-era land grabs: Zimbabweans were violently forced off their land after the British arrived in 1890. His plan became Africa’s biggest modern-day land revolution, say analysts, while bringing down the wrath of the Western world on the country in the form of economic sanctions, White flight, and the exit of multinationals. The economy collapsed. In the ensuing years, the agricultural sector, the backbone of the Zimbabwean economy, collapsed because many of those who took over the farms didn’t have the skills, the finances, the labor or sometimes the interest to manage the farms. After Mugabe was ousted in 2017, his successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, inherited a broken economy, barely functioning farms, food shortages, and soaring unemployment. In an effort to turn the situation around, he’s pushing the compensation program in the hopes of getting foreign loans, investment, and the restructuring of the country’s huge foreign debt – a condition imposed by Western donors. The program, under the law, is to provide money to the farmers only for infrastructure and improvements to the land such as buildings. The land itself, says the government, was illegally seized from its original owners and merits no compensation. The government is offering compensation totaling $3.5 billion but the farmers can only receive 1 percent of the total in cash – the rest is in US dollar-denominated treasury bonds that mature in a decade. The payouts are to 3,500 White Zimbabwean farmers, 400 Black farmers, and a few dozen foreign farmers, mainly Europeans. However, the farmers want a $10 billion settlement in cash immediately. Meanwhile, veterans of the 1970s war of independence say they are angry at how long land reform took following independence from the United Kingdom in 1980: British land appropriations were at the heart of that struggle. As a result, some veterans are suing over the program, saying that Zimbabwe can’t afford to pay the White farmers while the rest of the country is struggling. They add that the compensation agreement was kept secret, a violation of the law. Others say the original 2000 land reform program didn’t benefit many landless Black Zimbabweans but instead doled out land to those connected to the Mugabe regime and other wealthy elites, to reward loyalty. Rejoice Ngwenya, a political analyst based in Harare, says Mugabe’s land reform was not about Black empowerment. “It had motives: firstly, to pacify war veterans that were agitating for more recognition – secondly, to punish white commercial farmers who were supporting the opposition,” he told Al Jazeera. “The man was insecure.” Analysts added that while the 2000 land reform program did help some Black Zimbabweans, some Black farmers saw their land taken from them, too. Still, a small group of farmers has accepted the deal, most of them elderly, ill, and desperate for the cash. “I believe this is the only opportunity. We can’t wait 10 years for another deal,” 71-year-old Arthur Baisley told the BBC. “It was difficult for my family in the beginning but life goes on, you have to move on.”

Cape Town To Get Second Tallest Skyscraper In Africa

Cape Town CBD to get second-tallest skyscraper After more than a decade of planning, speculation, and redesign, Cape Town is officially entering a bold new era of urban development. Author picture By Garrin Lambley 09-08-25 13:46 in Property Cape Town skyscraper After more than a decade of planning, speculation, and redesign, Cape Town is officially entering a bold new era of urban development. Image: Supplied After more than a decade of planning, speculation, and redesign, Cape Town is officially entering a bold new era of urban development. The city’s second-tallest skyscraper, a 41-storey mixed-use tower, has received final approval from Building Development Management (BDM), clearing the way for full-scale construction at 1 Bree Street. Cape Town’s tallest building is the Portside Tower, which stands at 139m. ADVERTISEMENT The landmark project, which has already begun preliminary demolition works, is poised to become a new architectural icon in the Mother City, dramatically altering the skyline and revitalising the heart of the Central Business District. Ambitious Scale and Vision Standing at a projected height of 131 metres, the new tower will encompass 66 000m² of developed space. The building will feature: 505 hotel rooms 270 residential apartments 4 000m² of retail space A luxurious 22nd-floor swimming pool with sweeping city views The design also thoughtfully integrates a heritage building on the corner of the site, merging historic charm with contemporary glass and steel architecture. ‘Acsiopolis 2’: A Nickname for a Landmark Online fans and architecture watchers have already dubbed the development “Acsiopolis 2”, drawing comparisons to the original high-rise of the same name in Sandton, Johannesburg. Much like its northern counterpart, the Cape Town tower aims to blend lifestyle, commerce, and hospitality in a vertical format that reflects global urban design trends. ADVERTISEMENT The project is being led by a prominent developer listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), with an extensive portfolio spanning light industrial, retail, and mixed-use assets both in South Africa and internationally, including in Cyprus. Their experience is expected to deliver a high-quality build that speaks to both scale and sophistication. With its elegant architecture, diverse functionality, and central location, the 1 Bree Street skyscraper is set to become a flagship feature of Cape Town’s future skyline, reinforcing its position as a modern African metropolis. If you can’t go sideways, go up … right? 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Protestors In Ivory Coast Oppose Leader's Fourth Term

Protesters In Ivory Coast Oppose Leader’s Fourth Term Ivory Coast Thousands of people took to the streets of the country’s largest city, Abidjan, over the weekend to protest the exclusion of leading opposition figures from Ivory Coast’s October presidential election, as incumbent President Alassane Ouattara said he would seek a fourth term, the Associated Press reported. On Saturday, demonstrators protested in Yopougon, a densely populated suburb of the city, carrying banners reading “Enough is enough!” and “No true democracy without true justice.” They also voiced support for former President Laurent Gbagbo and Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) leader Tidjane Thiam, who were barred – along with two other opposition figures – from running in the upcoming race. Gbagbo and Thiam formed an alliance earlier this year to challenge Ouattara, who has been in power since 2010. Ouattara, 83, announced in July that he would seek another term, sparking criticism from opponents who accuse him of undermining democracy. Analysts said that Ouattara is able to run because he amended the constitution in 2016 to remove presidential term limits. The move makes the West African president the latest among a growing number of regional leaders who remain in power by changing the rules. There was no immediate response from Ivorian authorities to Saturday’s protest, but past elections in Ivory Coast have been marred by unrest. Ouattara’s bid for a third term in 2020 triggered violence that left several people dead. The president cited unprecedented security, economic, and monetary challenges that required experienced leadership as his reason to run again, according to Agence France-Presse. Ivory Coast, a top producer of cocoa, is one of the biggest economies in West Africa. However, armed groups affiliated with al Qaeda and Islamic State have been spreading from the Sahel region into wealthier West African coastal states, such as Ivory Coast, Togo, and Benin. Share this story

Rwanda Becomes The Latest African Country To Accept U.S. Deportees

Rwanda Becomes Latest African Country To Accept US Deportees Rwanda Rwanda confirmed this week that it will accept up to 250 deportees from the US under a new deal with the Trump administration, becoming the latest country to join Washington’s expanding third-country deportation program, the Associated Press reported. Rwanda government spokesperson Yolande Makolo confirmed the deal but didn’t provide a timeline for the deportations. According to the scheme, the migrants would receive “workforce training, health care, and accommodation to jump start their lives in Rwanda,” Makolo confirmed to the BBC. Rwanda, an East African nation of around 15 million people, will have the right to approve every person considered for resettlement. Rumors of a deal between Rwanda and the US first arose in May, when Rwanda’s foreign affairs minister said that, having endured a genocide in the mid-1990s, the country is guided by a spirit of offering “another chance” to migrants facing issues in countries across the world. Makolo said Rwanda proceeded with the deal with the US because many Rwandan families have experienced the challenges of displacement firsthand. She emphasized that the values of Rwandan society are deeply rooted in reintegration and rehabilitation. Human rights experts, however, warned that deporting migrants to a country that is not their place of origin – known as a third country – could be a violation of international law. In recent years, Rwanda has positioned itself as a destination for migrants that Western countries would like to remove, Reuters noted. However, the country has faced criticism over its human rights record, with concerns that migrants sent there might be deported again to countries where they could face harm and where they might have no ties and not even speak the language. The Rwandan government insists it can offer a safe place for these individuals. Rwanda reached a deal in 2022 with the United Kingdom to take migrants who had traveled to the UK to seek asylum. According to the plan, their asylum claims would be processed in Rwanda, and those approved would remain there instead of returning to the UK. This controversial agreement faced strong criticism from human rights organizations and was abandoned after the UK’s Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional in 2023. The US is seeking additional deals with African nations to take in migrants whose home countries have refused to allow them to return. This is part of US President Donald Trump’s plans to expel people he claims entered the country illegally and labeled as “the worst of the worst.” Eswatini and war-torn South Sudan have already accepted 13 people deported by the US, while Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama have taken in hundreds of Venezuelans and other deportees. Some analysts say the US has used aid and trade to pressure countries such as South Sudan and Eswatini into taking the deportees.

The Ceasefire Between Rwanda and The DRC-Peace Is An Afterthought

In The Ceasefire Between Rwanda And The DRC, Peace Is An Afterthought Democratic Republic of the Congo / Rwanda There was much fanfare after a peace agreement was signed in late June to end decades of warfare between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Officials such as US President Donald Trump hailed the US-brokered agreement as a big step in finally stopping a brutal conflict that has killed thousands and displaced millions just this year. “Today, the violence and destruction comes to an end, and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope and opportunity, harmony, prosperity and peace,” Trump told the foreign ministers of the two countries at the White House signing, calling the agreement the “Washington Accord.” But despite the ceremonies and the plaudits, many observers just shake their heads, saying the peace won’t hold because it wasn’t the main aim in the first place. “While Trump has all but proclaimed a historic peace, worthy in his mind of the Nobel Peace Prize he covets, the war has raged on, deepening a humanitarian catastrophe worsened by the impact of US funding cuts to international aid,” wrote World Politics Review. “These contradictions have fueled skepticism among observers about whether these diplomatic breakthroughs will deliver on the ambitious promises made to the people of the region, or whether they are simply politically expedient transactional exchanges based on narrow security and economic interests.” In this deal, the DRC and Rwanda have agreed to respect each other’s territorial integrity and cease hostilities, while the agreement also paves the way for greater US investment in the DRC’s critical minerals. Another agreement, negotiated by Qatar in July, was signed by the DRC and the M23 militia, the Rwanda-backed rebel group that invaded parts of eastern DRC earlier this year. It pledges to end the fighting in the eastern DRC but doesn’t address Rwandan and M23 withdrawals from that region or when Congolese authority over the captured territory will resume. It does, however, set a date for negotiations for a peace agreement – Aug. 8 – and a deadline 10 days later to finalize a deal. The problem is that both agreements do little to address the root causes of the conflict, omissions that some say will preclude a lasting peace. Others, however, are more optimistic, adding that they promote long-term stability in the region. The fighting between the two countries has its roots in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. After it ended, some of those responsible fled to the DRC to escape retribution from troops led by Paul Kagame, who led a rebel army in the 1990s and has been president of Rwanda since 2000. Since then, Rwanda has periodically invaded the DRC – either directly or through its proxies – it says to capture those former Rwandan soldiers, some of whom formed the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Those attempts have led to two regional wars that killed millions of people in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The fighting, however, continues to this day, now involving more than 120 militias and armed groups active in the eastern provinces of the DRC – some are aligned with Rwanda or the Congolese army, while others fight Burundi or Uganda, or are affiliated with Islamic State. During the most recent flare-up that began in January, the M23 militia, backed by Rwanda, marched into the eastern region and captured territory that included the regional centers of Goma and Bukavu. M23’s brutal advance, which killed 7,000 people and displaced millions, threatened to blow up into another regional war, drawing in Burundi, Uganda, and South Africa. That’s part of the problem with the peace agreements now, say observers. They fail to involve other regional players in a conflict that is broader than just the DRC or Rwanda. Another issue is that it is based on narrow interests beyond peace, say analysts. For example, the US wants to displace China, which dominates the mineral-rich country’s mining sector and open the door for its investors. Qatar is looking out for its existing investments in Rwanda and the DRC. Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, who as per the agreement has promised to disband the FDLR, wants to stay in power and keep his country together. Meanwhile, Rwanda and its M23 partners, which hold the cards, have no interest in leaving the eastern part of the Congo without the threat of harsh sanctions or a steep payoff, say observers, adding that such a carrot-and-stick approach may not be enough to offset the territorial ambitions of Rwanda and the riches they covet from the region. In the DRC, meanwhile, locals speak about the peace deals as if they have heard it all before. “People are tired,” one resident of Goma told the BBC. “They are not interested in talks. All they want is peace.”

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South African Airways Launches Direct Flights between Cape Town and Mauritius

New international route from Cape Town set to launch this December Capetonians can now anticipate a new non-stop international flight from the city directly to the island paradise of Mauritius. By Sundeeka Mungroo 29-07-25 18:04 in Featured international flight A new international flight from Cape Town kicks off this December. Image: Pexels South African Airways (SAA) will expand its regional network by launching its first direct flights between Cape Town and Mauritius. The airline will begin the service on Tuesday, 9 December 2025, giving Western Cape travellers a quicker and more convenient connection to the popular island destination. This new international route is expected to boost tourism in both South Africa and Mauritius. SAA to launch first-ever Cape Town–Mauritius direct route The airline will initially operate three weekly flights to the island on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, according to the following schedule: Outbound flight: Departs Cape Town at 09:25, arriving in Mauritius at 16:30 (approximately five hours). Return flight: Departs Mauritius at 17:20, landing in Cape Town at 21:30. Then, from mid-January to mid-March 2026, the route will shift to twice-weekly operations to align with seasonal travel demand. SAA described the launch as a key milestone in its network strategy as well as a win for leisure travellers. “Connecting Cape Town with Mauritius is a fascinating achievement that our team has been aspiring towards for quite some time,” the airline said, as per BusinessTech. “The introduction of this route demonstrates SAA’s role in promoting leisure travel across the region and supports the broader tourism objectives for both South Africa and Mauritius.” it added. Tags: Cape Town DMumani featured flight Important Mauritius South Africa