A man is charged with 76 counts of murder in a deadly South African building fire last year
A man has been charged with 76 counts of murder and 86 counts of attempted murder for allegedly causing a fire at an apartment building in South Africa last year that was one of the countryโs worst disasters.
South African police arrest man who says he started a fire that left 76 dead to hide another killing
A man has been arrested hours after he claimed responsibility for starting a building fire in South Africa last year that killed 76 people while trying to get rid of the body of someone he had killed.
Niger fashion designer aims to show a positive image of her country at Joburg Fashion Week
Niger fashion designer Alia Bare took center stage at the Joburg Fashion Week with a collection that she hopes will spread a positive image of her troubled country, suffering from instability and economic sanctions that followed a military coup earlier this year.
South Africa begins an inquiry into a building fire that killed 76 people in Johannesburg in August
An inquiry has opened into an apartment building fire that killed at least 76 people in South Africa in August and laid bare the deep problems of poverty and neglect in parts of Africaโs richest city.
South African authorities target coal-smuggling gang they say contributed to a power crisis
South African authorities say they have conducted raids across five provinces to break up a coal-smuggling syndicate blamed for stealing more than $26 million in coal, degrading state-owned power plants and contributing to an electricity crisis.
A building marked by fire and death shows the decay of South Africa's 'city of gold'
The fire that killed at least 76 people last week in a rundown apartment block in Johannesburg has exposed not only the urban decay of South Africa's โcity of goldโ but also a failure of its post-apartheid government to provide for many of its poor Black majority.
1 man is dead and 48 are injured after a suspected gas explosion in downtown Johannesburg
Authorities say one man has been killed and at least 48 people are injured, some of them seriously, after a suspected underground gas explosion ripped open roads and flipped vehicles in the heart of South Africaโs biggest city.
Outrage erupts in South Africa over video of deputy president's security officers stomping on man
A group of armed plainclothes officers assigned to protect South Africaโs deputy president were caught on video dragging a man out of a car and then stomping on his head until he lies motionless, sparking outrage and drawing more attention to the countryโs problems with police brutality.
South Africa bans liquor sales over Easter to prevent surge
(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, file)JOHANNESBURG โ South Africa will restrict the sale of alcohol and limit the size of religious and social gatherings over Easter to prevent the holiday from contributing to a new surge of COVID-19, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Tuesday. South Africa now has a cumulative number of more than 1.5 million infections since the outbreak of the virus last year, the highest in Africa. He said South Africa is finalizing a further order of 20 million doses of the J&J vaccine. Aspen will produce 30 million J&J doses for South Africa and more than 220 million doses that will be sold to other African countries, Ramaphosa said. The $200 million Aspen facility has the capacity to produce 300 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine annually, he said.
South African official pledges to fund university students
Protesting students from the University of the Witwatersrand, form a guard of honour around a forensic pathology vehicle which carries the body of a man shot dead in clashes between students and police in Johannesburg, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. At least one person has died and two students have been injured in clashes between South African university students and police over tuition fees at the University. Protests erupted this week after thousands of students were denied registration for the 2021 academic year because they owed tuition fees from last year. Throughout the week students have been protesting because thousands of poor students have been prevented from registering due to outstanding fees. The government pledge comes after Mthokozisi Ntumba, 35, was allegedly shot and killed by the police when they opened fire on protesting students.
South African university students clash with police, 1 dead
At least one person has died and two students have been injured in clashes between South African university students and police over tuition fees at the University. Protests erupted this week after thousands of students were denied registration for the 2021 academic year because they owed tuition fees from last year. (AP Photo)JOHANNESBURG โ At least one person has died and two students have been injured in clashes between South African university students and police over tuition fees at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. There are concerns that the protests in Johannesburg may spread to other South African universities as they prepare to start the academic year later this month. The government responded by suspending increases of tuition fees, but did not make higher education free.
South Africa to spend $172 million on mass vaccination drive
Protesters clash with police at the start of a planned march to Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, as police stop all protests before they reach parliament Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)JOHANNESBURG โ South Africa plans to spend $712 million to vaccinate some 67% of its 60 million people to control the country's COVID-19 battle and get the economy to rebound from its decline of 7.2% last year. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said the vaccination drive will help South Africa's economy, the most developed in sub-Saharan Africa, to rebound by 3.4% this year. But then a small, preliminary study showed that the AstraZeneca vaccine provided only 22% protection against mild to moderate disease caused by the COVID-19 variant now dominant in South Africa. South Africa is the country hardest hit by the pandemic in all of Africa, with a cumulative total of more than 1.5 million confirmed cases and nearly 50,000 deaths.
EU to double COVAX vaccine funding to 1 billion euros
Von der Leyen also announced during the meeting an additional 100 million euros ($121.4 million) to support vaccination campaigns in Africa in partnership with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. โThe funding will be used to strengthen health systems, ensure the cold chains, buy equipment and train staff," von der Leyen said. She added that the EU would discuss with drugmakers how they can ramp up their COVID-19 vaccine production capacity in Africa. COVAX hopes to deploy some 336 million doses by the end of June, and around 2 billion doses by the end of the year. In addition to its COVAX contribution, the EU said it wants to share some of its doses with neighbors in Europe and Africa.