Southern Africa

President Cyril Ramaphosa used his 2026 State of the Nation Address to present a cautiously optimistic picture of South Africa’s economy and to announce a series of urgent security and infrastructure measures, saying the country is “stronger than a year ago” after four consecutive quarters of GDP growth, two primary budget surpluses and the end of load‑shedding. Major executive moves included authorising the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to tackle rising gang violence in the Western Cape and…

Every year since 2013, Africa Check has fact-checked South Africa's State of the Nation Address (SONA) — the speech President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers to mark the start of the political calendar, officially open Parliament, recap the year gone by and outline the government's aims for the year ahead. After more than a decade of scrutiny, the organisation's researchers say they can often guess what the president is going to say before he opens his mouth. That observation, simple on its face, raises deeper questions about…

Johannesburg residents are embroiled in a worsening water crisis that is triggering community conflict and stretching relief efforts, while authorities in the Western Cape urge conservation as municipalities confront failing infrastructure, according to local reports. In Johannesburg, shortages have forced people to queue for hours at water tankers only for supplies to run out. The breakdown is reportedly driving arguments and physical fights as some residents collect far more water than others. Some neighbourhoods remain…

Blessed Runesu “Bombshell” Geza, an outspoken and controversial Zimbabwean war veteran who publicly pushed for the removal of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has died in a Johannesburg hospital, his family said. He was 73. The family said Geza had been hospitalized for about 10 days and died at a cardiology facility in Johannesburg. They announced his death on social media and warned the public to be wary of any solicitations for cash donations allegedly for his funeral. Once a member of the Zanu-PF Central Committee, Geza…

Windhoek — Under a sky dimmed by evening, candles flickered across Hero's Acre on Saturday as Namibians gathered at the memorial complex outside the capital to honor two of the country's foremost post‑independence leaders: Sam Nujoma and Hage Geingob. The quiet, ritualized observance drew a measured crowd to a place long shaped into a national repository of memory — an avenue where the country's liberation narrative and its later struggles to forge a modern state intersect. The ceremony, organized on the anniversary weekend…

Cape Town — An African-led effort to develop an HIV vaccine has launched a clinical trial at the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation in Cape Town, organizers announced, with the first participant already enrolled. The study, called BRILLIANT 011 and led by The BRILLIANT Consortium, is being conducted by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and is designed to target the strains of HIV that are circulating in Southern Africa. "The trial is...marking a major milestone in African-led HIV vaccine research. BRILLIANT…

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday urged Namibian authorities to protect press freedom after two recent incidents it said reveal a worrying reluctance by officials to face public scrutiny. The CPJ named the expulsion of reporter Jemima Beukes from President Netumbo Nandi‑Ndaitwah’s official residence and online threats against journalist Tracy Tafirenyika as examples that threaten Namibia’s reputation for independent journalism. During a photo session outside a Cabinet meeting at State House on Feb. 2, Beukes…

John Steenhuisen, the leader of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance since 2019, has stepped aside from the party’s leadership race and will devote his attention to managing a severe foot-and-mouth disease outbreak that has drawn heavy criticism of his handling of the crisis, the party and his office said Friday. Steenhuisen — who, according to party sources, also served as agriculture minister — had been expected to run unopposed for another term but withdrew amid internal disputes and lingering controversies that party…

South Africa has today officially acceded to the Establishment Agreement of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), marking the formal entry of one of the continent’s largest economies into the bank’s membership and signaling a potential shift in the region’s financial architecture. The move brings South Africa into the fold of Africa’s leading multilateral financial institution, which was created to finance and promote intra-African and extra-African trade. Membership gives Johannesburg formal access to a…

Newly released U.S. Justice Department records in the growing cache of "Epstein files" include the name of former South African president Jacob Zuma and reference a dinner organized during a 2010 state visit, according to court documents made public this week. The tranche of documents contains emails mentioning a dinner at the Ritz Hotel in London on March 5, 2010, while Zuma was on an official visit to the U.K. The emails, the Justice Department release shows, identify a man who described himself as a friend of Jeffrey…