Page 16 - South Africa

Cabinet approves signing of MoU between India and SA in 'disability sector'

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the India and Republic of South Africa for cooperation in the 'disability sector'

South Africa declares emergency after severe flooding in several parts

The South African government has declared a state of emergency over severe flooding in various parts of the country following non-stop rains for the past week, days after the government announced 'State of Disaster' over electricity crisis in the country. A national disaster may be declared by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs where disastrous events occur or threaten to occur in more than one province. The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) has, in terms of Section 23 of the Disaster Management Act, classified the impact of current, above-normal rainfall in various parts of the country with Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape provinces as the most affected as a national disaster, the Presidency said in a statement on Monday. This followed the declaration of a State of Disaster last Thursday as South Africa faces large-scale blackouts with embattled state-owned electricity supplier Eskom unable to meet demand following years of rampant looting and

12 S African cheetahs to land in India on Feb 18; Kuno park to welcome them

After months of delay, 12 cheetahs from South Africa will finally arrive on February 18 in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP), where eight such spotted cats were brought from Namibia last year, a wildlife expert associated with India's cheetah revival project has said. These big cats seven males and five females will embark on journey to their new home thousands of miles away aboard an Indian Air Force (IAF) transport aircraft from the OR Tambo International Airport, Gauteng, South Africa on Friday evening, the project participant and expert told PTI. He said the South African cheetahs will first arrive at the Gwalior Air Force base in MP on Saturday morning and 30 minutes later they will be transported some 165km away to KNP in Sheopur district by IAF helicopters. After landing at KNP around 12 noon, they will be put into quarantine bomas (enclosures) after half an hour (12.30 pm), added the expert. KNP Director Uttam Sharma said they have set up 10 quarantine bomas for .

South Africa witnesses 200% surge in Indian travellers amid strong recovery

For the third consecutive year, South African Tourism finished another extremely successful partnership with South Asia's premier travel exhibition, SATTE 2023

India vs SA highlights, Hockey WC: Men in Blue sign off with 5-2 win

India vs South Africa 9-12th place Classification Highlights: India won 5-2 thanks to goals from Abhishek, Harmanpreet, Samsher, Akashdeep and Sukhjeet. It will finish in the top 10 in this World Cup

South Africa to host 15th BRICS summit at Durban in late August 2023

The 15th BRICS summit is all set to take place in South Africa's Durban in late August this year

Initial batch of 12 cheetahs to be flown in from South Africa in February

An initial batch of 12 cheetahs will be flown in from South Africa in February.

US Treasury Secy Janet Yellen discusses energy transition in South Africa

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is discussing South Africa's transition from its heavy reliance on coal to greener energy sources during talks with the country's finance minister Thursday. Yellen made brief remarks to reporters ahead of a meeting with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in Pretoria but avoided mention of South Africa's recent decision to take part in joint navy drills with Russia and China off its east coast next month. South Africa is a key U.S. and Western partner but also holds strong ties to Russia and China, and it has adopted a neutral stance over the war in Ukraine. The announcement that South Africa would host Russian and Chinese warships for 10 days of exercises in February has raised concern at the White House. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in Pretoria for an official visit earlier this week. Yellen's 10-day trip to Africa, which has already included stops in Senegal and Zambia, is one of the first steps in the Biden administration's aim o

Fugitive businessman Atul Gupta loses bid to get new S African passport

Atul Gupta, one of the three Gupta brothers now in self-exile in Dubai, has lost a high court bid to get a new passport from the South African government. Atul, Ajay, and Rajesh Gupta are accused of siphoning billions of rands from South African parastatals through their close association with former president Jacob Zuma. Atul and Rajesh are currently awaiting extradition to face charges in South Africa. The brothers and their families fled to Dubai after Zuma was ousted from the presidency in 2018 by his ruling African National Congress. They have also been blacklisted by the US and the UK. The Pretoria high court ruled on Friday that Atul Gupta did not qualify for a South African passport because he was a fugitive from justice. Gupta had approached the South African consulate in Dubai for a new passport in 2018. This was before he faced extradition charges. But the Department of Home Affairs had rejected Gupta's application after the National Prosecuting Authority confirmed tha

Unbeaten Indian women's hockey team draws at 2-2 with hosts South Africa

The Indian women's hockey team remained unbeaten on their South Africa tour thus far as they registered a 2-2 draw against the hosts in its fourth match against them, here on Sunday

India's Mahindra named fastest-growing brand in South Africa for 2022

The Indian auto manufacturer Mahindra has been named the fastest-growing brand in South Africa for the year 2022 as the company's local subsidiary set several records in the last year, according to a report by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA). The report said that 'Mahindra SA' increased its sales volume by a massive 78 per cent compared to 2021, the highest of all the vehicle brands that report their sales to NAAMSA and more than five times the market average. The sales report further shows that Mahindra grew its total sales in the passenger vehicle market by 80 per cent to 4 027 vehicles in 2022 and its light commercial sales (that of its popular Pik Up and Bolero ranges) by 77 per cent to 8,885 vehicles. The company hit an average monthly sales figure in excess of 1,000 units per month, breaking through the magical 10,000 unit per annum mark for the first time and reaching close to 14,000 total sales for the year, it said. This is al

Rain dampens Australia's hopes of sweeping South Africa off the series

Steady rain threatens to derail Australia's bid of a series clean sweep against South Africa and a confirmed place in the world test championship final as the third and final test against South Africa at Sydney Cricket Ground meanders towards a draw. After rain delays on both the first two days, further rain Friday meant no play was possible before lunch with Australia unable to add to its imposing first innings score of 475-4 and leaving Usman Khawaja on his overnight score of 195 and tantalizingly close to his first double century. With more showers expected Friday, Australia has the dilemma of deciding how many runs it needs and then how much time it needs to bowl out South Africa twice on a pitch not yet offering the expected assistance for the spinners. Australia has already won the series after two crushing defeats in the first two tests at Brisbane and Melbourne. A win for Australia in this third test would confirm its place in the world test championship final to be played

UN chief Guterres saddened by death of dozens in South Africa gas explosion

A total of 34 people, including 11 healthcare workers from a nearby hospital, had died as a result of a gas tanker explosion in Boksburg, South Africa's Gauteng Province, on Christmas Eve

Covid pandemic no longer determines how we live our lives: S African Prez

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that the country's economy is in a better state than before the COVID-19 pandemic and his government will work to ensure its continuous growth. The Covid-19 pandemic no longer determines how we live our lives. We have been able to shelter society's most vulnerable from its worst effects," Ramaphosa said in his New Year's address on Saturday. President said that South Africa's economy is in a better state than before the COVID-19 pandemic and his government will work to ensure its continuous growth. Our economy is growing again and is now larger than it was before the pandemic. Over the past year, around 1.5 million new jobs were created, he said, while conceding that 2022 had been a difficult year for South Africans. There have been devastating tragic events that have destroyed both lives and livelihoods. These events have included floods, fatal vehicle crashes, deaths in taverns, dam wall collapses, drownings, fires in informal ...

10 killed, 50 injured in South Africa as a truck carrying gas explodes

William Ntladi, a spokesperson for Ekurhuleni Emergency Management Services, told Xinhua that they received a report that a gas truck was stuck under a bridge in Boksburg at around 7.50 a.m.

No speedy resolution in sight as Indian biz await South African visas

Indian citizens, especially business leaders, who have been complaining for the past few years about long delays in securing visas for South Africa, may have to wait longer as the government had admitted that its full visa waiting list would only be cleared by the end of June 2024. While Indian missions grant tourist and business e-visas to South Africans within a week, there is no reciprocal facility for Indian citizens at South African missions in India. But there is some hope that businesses and academia might be prioritised after a decision, which centralised all visa issues exclusively to the Home Affairs head office in Pretoria, was revoked recently. The current backlog across all visa categories is 56,543. The department envisages to have cleared the current backlog by June 2024 for all categories of visas, Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi said last week in response to a question from an opposition MP. The average response time varies for different visa categories,

S African prez gets lifeline as ruling party stands by him despite scandal

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was on Monday given a lifeline by his African National Congress' (ANC) top executives, who decided to reject a report which found that Ramaphosa had flouted his constitutional obligations. Speaking to the media on Monday evening after a day-long deliberation of the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC), spokesman Paul Mashatile, who is also the Treasurer General of the party, said the NEC has decided to reject the report. Earlier on Monday, Ramaphosa filed papers in the Constitutional Court to review and set aside the Section 89 panel report that found he may have violated the Constitution. The report had found sufficient evidence that Ramaphosa may have violated a section of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act and may have committed serious misconduct by exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business. The incident at Ramaphosa's private game farm, cal

Coronavirus: Study sheds light on origins of SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron

The SARS-CoV-2 subtype, later termed "Omicron," was discovered a year ago in South Africa and spread rapidly over the world. It is still unknown how, when, or where this virus developed.

MoU delay holds up translocation of 12 cheetahs from South Africa to India

A dozen cheetahs quarantined in South Africa for more than four months have lost fitness in their wait to be flown to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) as a formal signing of an agreement is holding up their inter-continental translocation, wildlife experts have said. They said prolonged quarantine is taking a toll on the health of these big cats, who are slated to join the eight cheetahs imported from Namibia and released in KNP in Sheopur district in mid-September. In fact, the 12 South African cheetahs seven males and five females - have not hunted for themselves even once after being kept in bomas (small enclosures), said wildlife experts in know of India's cheetah reintroduction plan. Though there has been some forward movement in implementation of Project Cheetah with South Africa in recent days, Pretoria is yet to ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian government for transfer of the spotted cats to KNP. Three of them have been kept in Phinda quarant

South African President Ramaphosa faces impeachment threat over 'Farmgate'

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing a possible impeachment threat over claims that he covered up the theft of millions of dollars in cash allegedly hidden in furniture at his game farm. Ramaphosa, 70, is being probed in an ongoing scandal linked to the theft from his private game farm in 2020. An independent panel said it had found sufficient evidence that the President may have violated a section of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act and may have committed serious misconduct by exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business. The report of the panel, which was headed by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, was handed to the Speaker of the National Assembly on Wednesday, clearing the way for possible impeachment action against Ramaphosa. Under South Africa's law, large amounts of foreign currency may not be kept by individuals without the requisite declarations or ...