Russian President Vladimir Putin met with senior officials from the African Union (AU) on 3 June and sought to deny Russia’s role in the developing food security crisis in Africa. This follows a series of accusations exchanged between Russia and its Western rivals blaming one another for the developing situation. The root of this is …
Millionaire Mosotho businessperson and philanthropist Sam Matekane has launched a new political party that threatens to shake up the country’s atrophied political scene and be a major contender in the upcoming general election in September. Matekane – reputedly Lesotho’s wealthiest man – launched his Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party in Maseru on 23 March. Matekane …
The recently formed Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) opposition party released a statement on 3 March condemning the surge of politically-motivated violence targeted at its leaders and members in recent weeks. This statement was motivated by a raid by armed men – assumed to be affiliated with the ruling ZANU-PF – on the home of …
Coups and military takeovers were the order of the day in Africa in 2021 with aging leaderships ousted by military takeovers time and again. It started in Chad in April when the death of President Idriss Deby on the battlefield prompted the military to take power (installing his son Mahamat, a military commander, as interim …
The Electoral Commission officially pronounced the results of the 1 November Local Government Election (LGE) on 4 November, resulting in a substantively altered political landscape in South Africa as the country looks to the national general election in 2024. The most noteworthy result is that the ANC fell below 50% of the national vote for …
On 2 November it was announced that eSwatini would work towards the establishment of a national dialogue to resolve the country’s ongoing political crisis. This followed a one-day meeting between eSwatini King Mswati III and South African President and Chair of the South African Development Community (SADC) Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa was in eSwatini in his …
South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced on 6 September that it would be able to hold the local government elections (LGE) between 27 October and 1 November in compliance with the 3 September Constitutional Court order. The country’s highest court dismissed the IEC’s application to have the elections delayed due to the challenges to …
United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema secured a resounding first-round victory to win Zambia’s 12 August presidential election. Provisional results released early on 16 August, Hichilema won 2.81 million votes ‒ more than enough to avoid a second-round run-off election. Incumbent President Edgar Lungu came a distant second with 1.81 million votes. …
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle on 5 August making much-needed changes and in a major move brought the state security portfolio under the ambit of the presidency. However, the President stopped short of the wholesale changes many were calling for. The reshuffle was necessitated by growing public frustration with the government’s handling …
Widespread civil unrest and looting have occurred across South Africa’s Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provinces in what is potentially the country’s most significant security challenge in over 30 years. The unrest began as a series of protests in KZN on 8 July opposing the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma on charges of contempt of …