In this report Somali freelance journalist, Muhyadin Ahmed Roble, writes about the meeting of young somali people to commemorate the heroics of the SYL. … Hundreds of Somali refugees have gathered at Meridian hotel in Nairobi on Saturday to remember the heroics of 13 Somalis, who were midwives to the independence of Somalia. The event has converged youths ...

The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, will tour Africa next week from the 29 to the 31 of May. He will visit Malawi and other African countries. In an exclusive e-mail interview from New York, Anne Siddall from the Office of the Spokesman of the UN Secretary General, told PANA on Tuesday that Ban ...

President Jacob Zuma has joined thousands of mourners in expressing his condolences to the family of Dr Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert, who passed away on Friday. Dr Van Zyl Slabbert died at the age of 70 after spending some time at a Johannesburg Hospital. President Zuma said Van Zyl Slabbert’s visionary leadership lives on in ...

The ANC Youth League’s national executive committee, led by its president Julius Malema, will undergo military training in September, it was announced on Thursday. Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu had agreed to make the necessary arrangements, the ANCYL and defence ministry said in a joint statement. This was agreed to while Sisulu addressed ...

Fourteen countries were elected to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) for three-year terms starting next month after one round of balloting today among Member States at UN Headquarters in New York.  Angola, Libya, Mauritania and Uganda  were chosen to fill the four vacant African seats on the 47-member panel, according to a ...

Eleven people with ties to South Africa have so far been identified as among the victims of the Afriqiyah Airways crash in Tripoli. They are Global Aviation cabin crew trainer Cathy Tillett, retired manager Norbert Taferner and his wife Paula. DA MP Anchen Dreyer’s brother Frans died. The Star reported that Bree O’Mara, who won ...

South Africa’s ambassador in Tripoli has opened an emergency reception centre for the families of those who died when the Afriqiyah Airways Airbus crashed as it ended its trip fromJohannesburg, the department of international relations said on Thursday. Spokeswoman Nomfanelo Kota said it was ready to receive families who would be arriving to finalise the ...

A bilateral forum between South Africa and the United States was  a step towards closer cooperation and an enduring national friendship, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and her US counterpart Hillary Clinton said on Thursday. The countries shared many interests and aspirations for their own people and the global community, they said after the ...

A Dutch child miraculously survived the devastating air crash in Tripoli on Wednesday. He was the only survivor on the plane, which was carrying 104 people from nine countries. He underwent urgent surgery for broken legs and a head injury. On Wednesday night, CNN identified him as eight-year-old Ruben van Ashout, and a Dutch website ...

Two South African families have confirmed that two of their family members died in the Afriqiyah Airways plane that crashed on landing in Tripoli, Libya on Wednesday, SABC news reported. One of the passengers on the Airbus A330 was 50-year-old Pretoria-based businessman Frans Dreyer, who was on his way to England via Tripoli. Dreyer is ...

President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday expressed optimism about the situation in Zimbabwe. Speaking in the National Assembly during debate on the Presidency budget vote, he repeated the Zimbabwean negotiations process was well underway and “some achievements have been registered”. The parties had also agreed to put in place various commissions that would help to move the ...

No end to a national strike against Transnet was in sight on Tuesday as a second union joined the industrial action. This pushed the percentage of Transnet workers set to down tools on Wednesday to about 84 percent. The United Transport and Allied Trade Union announced on Tuesday its members would also join the nationwide strike. ...

Expecting farmers to transfer 40% of their agricultural interest to black shareholders is “outrageous” and “totally unacceptable”, agricultural union TAU-SA said on Tuesday. TAU-SA was reacting to Agricultural Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson’s announcement on Monday that the government was considering a share scheme for black farmers to replace the willing buyer, willing seller principle and reach ...

The Department of Water Affairs wants municipalities to use the municipal infrastructure grant they receive from the National Treasury to fix ailing waste water treatment plants and not spend them on other projects. Acting director-general Nobubele Ngele, briefing the National Assembly’s committee on water and environmental affairs yesterday, said infrastructure maintenance was the responsibility ...

Parliament to debate ambitious plan to boost literacy, numeracy and quality of education The strategy which is being finalised, called Schooling 2025, will tackle a wide range of problems crippling the education system. Basic education director-general Bobby Soobrayan told The Times yesterday that the new plan will be debated at public parliamentary hearings starting today ...

Hard work: An officer manning a speed trap. Joburg chief Chris Ngcobo suggested introducing spot fines. Metro police officers who spend hours parked under bridges and trees, “talking and loafing” the day away, came under the spotlight in Parliament yesterday as MPs laid into them for accepting bribes and being lazy. “When you see a ...

A quarter of children in sub-Saharan Africa are labourers and the number is increasing as countries fail to implement legislation aimed at combating the practice, according to a UN report.  The International Labour Organisation‘s (ILO) Global Report on Child Labour released yesterday shows that while the numbers are decreasing in other regions, Africa is bucking ...

Zimbabwe’s state lawyers have given notice that they intend to prevent Roy Bennett, a top white aide to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, from being sworn in as a deputy minister after his acquittal this week on terrorist charges, state radio reported Tuesday. President Robert Mugabe has refused to swear in Bennett as deputy agriculture minister ...

A military court in Rwanda Tuesday postponed the hearing of a plea seeking the release of Laurent Nkunda, a former rebel chief in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of his lawyers said. “The court pushed the date back to June 11 to leave time to find an interpreter to facilitate the hearing,” Aime Bokanga ...

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) is to establish “child friendly spaces” at four Fifa Fan Fests during the World Cup to identify and assist vulnerable children. The fund made the announcement at the release of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Global Report on Child Labour in Pretoria yesterday. Unicef representative Aida Girma said the ...

The department of transport has come under fire for failing to provide adequate transport to World Cup games for people in rural areas. Members of parliament also criticised the interactive website set up to provide visiting fans with transport information during the event, saying it was not user-friendly. The department was briefing the tourism portfolio ...

South Africa and Swaziland have agreed to share healthcare services. This follows the signing of a health agreement between the two countries in Pretoria on Monday. The agreement binds both countries to help each other in the health sector when the need arises. It was signed by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and his Swazi counterpart Benedict ...

President Jacob Zuma celebrated one month until the start of the Fifa World Cup on Tuesday by flying SA Airways from Johannesburg to Cape Town. Zuma took the 1pm flight to Cape Town to boost confidence in the airline, which would soon carry thousands of foreigners and locals to South Africa and around the country ...

A Judge yesterday acquitted Roy Bennett, a top aide to Zimbabwe’s prime minister, in an alleged plot to overthrow President Robert Mugabe, ending a trial that had threatened to unravel the fragile unity government. “Having carefully considered the facts, I come to the conclusion that the state has failed to prove a prima facie case. ...

President Jacob Zuma will inaugurate the highly anticipated meeting of the 26 member National Planning Commission (NPC) at the Union Buildings tomorrow. The commissioners are to serve as the nerve centre for South Africa’s long term policy development on key areas such as economic growth, energy supply and skills development. But some observers ...

Ethiopia and Malawi will attend the G20 summit for the first time as world leaders gather in Toronto next month. Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Saturday five additional nations have been invited to the meeting: Ethiopia, Malawi, the Netherlands, Spain and Vietnam. Though it is common for countries that are not members of the G20 to be ...

 Visitors to the Shangai Expo in China will be able to see some of the World Cup games live at the South African Expo Pavilion, Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Thursday during the official opening of the South Africa’s Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo. “It is indeed proper to note ...

South Africa hopes to use the Shanghai Expo to boost its relations with China, the Department of International Relations and Co-operation said on Thursday. “As a key strategic partner for South Africa within the South-South co-operation, the bilateral relationship with China is at its strongest since formal diplomatic relations were established in 1998,” the department ...

President Jacob Zuma is not planning to apologise for violating the executive members’ ethics code through failure to declare his financial interests, assets and liabilities in time. He has also been let off the hook by Cabinet, which has opted not to impose any sanction for his failure to meet the deadline. Zuma was supposed ...

The City of Cape Town has unveiled an extensive and ambitious plan to get homeless people off the street leading up to the winter season – 34 days before thousands of soccer fans descend upon the city for the World Cup. Working closely with NGOs, the city plans to accommodate, employ and reunite with their ...