Latest South Africa government News
South Africa appoints a woman as chief justice for the first time
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa appointed its first female chief justice on Thursday. President Cyril Ramaphosa named Mandisa Maya, the current deputy chief justice, as the country's new most senior judge. Her term is due to start on Sept. 1, when she will replace Chief...
African Development Bank approves $1B loan to South Africa's state-owned rail and ports company
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The African Development Bank said Thursday it had approved a $1 billion loan to South Africa's state-owned rail and ports company, Transnet. The 25-year loan was wholly guaranteed by the South African government and will help finance the first phase...
South Africa's Cape Town is hit by more storms, with 4,500 people displaced by floods and damage
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The South African city of Cape Town and surrounding areas were hit by more storms Thursday that ripped roofs off houses and caused widespread flooding, forcing at least 4,500 people out of their homes and damaging at least 15,000 structures, authorities said. The...
South Africa's unprecedented new coalition has 7 parties in the Cabinet. Here's a breakdown
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has included seven different parties in his Cabinet in an unprecedented power-sharing agreement in the continent's most industrialized country after the African National Congress lost its parliamentary majority in a milestone...
South Africa's new government brings Black and white together. It's also reviving racial tensions
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — In a country where racial segregation was once brutally enforced, South Africa's new coalition government has brought a Black president and a white opposition leader together in an image of unity. Yet the power-sharing agreement sealed a week ago...
Namibian court overturns and declares unconstitutional a law criminalizing gay sex between men
WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — A court in Namibia on Friday overturned and declared unconstitutional a colonial-era law criminalizing gay sex between men in a victory for LGBTQ campaigners in the southern African nation. Three judges in the High Court in the capital, Windhoek, said in a...
Ramaphosa is sworn in for a second term as South Africa's president with help from coalition parties
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in for a second term as South Africa's president on Wednesday in a ceremony in the administrative capital, Pretoria, after his reelection with the help from a coalition of parties, a first in the country's 30-year rule. Ramaphosa is...
How South Africa's rival parties 'found each other' in a last-ditch deal that saved a president
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa's main political rivals are now partners in government after they came together in a last-minute coalition deal that ensured President Cyril Ramaphosa was dramatically reelected with cross-party support, and a struggling country was given a boost. ...
South Africa's President Ramaphosa is reelected for second term after a dramatic late coalition deal
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was reelected by lawmakers for a second term on Friday, after his party struck a dramatic late coalition deal with a former political foe just hours before the vote. Ramaphosa, the leader of the African National...
What we know ahead of Friday's deadline for South Africa to form a coalition and elect a president
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa's Parliament is due to elect a president on Friday and major political parties are still working out the last details of a coalition agreement that might or might not see Cyril Ramaphosa return for a second term as leader of Africa's most industrialized...