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IOL News
6 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
RSF storm detention site and continue to tighten grip on army in Al-Fashir
A Sudanese army officer walks near an armoured vehicle seized after their capture of a base used by the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries after the latter group evacuated from the Salha area of Omdurman. Image: Ebrahim Hamid / AFP By Bayethe Msimang A high-level operation carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur State, has revealed the use of a former United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) compound as a secret detention facility operated by joint forces allied with the Sudanese army. The operation resulted in the release of detainees held inside the compound, which, according to local sources, had been converted into an unofficial prison used to detain opponents and suspects. Leaked reports suggest that senior officers in the Sudanese army and members of allied armed movements are withholding information about the incident, reflecting mounting confusion within their ranks. According to Darfur 24, sources familiar with the matter said the intelligence unit of the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Arko Minnawi faces allegations of facilitating the release, a sign of growing fractures among former partners in the pro-government alliance. Army defences crumbling in Al-Fashir On the ground, RSF units have made notable advances toward the perimeter of the army's Sixth Infantry Division headquarters, a move widely seen as a prelude to ending the Sudanese military's presence in Darfur, particularly after days of intense combat. The Sudanese newspaper Idraak reported that government forces are suffering from disarray on the battlefield, retreating rapidly under sustained RSF firepower. The RSF has been launching heavy assaults on army and allied militia positions, with fighting escalating into fierce clashes involving both heavy and light weapons. Al-Fashir represents the last major foothold for the Sudanese army in the Darfur region, making the battle for control of the city critical both militarily and politically. The city also serves as a central humanitarian hub for coordinating aid operations across the conflict-ridden region. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Severe Humanitarian Crisis and Limited Civilian Evacuations Parallel to the military escalation, the humanitarian situation inside Al-Fashir is deteriorating rapidly. Thousands of besieged residents face near-total shortages of food and medicine. The "Founding Sudan Alliance - Ta'sis" initiative, along with several civilian protection organisations, has been working to evacuate civilians from conflict zones to safer areas in northern Darfur - efforts hampered by severe logistical and security challenges. In early June, the city witnessed a tragic incident when Sudanese army aircraft bombed a World Food Programme convoy in the Al-Kuma area, killing several drivers and their assistants. The attack drew widespread regional and international condemnation. According to a field assessment conducted by humanitarian organisations, approximately 38% of children in Al-Fashir's displacement centres are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 11% in critical condition, while local markets are experiencing near-total depletion of essential goods.
IOL News
29-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Fikile Mbalula: No Arms to Ukraine, South Africa Stays Committed to Peace
Liberation Movements Summit 2025 class photo. Image: X/ANC By Bayethe Msimang South Africa has reaffirmed its longstanding commitment to neutrality and peace in international conflicts, including the war in Ukraine. This stance was underscored by African National Congress Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula during his address at the recent summit of Southern African liberation movements. Speaking to an audience of political veterans and representatives from across the region, Mbalula emphasised that no South African arms manufacturer, whether public or private, will be permitted to export weapons or ammunition to any party involved in the war. 'As the ANC, we have taken a decision – consistent with South Africa's constitutional values and foreign policy traditions – that South African arms manufacturers will not be allowed to export weapons or ammunition to the war zone in Ukraine,' Mbalula said. His remarks were not presented as a new policy initiative, but rather as a public reaffirmation of South Africa's deeply rooted principles in international engagement. For decades, South Africa's foreign policy has emphasised peaceful conflict resolution, respect for sovereignty, and a strong commitment to international law. Mbalula's words served to restate that approach at a time when the global arms trade and its implications for ongoing conflicts are under intense international scrutiny. Over the past several years, public interest in arms transfers has steadily grown, both within South Africa and abroad. This has been driven by a broader international dialogue around transparency, ethics, and the unintended consequences of global weapons flows. Within this climate, South African defence manufacturers — including well-known entities such as Rheinmetall Denel Munition — have occasionally appeared in investigative reporting and academic research exploring the complexities of modern arms production and end-user accountability. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ It was in this context of heightened awareness that Mbalula's remarks were made. Rather than responding to any specific incident, his statement served as a principled reminder of the frameworks that already guide South Africa's approach to arms exports. Reassuring both local and international observers, Mbalula emphasised that the decision not to authorise exports to the Ukrainian war zone was not an exceptional case, but a confirmation of South Africa's broader diplomatic posture. The guiding principle remains consistent: military goods should not be exported to regions experiencing active conflict, particularly when there is a risk that such exports could contribute to further escalation. In this way, South Africa continues to walk a path defined not by alignment with global power blocs, but by its own moral compass and legal obligations. The government's position reflects its historical role as an advocate for dialogue, mediation, and peaceful coexistence values that have shaped its diplomatic identity since the end of apartheid. Mbalula's message thus serves a dual purpose: it reassures domestic audiences that South Africa's defence industry remains under firm legal and ethical guidance, and it signals to the world that the country remains committed to its role as a bridge-builder in times of war. At a moment when the international order is marked by volatility and mistrust, South Africa's quiet consistency may well be its greatest diplomatic strength. IOL
IOL News
24-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Questions Keep Mounting — Will the NCACC Break Its Silence on July 25?
As the investigative spotlight shines on RDM, the deafening silence from NCACC for nearly two months now only amplifies the urgency of the situation. Image: Supplied Over the past year, multiple reports have pointed to South African-produced weapons appearing in military conflict zones, including Ukraine and Israel. These allegations have placed the country's arms control system under a spotlight, particularly as South Africa continues to promote a foreign policy rooted in neutrality and peaceful diplomacy. If confirmed, these developments could trigger serious diplomatic and legal consequences, underscoring the need for tighter monitoring and public accountability in arms exports. The pressure has now reached the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) the body responsible for overseeing South Africa's weapons trade. After members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) submitted documents reportedly detailing violations by arms-exporting companies, the NCACC has yet to issue any response. The allegations include concerns about where exported weapons are ending up and whether proper checks have been followed. With no official statement to date, criticism of the NCACC's silence has only intensified. Parliament has already made its dissatisfaction clear. During a recent engagement with the committee, members of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence expressed deep frustration over unanswered questions particularly around export permits, the identification of recipient nations, and verification of how exported arms are being used. Lawmakers signaled growing concern that the NCACC has been unwilling to engage publicly on these pressing matters. Meanwhile, civil society organisations have echoed similar concerns. Many point to the committee's lack of updated disclosures and the absence of detailed reporting on South Africa's arms trade. International observers, too, have noted this silence. In a field as sensitive as weapons exports, the expectation is that oversight bodies act with transparency and consistency values the NCACC is now being accused of neglecting. All eyes are now on the committee's upcoming meeting, scheduled for July 25. Opportunity for the NCACC to either begin rebuilding public trust or deepen concerns over its credibility. Stakeholders across politics, civil society, and the international community will be watching closely to see whether the body chooses to break its silence and offer meaningful information about arms trade compliance with both domestic laws and international obligations. Ultimately, this moment could mark a shift in how arms oversight is handled in South Africa. By committing to clear communication and firm oversight, the NCACC has a chance to reaffirm its role as a responsible regulatory authority. But continued silence, especially amid serious allegations and global scrutiny, risks damaging not just public confidence at home but South Africa's reputation abroad. Bayethe Msimang Amid rising concerns over South African arms appearing in conflict zones, the NCACC faces mounting pressure to clarify its stance. Will they break their silence on July 25 and restore public trust? Image: IOL * Bayethe Msimang is an independent writer, commentator and analyst. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
IOL News
19-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
RSF intensify blow to army in Kordofan by downing drone and killing three senior commanders
Bayethe Msimang The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have dealt severe blows to the Sudanese army in Kordofan, recently downing an army drone and killing key commanders, highlighting the escalating conflict in the region, writes Bayethe Msimang Image: IOL Across various parts of the Kordofan region, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have dealt a series of crushing blows to the Sudanese army and its allies, including the joint armed movements and Islamist militias. Most recently, the RSF succeeded in downing an army drone in Al-Khawi locality in West Kordofan state. Sudanese media, citing informed military sources, reported that the RSF's air defense detected, tracked, and successfully shot down the reconnaissance drone operating over the area. Social media accounts affiliated with the RSF circulated footage showing the wreckage of the downed drone, following two other devastating strikes against the army. The first strike, a drone airstrike, killed several officers from the armed movements and the army, including Brigadier General Abbas Mohamed Turoni, the spokesperson for the so-called Sudan Liberation Forces Alliance – Abdullah Yahya faction, and Brigadier General Mohab Ahmed Mahmoud, head of moral guidance for the Fifth Division in El-Obeid and supervisor of the popular resistance in North Kordofan. This is not the first time the RSF has claimed to have shot down Sudanese army drones; such incidents have become increasingly frequent amid the escalating clashes in Darfur and Kordofan. In a painful blow to the armed movements allied with army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Jibril Ibrahim, head of the Justice and Equality Movement and Minister of Finance in the government of Kamel Idris, acknowledged the death of his movement's top military commander, Taher Arja, during the battles in Umm Sumaymah, Kordofan, according to the 'Ain Al-Haqiqa' website. The RSF launched an assault on Umm Sumaymah early on Sunday, inflicting heavy losses on the army and its allied armed factions. For some time now, the RSF has been attempting to seize control of El-Obeid city and push further toward the capital, Khartoum, with the battles against the army increasingly concentrated in Kordofan over recent months. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ In an implicit admission of repeated army setbacks, the Sudan Tribune reported yesterday that Abdel Khaleq Abdel Latif, the governor of North Kordofan and a known army loyalist, issued a decision banning the transport of goods and fuel outside El-Obeid. This move comes as RSF forces tighten their siege on the city, now surrounded from three directions. This decision reflects concerns that supplies intended for the army and its joint forces allies could fall into RSF hands as they close in on El-Obeid and other towns in the state. The RSF continues to launch drone strikes on El-Obeid intermittently, alongside ongoing attacks on army and joint forces positions. Army forces in El-Obeid remain trapped under a tight siege imposed by the RSF since the outbreak of conflict on April 15, 2023. On Sunday, the RSF declared its successes in the strategically important area of Umm Sumaymah west of El-Obeid, claiming a decisive defeat inflicted on al-Burhan's forces, with losses exceeding 470 killed, alongside the capture of large quantities of weapons and military equipment, while dozens of enemy combatants fled. * Bayethe Msimang is an independent writer, commentator and analyst. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
IOL News
01-06-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Angola's crossroads: Can the Lobito Corridor deliver prosperity without sacrificing public health?
Bayethe Msimang With Angola, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo rich in natural resources, the corridor offers a vital gateway for mineral exports, crucially improving access to international markets, writes Bayethe Msimang Image: IOL The Lobito Corridor, a transformative transnational infrastructure project, is taking shape along the Atlantic coast of Angola. This ambitious initiative, connecting Angola to Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is more than just a blueprint. It is a testament to Africa's determination for regional integration, mineral mobility, and economic transformation. The potential benefits of this corridor, such as increased trade and economic growth, cannot be overlooked. Yet, as the corridor advances through Angola's heartland, slicing across five of its most impoverished provinces, the promise of prosperity faces an uncomfortable truth: development without safeguards can deepen inequality, unravel communities, and cost lives. Touted as a flagship initiative by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in its 2025 Annual Development Effectiveness Review, the Lobito Corridor is positioned as a logistical artery for the continent—a route to reroute exports, attract investment, and reduce the time it takes to move copper and cobalt from the mineral-rich interiors to global markets. With more than $1.6 billion in investment from the United States, and the European Union, it embodies the modern gospel of infrastructure-led growth. But in Angola's Benguela, Bié, Huambo, Moxico, and Moxico Leste provinces, where the railway snakes through dense forests and forgotten villages, the lived reality is starkly different. In many of these provinces, health services are either overstretched or virtually absent. The World Health Organization has flagged that fewer than 40% of births in some areas are attended by trained professionals. Infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis remain widespread, while testing and treatment rates are abysmally low. Hospitals are underequipped, understaffed, and, in some cases, nonexistent. Some areas have fewer than one hospital bed per 10,000 people. In such a context, the corridor's surge in migration, construction, and commercial activity threatens to tip an already strained health system into full collapse. According to a detailed risk analysis by the WHO and public health researchers, five primary dangers accompany the corridor's growth: overburdened health infrastructure, disease transmission, environmental degradation, social displacement, and a rise in transport-related injuries. One could easily add a sixth: the unequal distribution of benefits. While foreign investors and national elites reap profits, local communities bear the brunt of pollution, land dispossession, and exploitative labor. The corridor, in short, risks becoming a steel-framed paradox: a route to riches that bypasses the poor. Yet this outcome is not preordained. Angolan and its partners have an opportunity to turn the Lobito Corridor into a beacon of sustainable and inclusive development. To do that, infrastructure must be planned with health, not merely freight, in mind. This corridor is not just about goods moving from east to west, is the sentiment of public health workers in Luanda. It's also about people about girls walking to school, about mothers giving birth, about workers breathing clean air. If those stories are missing from the planning tables, we're building a corridor of exploitation. Already, warning signs are emerging. Along the Moxico route, air and water pollution from unregulated mining runoff has begun seeping into rivers used by local farmers and families. Temporary settlements mushrooming around construction zones have brought a spike in gender-based violence and child exploitation, mirroring patterns seen in other "boomtown" corridors across the continent. Meanwhile, traffic accidents—particularly involving heavy trucks and makeshift crossings—are on the rise, overwhelming rudimentary emergency services. The African Development Bank's report acknowledges some of these challenges and calls for greater cross-sector collaboration between ministries of transport, health, environment, and gender. It also advocates for social investment safeguards : such as funding mobile clinics, gender-sensitive policing, and environmental health monitoring as conditions tied to infrastructure finance. But Angola's record on multisectoral implementation remains patchy at best. For meaningful reform, the country must embrace a model of co-development, where health ministries are not afterthoughts but co-architects. Development finance institutions must do more than approve grants. They must demand health equity metrics in every contract. This is especially urgent as Angola's oil-dependent economy diversifies. President João Lourenço has rightly staked the country's future on logistics, agriculture, and renewable energy. But none of this will succeed if Angola becomes a cautionary tale of extractive development, where resources flow outward, and trauma flows inward. In this context, the Lobito Corridor becomes more than a rail or road, it becomes a moral test. Can Africa's new development corridors embody Ubuntu the idea that humanity is shared, and none should progress at the cost of another? Or will they follow the path of so many megaprojects, where roads to riches become pipelines of displacement and disease? The time to make the right choice is now, as the health risks are well-documented and the development tools are available. The political will to ensure that every brick laid is linked to a life saved is not just crucial, it's urgent. We cannot afford to delay in addressing these issues. While the health risks are well-documented and the development tools are available, what's crucial now is the political will to ensure that every brick laid is linked to a life saved. In practical terms, this means embedding public health impact assessments into every stage of the corridor's expansion. It means mandating that contractors, foreign and domestic, to invest in local clinics, clean water infrastructure, and occupational health. It means that maternal wards must rise alongside warehouses, and that women's voices must be heard when permits are issued. If managed correctly, the Lobito Corridor could become a global model for development, blending economic progress with social well-being. This potential for positive change should not just inspire hope and optimism, but also motivate us all to work towards it.
