Latest news with #GarrinLambley
The South African
26-05-2025
- The South African
Three foreign nationals killed in South Africa 'revenge attacks'
South African police deployed reinforcements on Monday to a farming area where community members killed three foreign nationals in random revenge attacks after the murder of a local man in a bar fight. Specialised units were sent to the Valencia citrus-growing area in the Eastern Cape after the spate of attacks on Sunday and Monday, provincial police said in a statement. 'It is believed that these unlawful acts of revenge attacks began with an incident in which a local resident was allegedly murdered following a fight between a group of local residents and foreign nationals outside a tavern on Saturday,' it said. Afterwards community members 'took to the streets and reportedly attacked foreign nationals,' it said, adding the attacks were carried out 'randomly'. Besides the death of the young South African, 'The incident has claimed three lives, and left at least 10 people injured,' the statement said. Police would not give the nationalities of the foreign nationals killed in the violence but several local media reported they were Zimbabweans. 'We can't assume that they are coming from a certain country,' police spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli told AFP. Reportedly thousands of foreigners were in the area, near Addo about 50km north of Gqeberha, for the citrus-picking season. More than 100 had taken shelter in a local police station, it said. Southern Africa's strongest economy draws thousands of foreign nationals seeking work who are regularly targeted with xenophobic harassment, discrimination and even violence. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news. By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
The South African
21-05-2025
- Business
- The South African
MultiChoice moves one step closer to being SOLD
South Africa's competition authority announced on Wednesday it had approved the buyout of Africa's largest pay TV enterprise MultiChoice by France's Canal+, which wants to expand its footprint on the continent. The merger, which has been in the works for nearly a year, needs the final go-ahead from the commission's Competition Tribunal, it said in a statement. Canal+ holds around 45 percent of MultiChoice's shares and offered last year to acquire the remainder for R125 per share. Canal+ is present in 25 African countries through 16 subsidiaries and has eight million subscribers, according to the French group. MultiChoice operates in 50 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and has 19.3 million subscribers, it says. It includes Africa's premier sports broadcaster, SuperSport, and the DStv satellite television service. 'This is a major step forward in our ambition to create a global media and entertainment company with Africa at its heart,' Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada said in a statement. The commission said its approval of the merger was subject to public-interest conditions worth about 26 billion rand over three years, including increasing the shareholding of people disadvantaged under South Africa's white-minority apartheid regime. It will also maintain the MultiChoice headquarters in South Africa. A date for the Tribunal's decision on the merger has not been announced, but Canal+ said it was aiming for the deal to be completed by early October. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news. By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
The South African
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The South African
COMING HOME: South African troops leaving DR Congo
South African troops have started evacuating the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where they had been stranded since a January offensive by the M23 armed group, a regional official told AFP. The 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) decided last month to end its deployment to the mineral-rich country after 17 of its soldiers were killed in the conflict. 'Today they started moving. It is part of the withdrawal plan, nothing unusual,' the SADC official said, confirming reports in South African newspapers. 'Soldiers are moving by road to Tanzania,' he said. The Rwanda-backed M23 has taken control of large swathes of North and South Kivu provinces since the group resurfaced in 2021 and made major advances in recent months, including capturing the key provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu. Rwanda and the DRC last week signed a US-backed joint declaration committing to reach a draft peace agreement by May 2, but fighting has continued. The SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) – made up of soldiers from Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa – was sent to the region in December 2023 to help the government of the DRC, also a SADC member, restore peace and security. The size of the deployment has never been made public, but analysts estimate it to number at least 1 300 troops. Rwanda's government has repeatedly criticised the presence of the SAMIDRC force in the DRC, saying the deployment was 'adding to the problems that already existed'. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last month said he hoped the SAMIDRC withdrawal would 'consolidate' efforts towards a truce. Calls for evacuation had been mounting in South Africa – which contributes most of the troops – after 14 soldiers were killed in January. Most were from the SADC mission but at least two were deployed as part of a separate United Nations peacekeeping force. Soldiers from Malawi and Tanzania participating in the mission have also been killed. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news. By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
