South Africa

South African Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius granted parole, will be released from prison on Jan. 5

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Double-amputee Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius was granted parole Friday, 10 years after shooting his girlfriend through a toilet door at his home in South Africa in a killing that jolted the world. He will be released from prison on Jan. 5, but will be constantly monitored by parole officials for five years until his sentence expires, the Department of Corrections said.

South Africa: BRICS nations call for immediate and sustained humanitarian truce in Gaza

PRETORIA, Nov 22 (NNN-SANEWS) –The BRICS group of nations has strongly called for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities in the situation in the Middle East.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, as Chair of the BRICS group of nations, convened a BRICS Extraordinary Joint Meeting on Tuesday to exchange views on the current situation in Gaza and other Palestinian Occupied Territories as well as its spillover effects. 

South African parliament votes to close Israeli embassy, suspend diplomatic ties

CAPE TOWN, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- The South African parliament on Tuesday voted in favor of a motion to shut down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspend all diplomatic relations with Israel until it agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza.

A total of 248 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, voted in favor of the non-binding motion, while 91 lawmakers opposed it.

The motion was tabled by the opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters, and was backed by the ruling African National Congress.

South Africa: Putin, Xi and UN Secretary-General Guterres to attend virtual meeting on Israel-Hamas war

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders from the BRICS bloc of developing countries will hold a virtual meeting on the Israel-Hamas war on Tuesday, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also participating.

The leaders of fellow BRICS members Brazil, India and South Africa, as well as of Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, which are set to join the bloc in January, will also take part, according to the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Killing civilians in Gaza not making Zionists safe: The Elders

Tehran, IRNA – In an open letter to US President Joe Biden, The Elders said that destroying Gaza and killing civilians will not make the Zionists safe.

The letter, which was published on Thursday, added that “these actions will breed more terrorism, across the region and beyond”.

South Africa calls for UN force to protect civilians in Gaza

30 October 2023; MEMO: South Africa, on Monday, called on the United Nations to deploy a Rapid Protection Force to protect the civilian population in Gaza from further bombardment by Israel, Anadolu Agency reports.

"All countries genuinely committed to a rules-based system underpinned by international law must act immediately" South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, or Foreign Ministry, said in a strongly worded statement.

South Africa urges BRICS collaboration for tourism

CAPE TOWN, Oct 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — South African Tourism Minister, Patricia de Lille, says the BRICS partnership is enough reason for Tourism Ministers and countries to come together and work in collaboration to grow their sectors and economies.

De Lille made the remarks during the opening session of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Tourism Ministers meeting held in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Opposition leader Malema calls for boycott of Israeli goods in South Africa

PRETORIA, Oct 24 (NNN-GNA) — South Africa’s third biggest political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, has held a protest outside the Israeli embassy in the capital, Pretoria.

Party leader, Julius Malema once again called for the closure of the embassy after saying Israel’s government had “no respect for humanity”.

Malema also urged retailers in the country to remove Israeli-produced goods from their shelves by the end of October.

Police say miners from a rival union are holding hundreds of colleagues underground in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A group of miners from an unregistered, rival union are holding hundreds of their colleagues underground for a second day at a gold mine in South Africa over a union dispute, police and mine officials said Tuesday. Some 15 miners have been injured in scuffles, the head of the mine said.

Anglican Church of Southern Africa declares Israel to be apartheid state

04 October 2023; MEMO: The Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) has declared Israel to be an apartheid state, in comments that appear to be a rebuke for Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Last month, the 67-year-old head of the worldwide Anglican communion refused to describe Israel as an apartheid state, brushing aside the broad consensus within the human rights community and a wealth of evidenc

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