South Africa

Cape Town, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The South African parliament has described the 9th BRICS Parliamentary Forum as "a seminal moment" of harmonious unity and collective ambition for the BRICS nations.

In a statement on Friday, the parliament said the forum, which kicked off in Johannesburg on Wednesday, represented a progressive journey and mutual dedication to reinforcing global dialogues and alliances.

23 September 2023; MEMO: The government of South Africa has exempted Palestinian citizens holding Palestinian passports from entry visas to South Africa.

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 2 (Reuters) - South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday urged authorities to enforce regulations preventing city residents from unlawfully occupying apartment blocks, after scores died in a fire in a Johannesburg building that was occupied illegally.

The fire, which killed more than 70 people, has highlighted a housing crisis in a city that is one of the world's most unequal and where poverty and unemployment are widespread.

"Local government has to enforce the laws," Ramaphosa said at a governing African National Congress party event.

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Eighteen suspected robbers were shot and killed during a shootout with South African police in the Limpopo province, the police said on Friday.

Addressing the media from the crime scene in Makhado in South Africa's northernmost province, national police commissioner Fannie Masemola said the suspects were allegedly planning a cash-in-transit (CIT) heist and were responsible for similar crimes in other provinces.

"We do believe this syndicate has been involved in a number of CITs in this province, Mpumalanga and Gauteng," Masemola said.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Search teams finished checking a derelict Johannesburg apartment building a day after one of South Africa’s deadliest fires broke out there as pathologists faced the grisly task Friday of identifying charred bodies and body parts that were transported in large trucks to mortuaries across the city.

The death toll from Thursday’s predawn blaze rose to 76 after two people died in a hospital overnight, Health Minister Joe Phaahla told reporters. At least 12 of the victims were children, authorities said.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A nighttime fire ripped through a rundown apartment building mainly occupied by homeless people and squatters in Johannesburg early Thursday, leaving at least 74 dead, officials said. Some people threw babies out of third-story windows to others waiting below in the desperate scramble to evacuate, witnesses said.

PRETORIA, August 30. /TASS/: The military officers who took power in Gabon have named Republican Guard head General Brice Oligui Nguema as transitional leader, Reuters reported, citing a statement one of the rebels read out on national television.

The French newspaper Le Monde reported earlier that the rebels planned to choose a transitional leader at a meeting of generals on Wednesday.

CAPE TOWN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The South African parliament issued a statement Saturday on the success of the 15th BRICS Summit held in Johannesburg, hailing the outcomes of this "historic" summit as a "testament" to the visionary leadership and unwavering commitment of the BRICS nations.

"The 15th BRICS Summit outcomes encapsulate a robust spirit of international collaboration, underscoring multilateralism, peaceful conflict resolution, and the pursuit of sustainable development," said the statement.

JOHANNESBURG, August 24. /TASS/: The decision on BRICS enlargement, adopted at the summit, will give the association more strength, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at a news conference on the results of the 15th BRICS summit on Thursday.

"The enlargement will be a new starting point for the development of cooperation within BRICS and give the BRICS group more strength," Xi said. "I believe that as long as we work together, BRICS cooperation will have great prospects and the BRICS countries - a promising future."

JOHANNESBURG /South Africa/, August 24. /TASS/: The West’s ambitions to defeat Moscow strategically have forced Russia to carry on with its work on the battlefield, rather than through diplomatic channels, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Thursday.

"They [Westerners] say: 'We must defeat Russia on the battlefield, inflict a strategic defeat on it on the battlefield.' Well, then we will do our work on the battlefield, rather than diplomatically," Lavrov said.