South Africa

CAPE TOWN, July 1 (Xinhua) -- TikTok has overtaken Instagram to secure the second place among the "Big Five" social media platforms in South Africa, challenging Facebook's dominance in the country.

Facebook, with a commanding 56.7 percent penetration of South Africans aged 15 and over in urban areas, continues to dominate the social media realm, according to the South African Social Media Landscape 2023 study, released by brand intelligence consultancy Ornico and market research house World Wide Worx, local media reported Saturday.

PRETORIA, June 29. /TASS/: Ethiopia hopes for a positive decision on its application to join BRICS member states, Ethiopian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Meles Alem said.

"We expect BRICS will give us a positive response to the request we have made," the ENA news agency quoted him as saying at a media briefing. The diplomat noted that Ethiopia had officially applied to join the alliance.

PRETORIA, June 28 (NNN-ALLAFRICA) — Germany’s top diplomat is in South Africa to discuss strengthening bilateral ties in fighting climate change, but the war in Ukraine remains a sticking point.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday that the short-lived uprising in Russia “makes it clear once again that Russia’s illegal war of aggression is not just an attack on Ukraine … but that President Putin is destroying his own country.”

PRETORIA, June 28 (NNN-ALLAFRICA) — Germany’s top diplomat is in South Africa to discuss strengthening bilateral ties in fighting climate change, but the war in Ukraine remains a sticking point.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday that the short-lived uprising in Russia “makes it clear once again that Russia’s illegal war of aggression is not just an attack on Ukraine … but that President Putin is destroying his own country.”

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A delegation of security officials, diplomats and journalists accompanying the South African president to Ukraine and Russia was stranded on a separately chartered plane at Warsaw’s airport for more than 24 hours. Polish authorities said on Friday that the problem was over permissions for firearms.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is among a group of African leaders visiting Kyiv and Moscow on a mission to encourage a resolution to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

JOHANNESBURG, June 15 (Reuters) - African leaders could propose a series of "confidence building measures" during their initial efforts to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, according to a draft framework document seen by Reuters on Thursday.

Senegal President Macky Sall and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are heading a delegation including leaders from Zambia, the Comoros, and Egypt's prime minister that will travel to Kyiv on Friday and St. Petersburg on Saturday.

JOHANNESBURG, June 13 (Reuters) - A group of U.S. lawmakers is calling for a U.S.-Africa trade summit planned for later this year to be moved from South Africa in response to what they said was the country's "deepening military relationship" with Russia.

In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior officials, they also suggested South Africa is in danger of losing its benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) - Washington's flagship trade programme.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers wants the Biden Administration to punish South Africa for what they call its support for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine by relocating an important trade meeting to another country, according to a letter published Tuesday in The New York Times.

The lawmakers also said that South Africa’s “aid” for Russia, including allegedly supplying Moscow with weapons for its war in Ukraine, calls into question its eligibility to receive trade benefits from the U.S. under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party expelled its former secretary-general on Monday for misconduct and other breaches of party rules while he also faces charges of corruption in a criminal case.

The once-influential Ace Magashule is on trial over the alleged misappropriation of money from a government contract worth more than $13 million when he was the premier of the Free State province before his rise to the top administrative position in the ANC.

Johannesburg, June 10 (PTI) An international conference in South Africa pondered upon the issues that can be addressed using the principles of non-violence advocated by Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King.