Africa News and Discussions

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Poundland owner's ex-boss found dead of gunshot wound in South Africa, reports say

Friday 22 March 2024 16:11, UK



The former chief executive of South African multinational retailer Steinhoff was told he would be arrested shortly before he was found fatally injured, police have said.

South Africa's Financial Sector Conduct Authority fined Markus Jooste almost £20m on Wednesday for false accounting - the same day a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He was expected to hand himself in, along with former colleague Stephanus Grobler, who was also subject to a warrant, and appear in court on Friday.

"The allegations include, among others, fraud, a pattern of racketeering activities and contravention of Financial Markets Act against Steinhoff International Holdings," police said.

People gather at the scene where former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste apparently shot himself, according to the police, at Kwaaiwater, in Hermanus.

But Jooste, 63, did not appear in court.

https://news.sky.com/story/poundland-ow ... y-13099940

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South Africa’s parliament in scandal as prosecutors say speaker took a wig as a bribe

1 hour ago



South African prosecutors said on Monday they intend to charge the parliament speaker with corruption, alleging she took $135,000 and a wig in bribes over a three-year period while she was defence minister.

Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has not been arrested or charged. The prosecutors spoke at a court hearing over her claims that authorities hadn’t properly informed her of allegations or followed the correct procedure.

The judge was expected to rule on a stay of arrest later on Monday.

In court papers submitted for the hearing, prosecutors say Mapisa-Nqakula received 11 payments totalling $135,000 between December 2016 and July 2019. She sought another bribe of $105,000 but that wasn’t paid, prosecutors said.

On one occasion in February 2019, Mapisa-Nqakula received more than $15,000 and a wig at a meeting at the country’s main international airport, the papers say.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 18246.html

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Senegal’s anti-establishment candidate almost certain to become president

Mon 25 Mar 2024 16.19 GMT



Senegal’s anti-establishment candidate looks almost certain to become president after a stunning election victory that is likely to steer the west African country in a radical new direction.

A little over a week after his release from prison, Bassirou Diomaye Faye is almost certain to be declared the country’s next president after his main rival unexpectedly called him on Monday to concede defeat.

Most analysts had expected the election to go to a tightly contested second round runoff between Faye and Amadou Ba, who represented the ruling administration.

The fact that Faye appears to have secured more than 50% of the vote despite 18 other candidates underlines the desire among Senegalese for the profoundly different political direction that he represents.

It is also a damning rejection of Macky Sall, the incumbent president who has been in power for 12 years yet leaves office with his country facing widespread poverty and almost a third of Senegal’s youth unemployed.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... l-election

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Sudan on brink of collapse and starvation as country marks one year of civil war

As Sudan marks the grim anniversary of a year-long conflict, aid agencies have warned that the country teeters on the edge of collapse, facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that has been largely ignored by the rest of the world.

Islamic Relief, a humanitarian and development agency, painted a stark picture of Sudan’s situation, warning that it is on the brink of mass famine, with young children facing the prospect of starving to death.

The situation in Sudan is dire, with over 8.4 million people, including 2 million children under the age of 5, forced to flee their homes in the wake of the conflict, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

Despite these alarming figures, the international response has been woefully inadequate, with only 5% of the 2024 humanitarian response plan for Sudan funded thus far, Islamic Relief said in a statement.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/15/africa/s ... index.html

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Sudan’s Descent Into Chaos Sets Stage for al-Qaida to Make a Return to Historic Stronghold
by Sara Harmouch
May 10, 2024

Introduction:

(The Conversation) “Sudan’s moment has come; chaos is our chance to sow the seeds of jihad,” warned Abu Hudhaifa al-Sudani, a high-ranking al-Qaida leader, in an October 2022 manifesto.

His words may have seemed premature at the time, but a year of brutal civil war has now plunged Sudan into the kind of chaos in which terrorist groups thrive. The risk of al-Qaida gaining ground in Sudan is now very real and imperils, I believe, not only the country itself but also regional – and potentially global – security.

In April 2023, fighting broke out in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, creating a power vacuum that extremists are eager to fill.

At the same time, the Rapid Support Forces – a group that developed under and was once allied to Sudan’s al-Qaida-harboring former president Omar al-Bashir – has been solidifying its grip in strategic areas such as Darfur and southern Khartoum.

Indeed, both the paramilitary group and the armed forces have been accused of recruiting Islamist fighters, fueling fears that the civil war will – regardless of the victor – prove a toehold for extremist groups.

Read more here: https://theconversation.com/sudans-des ... ld-228954


Sudan