Polity

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that government is working harder to increase South Africa’s economic recovery momentum, urging citizens to reflect on whether government is fulfilling the promise in the country’s Constitution. Ahead of Human Rights Day on March 21, Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that government’s work is “far from complete”, pointing out that poverty, inequality and unemployment remain “stubborn obstacles” for South Africans.

The Portfolio Committee on Land Reform and Rural Development completed day-two of its three-day oversight in Tulbagh farms in the Western Cape yesterday where it discovered that the farm equity schemes are facing serious challenges and are no longer beneficial to farmworkers. In over R700 million investment to the schemes, only nine out of 88 schemes launched between 1996 and 2008 declared dividends.

/ MEDIA STATEMENT / President Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived in Maputo today, 15 January 2025, to attend the inauguration of the President-Elect of the Republic of Moçambique, His Excellency Daniel Chapo, following the Presidential, Legislative and Provincial Elections which were held in Mozambique on 9 October 2024. The inauguration of President-Elect Chapo provides an opportunity for all the people of Mozambique to work together towards peace, democracy and development.

Nigeria's inflation rate rose for the fourth straight month in December, advancing to 34.80% in annual terms from 34.60% in November, data from the statistics agency showed on Wednesday. Inflation quickened sharply in 2023 after President Bola Tinubu devalued the local naira currency and cut subsidies to try to lift economic growth and shore up public finances.

Daniel Chapo of Mozambique's long-ruling Frelimo party was sworn in as president on Wednesday at a sparsely attended ceremony after months of protests against his disputed election victory. A local civil society monitoring group says more than 300 people have been killed in clashes with security forces since the October 9 vote, which the opposition says Frelimo won through vote-rigging and Western observers say was not free and fair. Frelimo denies accusations of electoral fraud.

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Toronto- and New York-listed Platinum Group Metals Limited is in discussion with several South African smelter operators, including Implats, with a view to negotiating formal metal concentrate offtake arrangements for the Waterberg project, which is planned as a mechanised, shallow, decline-accessed platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold mine, with copper and nickel by-products.

ActionSA announced on Wednesday that will be collaborating with the Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD) party, amending its interim constitution to establish the position of an ActionSA deputy president, which F4SD president Dr Mbahare Kekana will take up.

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The ruling party in the Comoros won decisively in parliamentary elections this week, the electoral commission said, but opposition parties either boycotted the vote or rejected the results, claiming fraud. The Independent National Election Commission (CENI) announced late on Tuesday that the ruling party had secured 28 out of 33 parliamentary seats in Sunday's election. The ruling party held 22 of the 24 seats in the outgoing parliament, which was expanded by a 2023 change in the law.

The past year brought developments that should reap political, economic and cultural opportunities for Africa in 2025. A summation of the most important of these shows an economically maturing Africa, gaining prominence on the world stage. Each new year brings new opportunities for investment and business deals that are made possible by encouraging economic developments, which in turn are facilitated by promising political developments.