South Africa

Police call up reserves and reinforce security around government buildings ahead of planned protest.

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South Africa and Russia want a connecting flight between their capitals, likely run by Russian firm Nordwind. But Western sanctions are getting in the way.

South Africa's Reserve Bank will raise interest rates for the last time in this cycle by 25 basis points on March 30, in anticipation of slower inflation ...

State electricity utility Eskom is implementing the worst rolling blackouts on record, leaving households in the dark for up to ten hours a day. The poll suggested growth would be 0.4% this year and 1.5% next. [European Central Bank](/business/finance/bank-lifelines-ease-global-financial-crisis-fears-2023-03-17/) sees no contagion for euro zone banks from recent turmoil, a source said on Friday, after U.S. and elsewhere." South Africa's central bank raised its main lending rate by 25 basis points to 7.25% in January. Policy members will also be mindful of the recent spike in banking sector stress in the U.S.

Central banks in Africa's biggest economies are poised to raise interest rates this month to contain sticky inflation and deter a selloff in their assets ...

Authorities said there would be a heavy police presence to deal with any possible violence, after the third largest party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) ...

We are not going to allow lawlessness and acts of criminality." "The state has a responsibility to ensure that citizens can go on about their day... "We know of a planned protest. In a statement on Saturday, the party told would-be protesters their actions "must be militant and radical" but to behave "peacefully" and watch out for "agent provocateurs" attempting to hijack the strike. (Photo by PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP) Members of the the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) gather at Church Square in Pretoria on March 20, 2023 during a "national shut-down" called by their party to bring the country to a halt.

EFF's national chairperson Veronica Mente said the protest is steaming ahead and South Africans are expected to join the picket lines in their thousands.

The police and the soldiers are the ones blocking the roads because they are searching every car, trying to know what is happening. People are going to be joining the march in numbers. “That narrative, that we are going to be breaching other people’s rights has been driven by the governing party and the DA because they wanted to instil fear in our people.

The first shots of the EFF's national shutdown have been fired, as police clashed with protesters in multiple locations across the country on Sunday night.

20 March 2023." Exactly at midnight, Julius Malema tweeted a poster that read: "Now or never. "The current deployment of the army and law enforcement agencies, has surpassed that of the Apartheid regime in the 1980's during the State of Emergency.

Shutdown day: The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) will attempt to shut down South Africa today, 20 March. The EFF is calling for an end to load shedding and ...

- Markets: The South African rand was flat on Friday after a volatile week fuelled by fears of a global banking crisis and the implications for monetary policy. - From Russia with law: Spokesperson to the president, Vincent Magwenya, says the government is aware of its legal obligations regarding the proposed visit of Russia’s Vladimir Putin after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against the Russian leader. - Home affairs investigation: Gordon Hollamby, the CFO at the department of home affairs, is being investigated for misconduct relating to an over R400 million biometric tender. Bosasa has been in liquidation since 2019, with several high-level executives implicated in corruption linked to state capture. [ Although the EFF has conducted several marches over the last decade, today’s is expected to be different, with the police and military being deployed.

Police and soldiers deployed across South Africa on Monday as the country braced for protests after a left-wing party called for a "national shutdown", ...

All the stealing, all the tarnishing of properties," she said as she skipped rope with a friend on the lawns south of Ramaphosa's office. Parliament announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa had authorised the deployment of 3,474 soldiers to assist police. "The EFF has every right to protest, but the party has no right to hold South Africa hostage in doing so," DA leader John Steenhuisen said. "We are tired of load shedding," he added, a reference to the electricity blackouts, echoing the "Down with Loadshedding" on the sign he was carrying. EFF spokesman Sinawo Tambo told AFP that concerns over looting and violence were "baseless" and accused the authorities of using excessive force by deploying the army in a bid to intimidate supporters. The country's third-largest party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has urged South Africans to take to the streets and bring the country to a halt.

The arrests come at the backdrop of protests by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints) spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said 41 of the 87 were arrested in Gauteng, 29 in North West, 15 in Free State. • The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints) spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said 41 of the 87 were arrested in Gauteng, 29 in North West, 15 in Free State. • The Julius Malema-led outfit is decrying social and economic challenges faced by South Africans, including crime, corruption, load shedding and unemployment amongst others.

On Sunday, South African police, backed by the army, were “strategically placed” in key locations ahead of today's planned demos, which has received some ...

EFF leader Julius Malema said ahead of the protest, which is designed to “bring to a halt all activities” to enforce its demand that S. The deployment is set to run until April 17. Violence of any kind, intimidation of citizens or business owners and involvement in any road or street blockades have all been explicitly banned, largely in reaction to some of the extreme social media posts circulating and comments from protest planners that they intended to “bring the country to a halt” in support of their demands. With heavy police and security presence in place in Cape Town, where the EFF will lead the national protest action with a march on Parliament, now housed in the Cape Town City Hall, and with social media awash with threats that businesses that remain open will be “burned and looted”, the High Court in Cape Town Friday granted an interdict allowing the EFF protest march to go ahead, but with restrictions. On Sunday, South African police, backed by the army, were “strategically placed” in key locations ahead of today’s planned demos, which has received some limited support from trade union militants, amid threats of business lootings and intimidation of owners who do not shut up shop, as the EFF had demanded. - On Sunday, South African police, backed by the army, were “strategically placed” in key locations ahead of today’s planned demos, which has received some limited support from trade union militants, amid threats of business lootings and intimidation of owners who do not shut up shop, as the EFF had demanded.

South African security forces said on Monday that 87 people had been arrested in the last 12 hours across the country over public violence ahead of planned ...

Register for free to Reuters and know the full story Parliament said in a statement on Sunday that the South African military would deploy 3,474 troops for a month until April 17 to prevent and combat crime in cooperation with the police. The EFF has called for a national shutdown to protest crippling power cuts and demand the resignation of President Cyril Ramaphosa.