SA checks if citizens were injured in Nigeria building collapse:Sunday 14 September 2014 Nigerian rescue services say 124 people have been rescued from the rubble of the collapsed building.(REUTERS) The South African government is trying to establish whether any South Africans are affected after a two-storey church building collapsed in Lagos in Nigeria on Friday. Rescuers say the death toll, after the residential guesthouse of preacher TB Joshua's Synagogue Church of All Nations caved in, stands at 41. Back home, the Department of International Relations' Nelson Kgwete confirms that the South African High Commission in Nigeria is working with authorities in Abuja to ascertain whether or not there were South African citizens involved in the building collapse. Kgwete says, "The mission's officials are working with hospitals and other facilities where other people are being treated.
Nigeria church collapse survivor waiting for wife’s death confirmation:Thursday 25 September 2014 Anthony van der Byl arrived back in South Africa from Nigeria on Wednesday.(SABC) A Plettenberg Bay man whose wife is believed to have died in the Nigeria building collapse says her death has not been forensically confirmed. The 47-year-old Anthony van der Byl says soon after the incident, Prophet TB Joshua told him that his wife had died. Fifty-year-old Louise van der Byl is said to be among 84 South Africans who died when the guest house of the Synagogue Church of All Nations collapsed two weeks ago. Van der Byl recalled the moment the seven-storey building collapsed Van der Byl returned home on Wednesday. “I was sitting next to my wife, we were waiting for our food and the next moment when I looked up that whole wall just collapsed and bent to the inside. He says it is a miracle that he survived after being trapped under rubble for 25 hours. “The last words of my wife, as she was lying about two people away from me, were 'Anthony keep on praying'.
Delays in ‘Nigerian repatriation’ stresses SA task team:Friday 7 November 2014 About 116 people were killed when the Synagogue Church of All Nations guest house collapsed on September 12, 2014.(SABC) The Inter-Ministerial Task Team established to deal with the repatriation of 81 South Africans who died during a building collapse in Lagos, Nigeria has expressed frustration about the process. About 116 people were killed when the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) guest house belonging to Televangelist, TB Joshua collapsed on September 12, 2014. President Jacob Zuma has now appointed Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe as special envoy to engage with Nigerian authorities on the repatriation. Communications and Information Systems CEO Phumla Williams says almost two months after the disaster, several deadlines as to when the bodies will be repatriated have not been met. “We are not having any answers for these families.
54 Nigerian disaster victims’ bodies ready for SA:Thursday 13 November 2014 More than 80 South Africans were killed when TB Joshua's Synagogue Church of All Nations collapsed in Lagos.(REUTERS) Only 54 bodies of South Africans who died in Nigeria's church tragedy two months ago are ready to be repatriated. This emerged after a meeting between the Minister in the Presidency, Jeff Radebe, and the Lagos state governor to discuss bringing back the remains of the 81 South Africans who died when a Synagogue Church of All Nations building collapsed in Lagos. The minister had indicated earlier that all the bodies could be home by the weekend. Family members in the North West of those who died in Nigeria when the guest house collapsed are still not sure if they will ever be able to bury their beloved ones. Two families in North West who have lost their loved ones, say they have lost hope. The Makalela family in Itsoseng near Lichtenburg and the Mogatusi family from Riviera Park in Mahikeng say they have lost hope in government.
Nigeria tragedy: SA awaits arrival of victims remains:Sunday 16 November 2014 Eighty-one South Africans and four foreigners with South African documents were killed when the guesthouse in Lagos collapsed.(SABC) The remains of 74 of the 85 South African-based victims of the Nigerian church tragedy are expected to land in the country on Sunday. The plane carrying the bodies left Lagos for Waterkloof airport in the early hours of Sunday morning. The repatriation follows a strong political push that saw Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Lagos state governor Babatunde Foshola. Radebe's announcement was delayed by some nine hours as identification of the bodies continued, and a team of 87 South African specialists prepared the bodies for repatriation. Family members of the victims have been travelling to Pretoria to be part of an official reception. The bodies of 11 other people from South Africa still have to be positively identified in Lagos and will be repatriated later.
‘Nigerian repatriation’ brings sombre mood to SA:Sunday 16 November 2014 The bodies will be transported from the Waterkloof airforce base to Forensic Pathology Services mortuaries in different provinces.(SABC) Emotions were running high among families of Lagos church victims who were at the Waterkloof air force base to receive the remains of their loved ones. A sombre mood prevails in South Africa after the plane carrying 74 bodies of the 85 South African-based victims arrived from Nigeria on Sunday. Munyadziwa Mbedzi was there to receive the remains of her daughter Mpho, who is one of the people who perished in Lagos. “The situation is under control here even though sometimes it becomes too emotional but God is control. Moss Lobakeng, from Meriting in Rustenburg, North West, is in Pretoria for memorial service Sunday afternoon. The government has warned families of health and secondary trauma risk if they view the remains. The bodies will be transported from the Waterkloof airforce base to Forensic Pathology Services mortuaries in different provinces.
Govt to ensure the speedy repatriation of remaining victims: Ramaphosa:Sunday 16 November 2014 Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.(SABC) Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has stressed that the government will ensure that the remaining bodies of people from South Africa are speedily repatriated from Nigeria. Ramaphosa was speaking at the repatriation ceremony at the Waterkloof Air force base in Pretoria. The remains of 74 South Africans, who died during the collapse of a church in Lagos two months ago, arrived at the base on Sunday morning. A total of 116 people were killed in the tragedy when a Synagogue Church of All Nations building collapsed on September 12 in Lagos. Ramaphosa says the ceremony marks the first step towards the healing of the pain of the victims' families. Presidential Director-General Dr Cassius Lubisi devoted about ten minutes to naming all 85 people who died in the tragedy. Mpumalanga will receive 18 of the mortal remains Meanwhile, the Mpumalanga government has not yet released the provincial plan for the victims of the Nigerian tragedy.
Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (/muːˈɡɑːbiː/ moo-GAH-bee; Shona pronunciation: [muɡaɓe];[needs tone] born 21 February 1924) is a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the rebel groups against white minority rule, he was elected as Prime Minister, head of government, in 1980, and served in that office until 1987, when he became the country's first executive head of state.[1] Having been repeatedly re-elected, he retains this post to this day. He has led the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) since 1975. Robert Mugabe rose to prominence in the 1960s as the Secretary General of ZANU during the conflict against the conservative white minority government of Rhodesia. Mugabe was a political prisoner in Rhodesia for more than 10 years between 1964 and 1974.[2] Upon release Mugabe, along with Edgar Tekere, left Rhodesia in 1975 to re-join the fight during the Rhodesian Bush War from bases in Mozambique. Early life St.
Central African Republic: Legacy of Misrule How did the Central African Republic reach its current violent state? The modern history of Central African Republic begins in 1960 when it achieved independence from France, part of the wave of independence that swept across Africa. But since then, its people have been subjected to decades of misrule. Between independence and early 2013, five men have led the country. What set the stage for the latest coup and the violence? In 2003, General François Bozizé, then the military chief of staff, backed by Arabic-speaking allies from Chad and residents of the country’s northeast, overthrew the unpopular civilian government. How was the government overthrown in the spring of 2013? A group of rebel factions calling itself “Seleka,” or “Alliance,” coalesced from among the anti-government militias. Are the Seleka in power now? No. In January Djotodia resigned as interim president, and the National Transitional Council elected Catherine Samba Panza, the mayor of Bangui, in his place.
Congo Militia Leader Convicted of Four War Crimes The International Criminal Court found Germain Katanga, a brutal Congo warlord, guilty of four counts of war crimes and one count of crime against humanity on Friday. Katanga was convicted of overseeing and orchestrating atrocities against civilians during an attack on the village of Bogoro in the Ituri region of DRC. Katanga pleaded not guilty to the charges related to the massacre in February 2003, which left over 200 people dead. Although by no means exhaustive, these are some of the most notorious figures to be charged by the ICC, though Katanga is only the second person to be convicted by the court since it was established in The Hague in 2002. Photo via Kony 2012 Joseph Kony The ICC issued an arrest warrant for the Ugandan leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army after charging him with 33 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2005. Photo via AK Rockefeller Charles Taylor Thomas Lubanga Dyilo Dyilo was the first person to be ever convicted by the ICC. Photo via GovernmentZA
Slavery's last stronghold Nouakchott, Mauritania (CNN) Moulkheir Mint Yarba returned from a day of tending her master’s goats out on the Sahara Desert to find something unimaginable: Her baby girl, barely old enough to crawl, had been left outdoors to die. The usually stoic mother — whose jet-black eyes and cardboard hands carry decades of sadness — wept when she saw her child’s lifeless face, eyes open and covered in ants, resting in the orange sands of the Mauritanian desert. The master who raped Moulkheir to produce the child wanted to punish his slave. Trying to pull herself together, Moulkheir asked if she could take a break to give her daughter a proper burial. “Her soul is a dog’s soul,” she recalls him saying. Later that day, at the cemetery, “We dug a shallow grave and buried her in her clothes, without washing her or giving her burial rites.” “I only had my tears to console me,” she would later tell anti-slavery activists, according to a written testimony. The country is slavery’s last stronghold. Haratine
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (born 5 June 1942) is an Equatoguinean politician who has been President of Equatorial Guinea since 1979. He ousted his uncle, dictator Francisco Macías Nguema, in an August 1979 military coup and has overseen Equatorial Guinea's emergence as an important oil producer, beginning in the 1990s. Obiang was Chairperson of the African Union from 31 January 2011 to 29 January 2012. Equatorial Guinea is one of the continent's largest producers of oil, but ranks very poorly in the United Nations human development index. Early life[edit] Born into the Esangui clan in Acoacán, Obiang joined the military during Equatorial Guinea's colonial period and attended the Military Academy in Zaragoza, Spain. Presidency[edit] After Macías ordered the murders of several members of his own family – including Obiang's brother – Obiang and others in Macías' inner circle feared the president had gone insane. New constitution[edit] A new constitution was adopted in 1982. Abuses[edit]
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