Dozens believed to have died in an illegal gold mine in South Africa

Sky News:

At least 100 people who were trapped in a South African mine have died, a group representing them has said.

They were illegally mining in an abandoned gold mine and have been engaged in a lengthy standoff with authorities who had cut off their food, water and supplies in an attempt to "smoke them out".

Guardian:

Illegal mining has flourished in South Africa in recent decades as many industrial mines have been exhausted. Analysts estimate there are about 30,000 “zama zama” illegal miners producing 10% of South Africa’s gold output in 6,000 abandoned mineshafts, often controlled by violent criminal syndicates.

...

Officials have claimed the men are hiding underground to avoid arrest, pointing out that about 1,500 people have emerged from another mine shaft in the area.

“We don’t believe they are trapped, because other ones … have come out,”

Al Jazeera:

Nine bodies were recovered in a community-led operation on Friday, he said. Another nine were recovered in an official rescue operation by authorities on Monday, when 26 survivors were also brought out

...

“The shaft is 2km (1.2 miles) deep.

...

Large groups of illegal miners often go underground for months to maximise profits 

"Germany to welcome 250,000 Kenyans in labour deal"

That's the headline on the Yahoo-hosted version of the BBC's article published yesterday:

Kenya is struggling with increasing difficulties in providing work and sufficient income for its young professionals, while Germany is facing a shortage of skilled labour.

...

Migration agreements are a central pillar in the German government's efforts to curb immigration.

Seemed like surprising news, and something about the article seemed off.

Here's the third sentence of the current version of the same BBC article as hosted by the BBC:

The German government has said the deal does not specify the number of workers who will be allowed in.

The BBC-hosted article ends with the following note that has not been added to the Yahoo-hosted article:

Correction 14 September 2024: An earlier version of this article put a figure on how many Kenyan workers would be allowed into Germany under the deal. The German interior ministry corrected this to state that the deal did not specify a figure. 

"Uber and Bolt have become battlegrounds for a conflict between Nigerians and South Africans over a beauty pageant contestant"

The ride-hailing apps were being used by South Africans to schedule and cancel rides in Nigeria as  a prank. The apparent motivation for the pranks: 

Earlier this month, model ... pulled out of the Miss South Africa contest following public outcry and xenophobic attacks over her ethnicity. [The contestant], who was born in South Africa, was targeted because her father is Nigerian and her mother has Mozambican roots. Soon after, organizers of a similar contest in Nigeria invited [her] to participate in their event, and she accepted.

The incident fueled the long-standing tension between the two countries

From a BBC article with more detail on the beauty pageant:

This was not the first time that this has happened. For ...a Miss South Africa contestant last year, it has brought up difficult memories.

The 28-year-old was the target of the same vitriol heaped on [this year's contestant] because her father is Ugandan.

Johannesburg is confronting "an unprecedented collapse of its water system affecting millions of people"

AP:

A country already famous for its hourslong electricity shortages is now adopting a term called “watershedding” — the practice of going without water, from the term loadshedding, or the practice of going without power.

...

A report published last year by the national department of water and sanitation is damning. Its monitoring of water usage by municipalities found that 40% of Johannesburg’s water is wasted through leaks, which includes burst pipes.

The "BMW Flamethrower" was a car-mounted flamethrower designed to deter carjackings in 1998 South Africa

Today I learned about "The Blaster" - an absurd underdoor mounted flamethrower meant to deter car jackings invented in South Africa in the 90's, and everything about Elon Musk's stupid ass Cyber truck and his whole mindset suddenly clicked into place pic.twitter.com/gPvFz268tb

— Casey @ twitch.tv/caseyexplosion (@CaseyExplosion) December 2, 2023

From the Wikipedia entry for "The Blaster":

In South Africa, it is legal to use lethal force in self-defence if in fear of one's life, and ownership of flamethrowers is unrestricted.

The invention came in response to the increasingly severe violent crime situation in South Africa, which in 1998 had already made the country (particularly Johannesburg) the per capita murder, assault, rape and carjacking capital of the world.

The device was controversial in South Africa

...

the high price tag at 3,900 rand ($655) limited its market

A 1998 CNN article:

Both sides flame at the same time, regardless of whether the attack is coming from just one side of the vehicle, or whether passersby are on the other side. But the breadth and depth of blast can be modified according to individual preference.

...

it offers a cheap, dramatic defense against carjackers

...

"Yes, there are certain risks in using it, but there are also risks in not having anything at all."

And a promotional video from the AP shows it in action:

Police officers in South Africa killed 18 men and women accused of robbing armored cars

ABC:

Police spokesperson ... said in a statement that seven automatic rifles and 10 vehicles, including high-performance sports cars, were seized.

Al Jazeera:

Last year, 10 suspects died during a cash-in-transit shootout with police after the would-be robbers fired at a police helicopter and wounded one of the pilots.

It can take days for truckers to cross from South Africa to Mozambique, so drivers are preyed on by bandits

(Mentioned in a Bloomberg's Next Africa newsletter today, which said the problems have been exacerbated by Russian coal being diverted to Africa, here's a non-paywalled link) 

Freightnews:

The only urgency noticeable at night, when traffic officials withdraw because they don’t get paid overtime and only a handful of police remain to guard the peace, if not collecting bribes, comes from thugs exploiting drivers camping out in their trucks, often for two days or more.

Because of the chaos at night, when tipper trucks skip the queue, congesting the N4 closer to the border gate, it has hardly come as a surprise that taxi associations have become involved because of the threat a closed road poses to their bottom line.

Dressed in reflective vests and armed with sjamboks, they take no bullsh*t, to be very frank about it.

If drivers step out of line, they are forced to turn their trucks around to the back of the queue, a total pressure-cooker situation if you work for a transporter supplementing low pay with incentives paid per load.

To warn drivers against unruly behaviour, taxi marshals drive up and down the queue with a speaker system mounted on the back of a pickup, broadcasting their message of “skip the queue and suffer the consequences”.

"Armed men kill nine Chinese nationals in Central African Republic"

"The embassy said in a statement on Sunday there had been many 'vicious' security incidents against workers of foreign mining enterprises in the area, and Chinese citizens still outside Bangui were requested to evacuate immediately."

"People who identify as gay in Uganda risk life in prison after parliament passed a new bill"

BBC:

"There is a lot of blackmail...In some areas even law enforcers are using the current environment to extort money from people who they accuse of being gay"

...

The bill's backers say they are trying to protect children

"Nine Civilians Killed in Militant Siege at a Mogadishu Hotel"

NYT:

The assault began Sunday evening when six fighters from Al Shabab, an extremist militant group that swears allegiance to Al Qaeda, stormed the Villa Rosa hotel after evening prayers. At least one assailant detonated a suicide vest while others opened fire with guns on the guests, witnesses said.  

At least three government ministers were present, including the internal security minister, Mohamed Ahmed Sheik Ali, who was injured after he leaped from a window to escape the assault, according to local news reports.

...

The siege ended after the six attackers had been killed

BBC:

In August, three months after taking office, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud pledged "total war" against the Islamist militants following an attack on another popular Mogadishu hotel. More than 20 people died.

Two months later, twin car bomb explosions near a busy junction in Mogadishu killed at least 100 people. Al-Shabab also said it was behind that attack.

22 young people found dead under mysterious circumstances in a South African nightclub

Guardian:

A regional newspaper, DispatchLive, said its reporters had seen bodies “lying bizarrely, as if they collapsed to the floor suddenly while dancing or in the middle of a conversation, some seemingly in the social circles they were engaging with” along with “other bodies are slumped across chairs and lying over tables”.

Unverified pictures shared on social media showed bodies with no visible signs of injuries, lying on the floor of the club.

...

“I do not want to speculate on the cause of death; that’s why we brought the top forensic team so that if the cause of death was some poison, they will let us know.”

NBC has video of the exterior and emergency response.

"Sister Alphonsine Ciza spends most of her day in gum boots, white veil tucked under a builder's hat, manning the micro hydroelectric plant she built"

Reuters on the Congo:

She picked up skills as a young nun, repairing electrical faults around the convent, which convinced superiors to send her to study mechanical engineering.

...

She works around the clock with a team of nuns and engineers, greasing machinery and checking the dials of a generator that is fed from a nearby reservoir and lights up a convent, church, two schools and a clinic free of charge.

This "South African train makes safari trip, but never moves"

The Kruger Shalati Hotel is a "luxurious train, permanently stationed on the historically-rich Selati Bridge above the Sabie River in Kruger National Park."

#SouthAfrica
South African train makes safari trip, but never moves
📸 @Michele_Spatari #AFP pic.twitter.com/Z7EkhWiCtq

— AFP Photo (@AFPphoto) April 12, 2022

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kruger Shalati Train on the Bridge (@kruger_shalati)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kruger Shalati Train on the Bridge (@kruger_shalati)

"Russian mercenaries near Sudan accused of killing hundreds" in order to seize gold

Middle East Eye:

Thousands have fled the area for Sudan, with small-scale gold miners losing millions of US dollars worth of gold and property in total. 

...

With the current war in Ukraine creating an acute need in Moscow for money and gold reserves, monitors believe Russian forces are aiming to expel miners from the region in order to then smuggle gold and diamonds back to Russia. 

Similar stories from January and March.

African singers that specialize in performing revenge songs for hire

Rest of World:

In migrant communities, many based around the gold mining towns of Springs and Welkom, and in Soweto, South Africa’s biggest township, these “gossip songs” are big business. Clients — jilted wives out to publicly shame their husbands’ mistresses, neighbors wanting to broadcast the name of an untouchable cattle thief, a sibling rebuking a brother who has grabbed the entire share of a family inheritance — pay musicians like [he] $40 (600 rands) to record, mix, and broadcast songs via WhatsApp. [He] also charges an optional $60 “booster” fee every three months to re-share files of a client’s gossip songs to his hordes of offline and WhatsApp fans in South Africa and thousands back home in Mozambique. 

The dozens of singers provide more than just entertainment — they’re an outlet for wronged parties who have few other ways to vent their anger or get justice in civil proceedings.

“You pay, I sing and dance out your gossip via WhatsApp,” [He] said. “I package your slander, anger, congratulations and turn a client’s emotions into shareable songs and beats to dance to.”

...

Most of [his] clients are wealthier Mozambican migrants in South Africa. One, a highly danceable track he produced in 2018 on behalf of a diaspora gold tycoon, calls out the name of a gardener, whom the tycoon alleged had an affair with his wife back in Mozambique. 

Thousands of Ethiopian prisoners of war were paraded through the regional capital of Tigray

FR24:

The rapid defeat of Ethiopian forces was an astonishing reversal in a civil war that resulted in the displacement of nearly two million people in the Tigray region, widespread famine and reports that civilians were victims of atrocities and sexual violence.

The parade of prisoners served as a sharp rebuke to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who proclaimed in a speech in the nation’s capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday that reports of his troops’ defeat were “a lie” . He had declared a unilateral ceasefire, he insisted, for humanitarian reasons.

Mr Abiy actually declared victory last year

...

On Thursday, a bridge was destroyed that provided vital access over the Tekeze River to the town of Shire in central Tigray, where the UN estimates there are between 400,000 and 600,000 internally displaced people. country living in dire conditions.

Long article about the circumstances leading up to the recent terrorist attack on Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado

From the start of the article:

On Monday, French energy giant Total declared force majeure on its multibillion-dollar light natural gas (LNG) project in northern Mozambique, formally withdrawing all of its employees from the region and indefinitely suspending its operations. The declaration came after heavily armed militants carried out a surprise attack on the nearby town of Palma, a commercial center in the northern coastal province of Cabo Delgado, in late March. Days of sustained fighting in the town took place just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Total’s worksite, a $20 billion offshore LNG facility that is currently the largest foreign investment project in Africa.

The attack on Palma and Total’s subsequent retreat has brought a rush of attention to the growing insurgency in Cabo Delgado, where more than a century of neglect, corruption and abuse has accompanied the extraction of its abundance of lucrative natural resources.

...

Just hours before the attack on Palma, Total had announced it was resuming its operations after suspending them in January due to security concerns. Afterwards, the company said it would again halt work on the gas infrastructure, this time evacuating its entire staff.

"Rebels besiege town in northern Mozambique for fifth day"

AP:

Many Palma residents ran into the dense tropical forest surrounding the town to escape the violence. But a few hundred foreign workers from South Africa, Britain and France clustered at hotels that quickly became targets for the rebel attacks.

An estimated 200 Mozambicans and foreign workers sheltered at the Hotel Amarula. On Friday, a band of them in 17 vehicles drove together to the beach, where they hoped to be rescued, but the convoy came under heavy fire. Only 7 vehicles reached the beach, according to local reports and messages sent by survivors. 

After Facebook blocked inauthentic government-linked accounts in Uganda, the Ugandan president shut down social media

BBC yesterday:

Facebook has shut down accounts it says are linked to the Ugandan government, only days before elections for a new president and parliament.

The social media giant said a network connected with the ministry of information had been using fake and duplicate accounts to impersonate users and boost the popularity of posts.

...

After 35 years in power, President Yoweri Museveni, 76, is being strongly challenged by music star Bobi Wine, who is 38 and draws much of his support from young people.

Bobi Wine has been detained periodically, and dozens of opposition protesters have been killed.

Al Jazeera today:

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said his government shut down social media two days before the country heads to the polls, accusing Facebook and unnamed outside groups of “arrogance” after the social media giant this week removed Ugandan accounts linked to his re-election campaign.

“That social channel you are talking about, if it is going to operate in Uganda, it should be used equitably by everybody who wants to use it”

...

The list of banned social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Signal and Viber. 

Ethiopia pardoned two men that had been sheltering in the Italian embassy since 1991

Vice from 2015:

It's been nearly 25 years since Ethiopia's Soviet-backed Derg regime was ousted. As a coalition of rebel forces approached capital city Addis Ababa on May 27, 1991, four senior ministers — accused of ordering mass killings — used the darkness of night to creep into the Italian embassy.

...

Fifteen years into their stay, the remaining two men were reportedly sentenced to death for their role in the killings. In 2011, 23 death sentences for former Derg officials were commuted to life imprisonment. However, the men in the embassy — now in their 70s — remain in self-imposed incarceration, but otherwise unpunished.

...

As many as 500,000 were killed during the Red Terror period between 1977 and 1978, according to estimates by Amnesty International.

This week:

Two senior officials of Ethiopia’s former military regime who were being sheltered for 29 years in the Italian embassy in the capital Addis Ababa were paroled Thursday in the longest diplomatic asylum saga in history.