Africa

South Africa’s Ramaphosa elected president

Published

3 months ago

June 15, 2024

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa

South Africa’s Ramaphosa elected president

Cape Town, South Africa – Late-night negotiations and an eleventh-hour agreement led to the formation of South Africa’s first-ever coalition government on Friday, with President Cyril Ramaphosa at its head.

The multiparty coalition signed its agreement only on Friday, as members of parliament were sworn in after marathon negotiations and back-and-forth calls between Ramaphosa and leaders of other parties.

Late Friday night, Ramaphosa was elected as the country’s president in parliament. Under the unprecedented coalition agreement, the Democratic Alliance (DA) – the African National Congress’s (ANC) official opposition until now – and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) voted for an ANC president for the first time.

The multiparty coalition was prompted after the ANC suffered its worst electoral decline in 30 years. The party holds 159 of 400 seats in parliament – short of the 201 seats needed to have a majority – after winning 40 percent of the vote in the country’s May 29 election.

After days of internal talks within the ANC, Ramaphosa announced last week that the party would seek a “government of national unity”. But the left-leaning Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK Party) – which was created months before the election and ate into the ANC’s traditional voter support – refused to join the government, especially with the DA a part of it. The MK Party had also demanded Ramaphosa’s removal from the presidency.

The right-leaning DA, with 21 percent of the seats in parliament, will now be the ANC’s main partner in government with the support of the nationalist IFP. The parties agreed to an eight-page framework that will govern their unity government, including a clause stating that a decision could only be made if “sufficient consensus” was reached.

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This means that Ramaphosa and the ANC will not be able to make decisions without buy-in from coalition partners. The parties agreed to 10 fundamental principles, which included respect for the constitution, and positions against racism and sexism.

In the agreement signed, the parties agreed that “rapid, inclusive and sustainable economic growth” would be the coalition government’s apex priority.

The ‘hard part’ starts now

Former DA leader and negotiating team member Tony Leon said that he had never imagined a world where the ANC and the DA would co-govern.

“The last time I negotiated with the ANC around the new constitution was in 1996, and they had 62 percent support,” he told Al Jazeera.

Leon described the talks since the May 29 vote as “very hard”, but said the president’s election was the “easy part”.

“The next five years are going to be difficult,” he said, adding that trust would make the coalition government functional.

Leon said talks were still incomplete five minutes before parliament’s sitting began on Friday at 10am local time (08:00 GMT).

“We agreed to outline a modality of how you get through today and some signals and signposts of the future. It is about some broad principles and important provisions; at the end of the day, this will not just depend on goodwill. It will depend on trust between the parties,” he said.

The agreement signed on Friday morning did not include details on which parties will occupy what positions in government. Ramaphosa has until Wednesday to determine that. He will be sworn in by the country’s chief justice next Wednesday.

According to the agreement signed, while Ramaphosa has the prerogative to appoint ministers and deputy ministers, he needs to consult leaders of other parties in the coalition before he does so.

Pierre de Vos, professor of constitutional law at the University of Cape Town, said he was wary about what a coalition government might mean for the country’s governance.

“It is difficult to be confident in what’s to come,” he said.

De Vos said that while a coalition government was “good on paper,” South Africa had a fractious society that the ANC kept together for three decades. “When it comes to difficult issues like inequality and racism, the two parties are polar opposite sides,” he said.

The DA has fought against race-based transformation policies, which the ANC has pushed for three decades.

Other analysts said they believe the coalition government would force ideological parties to the centre.

“This coalition agreement is a good thing. It will force the ANC away from the left to the centre and the DA away from the extreme right,” said political analyst JP Landman.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

South Africa’s Ramaphosa elected president

Africa

British plumber gets death sentence in Congo over coup attempt

Published

4 days ago

September 16, 2024

Trends Admin

British plumber gets death sentence in Congo over coup attempt

A British man has been sentenced to death after being convicted of participating in a coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Youssouf Ezangi, a 53-year-old UK citizen of Congolese descent who worked as a plumber in London, was one of six foreign nationals handed “the harshest penalty” by a military court.

One Canadian, a Belgian and three US citizens were also among the among the 37 defendants found guilty on charges of attempted coup, terrorism and criminal association.

Six people were killed in the failed attempt to oust elected President Félix Tshisekedi, who has ruled the country of 109,000,000 people since 2019.

The botched coup’s leader, Christian Malanga, was shot dead by security forces soon after livestreaming the attack on the presidential palace on May 19.

Armed men under his commanded briefly occupied on office in the palace before the coup attempt was suppressed.

Malanga’s 21-year-old son Marcel, one of the US citizens, claimed his father coerced him and high school friend from Utah, Tyler Thompson, 21, to participate.

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He told the court: “Dad had threatened to kill us if we did not follow his orders.”

This story was echoed by other participants, and by Marcel’s mother, Brittney Sawyer, who claims her son was innocent.

Mr Thompson said: “Christian had woken us up in the middle of the night dressed in a military uniform with a gun around his waist and said the military will arrive here shortly.

“The only thing he told me is that I must do everything as he says or else I will die.”

Christian Malanga, a little-known used car salesman who dabbled in gold mining, considered himself president of a shadow government in exile, Ms Sawyer said.

Mr Thompson and the younger Mr Malanga’s school football teammates claim Mr Malanga offered up to £76,000 for them to join him in a “security job” in Congo.

The DRC reinstated the death penalty earlier this year, fuelling hope that the British man and his co-defendants can appeal the open-air court’s ruling.

Richard Bondo, lawyer for the six foreign nationals, said: “We will challenge this decision on appeal.”

Mr Bondo also claimed the defendants had not been provided with adequate interpreters during the investigation.

They were given five days to appeal the verdict.

Foreign Office officials have tried to convince the DRC to drop plans to execute Mr Ezangi.

A spokesperson said: “We are providing consular assistance to a British man detained in DRC and are in contact with the local authorities.

“We have made representations about the use of the death penalty to the DRC at the highest levels, and we will continue to do so.”

The third American has been named as Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, a 36-year-old believed to have met Christian Malanga through a gold mining company.

British plumber gets death sentence in Congo over coup attempt

Africa

Court jails Inspector General of Police to six months

Published

7 days ago

September 14, 2024

Trends Admin

Kenya’s acting Inspector-General of Police, Gilbert Masengeli

Court jails Inspector General of Police to six months

In a dramatic turn of events, Kenya’s acting Inspector-General of Police, Gilbert Masengeli, has been sentenced to six months in prison for brazenly defying court orders.

The High Court in Nairobi handed down the ruling after Masengeli repeatedly failed to provide crucial testimony regarding the disappearance of three men, allegedly abducted by police officers.

The police chief’s refusal to cooperate with the court has stirred outrage, with many questioning the lengths the authorities will go to cover up the abductions.

The three missing individuals were vocal supporters of the mass anti-government protests that rocked Kenya in June and July, leading human rights activists to accuse state agents of orchestrating a series of abductions aimed at silencing dissent.

Despite President William Ruto’s public promises to investigate the claims, Masengeli’s blatant disregard for the court’s authority has cast a shadow over the government’s stance.

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The Law Society of Kenya, which brought the lawsuit, is demanding the safe return of the missing men, who have not been seen since August.

Judge Lawrence Mugambi, frustrated by Masengeli’s repeated absences in court, had given the police boss no fewer than seven opportunities to appear and explain the whereabouts of the missing men.

With his patience exhausted, the judge issued the jail sentence but suspended it for seven days, offering Masengeli one final chance to comply or face prison.

“If he fails to present himself to the Commissioner General of Prisons, the minister of interior must take all necessary legal steps to ensure Masengeli is incarcerated,” declared Judge Mugambi.

The defiant police chief, through his legal team, is now scrambling to have the contempt ruling overturned, claiming efforts to locate the three men are still ongoing. However, with mounting pressure from activists and the public, Masengeli’s time may be running out.

The police department, led by spokesperson Resila Onyango, has remained tight-lipped on the scandal, fueling further speculation and outrage.

Court jails Inspector General of Police to six months

Africa

DR Congo coup: US, British citizens among 37 sentenced to death

Published

7 days ago

September 14, 2024

Trends Admin

DR Congo coup: US, British citizens among 37 sentenced to death

Thirty-seven people – including three Americans, a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian national – have been sentenced to death over an attempt to overthrow the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The men were accused of leading an attack on both the presidential palace and the home of an ally of President Félix Tshisekedi in May.

Christian Malanga, a US national of Congolese origin, the suspected leader of the plot, was killed during the attack, along with five others.

In total 51 people were tried in a military court, with hearings broadcast on national TV and radio.

Malanga’s son Marcel, one of the US citizens sentenced to death, previously told the court that his father had threatened to kill him unless he took part.

His friend Tyler Thompson, was also given the death penalty. The pair, aged in their 20s, had played football together in Utah.

His stepmother Miranda Thompson in June told the BBC the family had “zero idea” how he had ended up in DR Congo.

“We were in complete shock as to what was happening, and the unknown. Everything we were learning was what we were getting off Google,” she said.

The third American, Benjamin Zalman-Polun, had business interests with Christian Malanga.

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Also sentenced to death was Jean-Jacques Wondo, a dual Congolese and Belgian citizen.

Human Rights Watch previously described him as a prominent researcher on regional politics and security, and suggested the evidence connecting him to the coup attempt was thin.

The AFP news agency reports that the Briton and Canadian nationals were of Congolese origin.

The court heard the British national, Youssouf Ezangi, had helped recruit some of the others who took part.

Of the 51 tried, 14 people were acquitted and freed, with the court finding they had no connection to the attack.

Those convicted have five days to appeal against their sentences.

Death sentences have not been carried out in DR Congo for roughly two decades – convicts who receive the penalty serve life imprisonment instead.

The government lifted this moratorium in March this year, citing the need to remove “traitors” from the nation’s dysfunctional army. However, no death penalties have been carried out since.

The attempted coup began in the capital, Kinshasa, in the early hours of 19 May. Armed men first attacked parliamentary speaker Vital Kamerhe’s home in Kinshasa then headed to the president’s official residence.

Witnesses say a group of about 20 assailants in army uniform attacked the palace and an exchange of gunfire followed.

An army spokesman later announced on national TV that security forces had stopped “an attempted coup d’etat”.

Local media reports said the assailants were members of the New Zaire Movement linked to Malanga, an exiled DR Congolese politician.

Malanga was shot dead in the attack after resisting arrest, said army spokesperson Brig Gen Sylavin Ekenge.

President Tshisekedi was re-elected for a second term in disputed elections last year in December. He won about 78% of the vote.

DR Congo is a country with vast mineral wealth and a huge population. Despite this, life is difficult for many people, with conflict, corruption and poor governance persisting.

Much of the country’s natural resources lie in the east where violence still rages despite Mr Tshisekedi’s attempts to deal with the situation by imposing a state of siege, ceasefire deals and bringing in troops from neighbouring countries.