South Africa

Amid rising unemployment and a stagnating economy voters have punished the ruling ANC [Image: GCIS]In a jolt to its unshakeable dominance of South African politics, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) suffered a considerable drop in support from voters in the local government elections, results showed on Saturday.
With 99 per cent of votes counted from Wednesday’s local elections, the ANC was leading with the most votes overall.
The ANC has said would still try to form coalitions to govern the municipalities where it lost its majority.

By Dr Firoz Osman | MEMO | August 5, 2016 The sensational headlines following the arrests of Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie, as well as Ebrahim and Fatima Patel, in Johannesburg and the West Rand, have dominated the South African media over the past few weeks. The #TerrorArrests, as they have been dubbed on social media, […]

File Photo: Rob Davies, Minister of trade and industry of South Africa [Xinhua]South African Trade and Trade and Industry Rob Davies told The BRICS Post in an exclusive interview on Thursday that South Africa’s trade ties with the BRICS members were vital, especially given the uncertainty about trade ties with the United Kingdom after the Brexit vote and an ongoing trade dispute with neighbour Zimbabwe, which unilaterally imposed restrictions on South African exports to Zimbabwe.

A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, South Africa, on Aug. 3, 2016 [Xinhua]On Wednesday, millions of South Africans across the country voted in municipal elections, billed as one of the most competitive polls since the end of white-minority rule 22 years ago.
The polls opened at 7 a.m. and are scheduled to close at 7 p.m., with final results expected to be announced on August 6.
26.3 million registered voters are eligible to cast their ballots at 22,612 voting stations countrywide.

African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security Ambassador Smail Chergui (3rd from left) with BRICS envoys to the UN in New York on 27 July 2016 [Image: Indian Mission to the UN]Smail Chergui, the African Union’s Commissioner for Peace and Security, met BRICS envoys to the UN in New York on Wednesday, during which he briefed them about the recent initiatives undertaken by the African Union Peace Fund, according to a senior BRICS official.

Talks between unions and the mining companies started this month [Xinhua]Sibanye Gold, South Africa’s largest gold miner has dismissed wage demands by miners in South Africa as “ridiculous”.
Talks between unions and the mining companies started this month.
Reuters quoted the chief executive of Sibanye Gold on Thursday as saying that pay cuts should be on the agenda of talks and that demands of pay hikes of upto 50 per cent by mining unions are “ridiculous”.

On Tuesday, Zuma said he needed to clarify how the bill was passed, before deciding whether to sign it into law or refer it back to the legislature [Image: GCIS]South African President Jacob Zuma has asked parliament to explain the process it followed in passing a bill allowing the government to make compulsory land purchases from rich whites and redistribute it more fairly to address racial disparities, two decades after the fall of apartheid.

Workers work in new assembly production plant of China First Automotive Works (FAW) Group Corporation in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, South Africa [Xinhua]A Chinese consortium will pump more than 40 billion rand ($2.81 billion) into the South African economy to build an industrial park, the Trade Ministry has announced.
“A consortium of Chinese investors led by Hong Kong Mining Exchange will be investing more than R40bn into the park, which they will also develop and manage,” South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry said in a statement.

File photo of a refugee camp in Juba, South Sudan [Xinhua]BRICS members China and South Africa have expressed grave concerns over the renewed fighting in South Sudan’s capital Juba, amid rising fears that the country is returning to civil war.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with South African President Jacob Zuma at the Union Buildings, Pretoria on 8 July 2016 [Image: South African Presidency]Indian Prime Minister held talks with South African President Jacob Zuma in Pretoria on Friday. Modi was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Union Buildings, the seat of the South African government.
Modi and Zuma are meeting amid slowing economic growth and global challenges including a fraying European Union and a spiralling of terror-related attacks across the globe.