South Africa

JOHANNESBURG July 9 (Xinhua) -- As COVID-19 cases continue surging, acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said the approval of the CoronaVac vaccine would enhance South Africa's vaccination rollout program.

"CoronaVac will boost the vaccine supply for country's vaccination rollout program in addition to those we already receive from Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson," she said at a media briefing Friday.

ESTCOURT, South Africa (AP) — A South African court has rejected former South African President Jacob Zuma’s request to postpone his current jail term.

Zuma, who started his 15-month jail sentence Thursday, will remain behind bars after his application for his prison term be delayed was dismissed by the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday.

Zuma has one more legal bid to be released which will be heard by the Constitutional Court, the country’s apex court, on Monday.

NKANDLA, South Africa (AP) — Former South African president Jacob Zuma turned himself over to police early Thursday to begin serving a 15-month prison term.

Just minutes before the midnight deadline for police to arrest him, Zuma left his Nkandla home in a convoy of vehicles. Zuma handed himself over to authorities to obey the country’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, that he should serve a prison term for contempt.

JOHANNESBURG, July 5 (Reuters) - Interpol has issued "red notices" urging the arrest of the businessman brothers Atul and Rajesh Gupta - friends of former president Jacob Zuma - and some of their associates for alleged fraud, South African prosecutors said on Monday.

A red notice is a request to law enforcement officials worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action.

Interpol did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

JOHANNESBURG, July 3 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's Constitutional Court has spared former President Jacob Zuma's jail for now by accepting his urgent application, scheduling hearing on July 12.

"The hearing will take place on a virtual platform. Directions would be issued in due course," said Constitutional Court acting registrar Dunisani Mathiba.

Constitutional Court of South Africa on Tuesday sentenced Zuma to 15 months in jail for being in contempt of court. He was given five days to report at the police stations to be taken to prison to start serving his sentence.

CAPE TOWN, July 1 (Reuters) - South Africa's top court on Thursday re-affirmed an earlier ruling that President Cyril Ramaphosa did not deliberately mislead lawmakers about donations to his 2017 campaign to lead the ruling party.

The Public Protector, an anti-graft watchdog, had been unhappy with last year's ruling by the high court, which found that Ramaphosa did not, as alleged, intentionally mislead parliament about fundraising and donations. These included 500,000 rand deposited into Ramaphosa's son Andile's account.

JOHANNESBURG, Jun 28 (NNN-BUANEWS) – South Africa will move to lockdown Level 4 for 14 days, with stringent measures, to curb the spread of COVID-19, said President Cyril Ramaphosa, yesterday, during a televised speech.

From today to July 11, “all gatherings, whether indoors or outdoors, are prohibited. These include religious, political, cultural and social gatherings. A curfew will be in place from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., and all non-essential establishments will need to close by 8:00 p.m.,” he said.

Johannesburg, Jun 18 (PTI) Recalling the contributions of Zambia's first president and champion of African independence Kenneth Kaunda, the Nelson Mandela Foundation has said his life holds for reflection on how democracy should be measured and how it can be deepened.

Kaunda, 97, died on Thursday in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia.

Kaunda was admitted to a military hospital on Monday and he was being treated for pneumonia.

10 June 2021; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates has ratified a 2018 extradition treaty with South Africa, its embassy in Pretoria said on Wednesday, a move that President Cyril Ramaphosa's government hopes will lead to the return of the Gupta brothers to face corruption charges, reported Reuters.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — In the global race to vaccinate people against COVID-19, Africa is tragically at the back of the pack.

In fact, it has barely gotten out of the starting blocks.

In South Africa, which has the continent’s most robust economy and its biggest coronavirus caseload, just 0.8% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to a worldwide tracker kept by Johns Hopkins University. And hundreds of thousands of the country’s health workers, many of whom come face-to-face with the virus every day, are still waiting for their shots.