NEWS - The African Mirror

Sep

12

2020

Can a tooth settle the mystery over Congo’s independence hero?

NEWS

FISTON MAHAMBA and MARINE STRAUSS BELGIUM’S federal court has said it would hand over a tooth, suspected to be the only remains of the murdered Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba, to his family, a move that could finally unlock the secret behind his death. Lumumba, a firebrand political leader, became the Democratic Republic of Congo's first democratically-elected prime minister after independence from Belgium in 1960, but alarmed the West with overtures to Moscow at the height of the Cold War. His government lasted just three months before he was overthrown and assassinated by firing squad, a killing for which the…

Sep

12

2020

By The African Mirror

Unilever South Africa takes further steps after ‘racist’ TRESemmé advert

NEWS

THE South African unit of Unilever will set up an advisory board and a diversity committee after apologising for a hair care advert which it admitted was "racist", the consumer group has announced. The advert by its TRESemmé brand was posted on drugstore Clicks Group's website last Friday, and described images of African black hair as "frizzy and dull," while a white woman's hair was referred to as "normal". It caused an outcry on social media and sparked protests led by the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in a country where unfair treatment of black hair evokes painful memories of…

Sep

12

2020

By The African Mirror

Special official funeral for Mandela’s lawyer, George Bizos

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER GEORGE Bizos, the late human rights lawyer who defended Nelson Mandela and many other freedom fighters, has been given the ultimate honour by a government he helped install. The South African government has announced that Bizos, who died this week aged 92, will be accorded a special funeral. The honour is given to individuals who have contributed to the struggle against apartheid and the building of a new South Africa. South Africans, African and others around the world have paid warm tributes to Bizos, a powerful and fearless legal eagle famous for his commitment to social justice.…

Sep

11

2020

By The African Mirror

South African President cracks whip, demands answers after ANC leaders flew to Zimbabwe in state aircraft

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa has given the country’s Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula 48 hours to provide an explanation on why top ANC officials flew to Zimbabwe in a government aircraft. Opposition parties reacted with anger and demanded action after it emerged that ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and other top officials flew to Zimbabwe in a South African Defence Force plane. Magashule led an ANC delegation on a political mission of the ANC to meet with Zanu-PF in Harare in an effort to find a political solution to the crisis in South Africa’s…

Sep

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Suspected Islamists kill at least 53 in eastern Congo

NEWS

SUSPECTED militants killed at least 53 villagers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri province this week, according to a local official. The authorities blamed the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan armed group active in eastern Congo since the 1990s. The militia has killed more than 1,000 civilians since the start of 2019, according to U.N. figures, despite repeated military campaigns aimed at destroying it. On Tuesday night into Wednesday, ADF fighters attacked the villages of Tsabi and Tondoli, around 120 km (75 miles) south of the city of Bunia, officials said.…

Sep

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Made homeless by record floods, tens of thousands of Sudanese wait for aid

NEWS

SUDANESE authorities and the United Nations are rolling out aid to tens of thousands who lost their homes in record Nile floods, but many of those camping out on roadsides and higher ground are despairing of when it will reach them. Sudan's government said it had allocated more than 150 million Sudanese pounds ($2.73 million) to help flood victims, the state news agency said. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said that with the help of the United Arab Emirates it had flown 100 metric tonnes of relief material including blankets, which will be distributed across 12 states. The floods have…

Sep

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Police and protesters clash as Mali starts post-coup transition talks

NEWS

POLICE fired tear gas to disperse campaigners for civilian rule before substantive talks over Mali's political future began on Thursday, a sign of a deepening rift over who should lead the post-coup transitional government. About 100 supporters of the M5-RFP coalition, which led months of mass demonstrations against deposed President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, clashed with police at the entrance to the conference centre, delaying the start of the talks. The junta that toppled Keita on August 18 wants the transitional government to be lead by the military, while the M5-RFP and regional leaders have called for a civilian to take…

Sep

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Mali’s protest leader backs civilian ‘rare bird’ to lead transition

NEWS

INFLUENTIAL Mali cleric Imam Mahmoud Dicko urged the military junta on Wednesday to comply with demands from West African leaders to name a civilian president and prime minister by September 15 to ease sanctions imposed after last month's coup. On Saturday the junta began talks with Mali's political parties and civil society groups over a transition to civilian rule. The move was welcomed by the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), but it kept sanctions in place. Dicko, a Salafist preacher who earlier this year electrified protesters during anti-government demonstrations, told the state broadcaster late on Wednesday that…

Sep

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Unilever South Africa to pull all TRESemmé products for 10 days over ‘racist’ ad

NEWS

NQOBILE DLUDLA UNILEVER has agreed to pull all its TRESemmé hair care products from South African retail stores for 10 days as a show of remorse for a "racist" ad, the consumer group said in a joint statement with an opposition political party. Some retailers had already begun removing the products over the advert by TRESemmé, posted on drugstore Clicks Group's website on Friday. It described images of African black hair as "frizzy and dull," and "dry and damaged" while a white woman's hair was referred to as "normal". It caused an outcry on social media and sparked protests led…

Sep

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Mozambique denies accusations of abuses in insurgency-hit province

NEWS

MANUEL MUCARI MOZAMBIQUE has denied accusations by rights group Amnesty International that soldiers had committed atrocities, saying the acts were carried out by Islamist insurgents impersonating troops. Militants with links to Islamic State have stepped up attacks in Mozambique this year, alarming governments across southern Africa. Amnesty said it had seen videos showing soldiers in the uniforms of the Mozambique Armed Defence Forces and the Mozambique Rapid Intervention Police committing atrocities against alleged fighters in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado. "The videos and pictures show the attempted beheading, torture and other ill-treatment of prisoners; the dismemberment of alleged opposition…