African News
Law Tightened to Curb Gender-Based Violence in South Africa
By omegaadmin
— 59 mins ago
The government has taken measures to tighten perceived “loopholes” in the country’s legislation against gender-based violence (GBV). The decision follows public calls to action after a series of murders and attacks on women and children over the past year. President Cyril Ramaphosa also acknowledged recent victims of GBV including Uyinene Mrwetyana, Leighandre Jegels, and Jesse Hess, and said in his weekly press release to the public:
“Over the six months of its implementation, public spending in various government departments was reprioritised to support interventions for care and support for survivors, for awareness and prevention campaigns, to improve laws and policies, to promote the economic empowerment of women, and to strengthen the criminal justice system … The sad reality is that many survivors of gender-based violence have lost faith in the criminal justice system … These Bills, once finalised, will help to restore the confidence of our country’s women that the law is indeed there to protect them.”
Leighandre Jegels and Jesse Hess
Source: allafrica.com
Africa: Continent Records Over 31 000 Covid-19 Deaths and Over a Million Recoveries
By omegaadmin
— 9 hours ago
As of September 6, the confirmed cases of COVID-19 from 55 African countries have reached 1,291,832.
Reported deaths in Africa have reached 31,079 and recoveries 1,029,456.
South Africa has the most reported cases – 636,884, with deaths numbering 14,779. Other most-affected countries include Egypt (99,720 cases), Morocco (70,168), Nigeria (54,905), Ethiopia (57,466), and Algeria (46,071).
The numbers are compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (world map) using statistics from the World Health Organization and other international institutions as well national and regional public health departments.
Source: allafrica.com
Bitter Anniversary in Zimbabwe a Year After Mugabe Died
By omegaadmin
— 10 hours ago
A year after former president Robert Mugabe’s passing, some Zimbabweans get nostalgic about Zimbabwe’s autocratic and longtime ex-leader who died at age 95. Despondent and waiting in a long queue for daily food handouts, Milka Mandimutsa says had Mugabe been still ruling Zimbabwe, “I don’t think life would be like this,” as she waits to receive a portion of cooked beans and white maize meal in the working-class town of Chitungwiz. “Ever since the new president took power, I have not seen anything positive,” said Diana Nhemachena another Zimbabwan bemoaning the high cost of living in the country where official inflation is more than 800 percent. Mugabe died on September 6, 2019, in a Singapore hospital, two years after he was forced to resign in 2017, and after 37 years in power. Zimbabweans thronged the streets celebrating his ouster, then his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa came in to power with promises to fight corruption, revive the moribund economy and reduce poverty.
Source: allafrica.com