South Sudan peace process teetering - UN; South Africa rejects ‘megaphone diplomacy’

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that his country was stopping all federal funding to South Africa, but South Africa responded by saying it would not engage in “megaphone diplomacy”.

Conflict in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had sent 63,000 refugees fleeing to neighbouring Burundi in its largest such influx in decades, with conditions dire at a crammed stadium camp and many stuck in fields outside, said the UN on Friday.

South Sudan situation deteriorating at alarming pace, says UN rights body

Increased violence and political friction in South Sudan threatened its fragile peace process, said a United Nations rights body on Saturday, days after the arrests of several officials allied to the country's vice-president.

Earlier this month, security forces loyal to President Salva Kiir arrested two ministers and several senior military officials allied with Riek Machar.

The arrests raised fears for the future of a 2018 peace deal which ended a five-year civil war between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar that cost nearly 400,000 lives.

“We are witnessing an alarming regression that could erase years of hard-won progress. Rather than fuelling division and conflict, leaders must urgently refocus on the peace process, uphold the human rights of South Sudanese citizens, and ensure a smooth transition to democracy,” said Yasmin Sooka, chairperson of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan.

The arrests followed heavy clashes in recent weeks in the strategic northern town of Nasir between national forces and the White Army militia, a loosely-organised group mostly from the Nuer, Machar’s ethnic group.

Government spokesperson Michael Makuei said the arrests were made because the Machar-allied officials were in “conflict with the law”. He has accused forces loyal to Machar of collaborating with the White Army and attacking a military garrison near Nasir town on 4 March.

Machar’s party has denied the accusations.

On Saturday, the National Security Services intelligence agency said it had arrested and detained several people “believed to have verified links to the military confrontation” in Nasir and another nearby town. It did not give the total number of arrests or their identities.

On Friday, a South Sudanese general and dozens of soldiers were killed when a UN helicopter trying to evacuate them from Nasir came under attack, said the government.

The US had ordered its non-emergency government personnel in South Sudan to leave the country because of security concerns, said the State Department on Sunday.

“Armed conflict is ongoing and includes fighting between various political and ethnic groups. Weapons are readily available to the population,” said the State Department.

South Africa rejects ‘megaphone diplomacy’ as Trump backs funding cut

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that his country was stopping all federal funding to South Africa, but South Africa responded by saying it would not engage in “megaphone diplomacy”.

Trump had already signed an executive order to cut all US financial assistance to South Africa last month, citing disapproval of its land policy and its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington’s ally Israel.

“To go a step further, any Farmer (with family!) from South Africa, seeking to flee that country for reasons of safety, will be invited into the United States of America with a rapid pathway to Citizenship,” wrote Trump in a Truth Social post.

Trump said this process would begin immediately.

Asked for comment about Trump’s remarks,  President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said South Africa was “not going to partake in a counterproductive megaphone diplomacy”.

Magwenya said the country remained committed to building a mutually beneficial bilateral trade, political and diplomatic relationship with the US and this relationship must be based on mutual respect and respect for South Africa’s independence and sovereignty.

White landowners still own three quarters of South Africa's freehold farmland. This contrasts with 4% owned by blacks, according to the latest 2017 land audit, who make up 80% of the population, compared with about 8% for whites.

Partly in an effort to redress this imbalance, Ramaphosa signed a law in January allowing the state to expropriate land "in the public interest", in some cases without compensating the owner.

US foreign assistance commitments to South Africa came in at $323.4-million in 2024, according to US government data.  

Congo refugees pour into Burundi, conditions dire, says UN

Conflict in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had sent 63,000 refugees fleeing to neighbouring Burundi in its largest such influx in decades, with conditions dire at a crammed stadium camp and many stuck in fields outside, said the UN on Friday.

About 45,000 displaced people are sheltering in a crowded open-air stadium in Rugombo, a few kilometres from the border with DRC where the Congolese army and M23 rebel group are fighting.

“The situation is absolutely dire. Conditions are extremely harsh,” Faith Kasina, the regional spokesperson for East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes, told reporters in Geneva.

“The stadium is … bursting at its seams and there is no additional space for shelter.”

Sanitary conditions inside the stadium are said to be poor with only 10 to 15 stalls of latrines for tens of thousands of people. Many families were being forced to camp in open fields nearby, according to the agency.

“Numbers keep swelling; it’s a race against time to try and save lives,” said Kasina, adding that the needs were fast outpacing the aid being provided.

The refugees included a large number of unaccompanied children separated from their families, said the agency.

Guinea-Bissau to hold presidential and legislative vote on 23 November

Guinea-Bissau on Friday set 23 November for its presidential and legislative elections, according to a presidential decree.

That was a week earlier than the date of 30 November the presidency previously announced.

The opposition has protested against the timetable, saying President Umaro Sissoco Embalo’s mandate expired last month. DM