Metro

South Africa may be entering COVID-19 fifth wave, says Health Minister

Published

1 year ago

April 30, 2022

South Africa’s Health Minister Joe Phaahla, on Friday, confirmed that the country may be entering a fifth COVID-19 wave earlier than expected following a sustained rise in infections over the past 14 days.

Phaahla said at a press conference that the new wave seems to be driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants, adding that the country which has recorded the most coronavirus cases and deaths on the African continent, only exited a fourth wave around January and had predicted a fifth wave could start in May or June, early in the southern hemisphere winter.

The Minister told the press briefing that although hospitalisations were picking up, there was so far no dramatic change in admissions to intensive care units or deaths.

“At this stage, health authorities have not been alerted to any new variant, other than changes to the dominant one circulating, Omicron,” Phaahla said.

Infectious disease specialist Richard Lessells who also spoke at the same briefing, said waning immunity from previous waves could be contributing to the earlier-than-expected resurgence in cases.

“The rising share of infections attributed to the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages of Omicron suggested they had a growth advantage over other Omicron sub-variants like BA.2.

“But so far there was no sign that BA.4 and BA.5 were causing significantly more severe disease,” he said.

South Africa has reported more than 3.7 million COVID cases and over 100,000 deaths since the breakout of the pandemic.

On Thursday, the World Health Organisation’s Africa office had flagged the rise in South Africa’s infections as the main driver of an uptick on the African continent.

Related Topics:#COVID-19 Featured South Africa

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Metro

Rwandan President, Kagame sacks over 200 military personnel in major shake-up

Published

19 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame has sacked over 200 soldiers including top military brass and commanders from the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) in a massive shake-up.

The dismissed officers include the former Commander of the Reserve Forces, Maj. Gen. Aloys Muganga, and Brig. Gen. Francis Mutiganda, a former Head of External Security in the National Intelligence Services, as well as 14 senior officers.

The announcement of the sacking of the officers which was contained in a statement released by the RDF on Wednesday, did not give reason for the sackings, but the move come a day after the president reshuffled the top echelon of the country’s military, which saw the firing of the Defence Minister and an Army Chief.

The sacking of the soldiers has further heightened tension between Rwanda and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, with each side accusing the other of working with rebels to topple one another’s governments, according to reports in local media.

Metro

UN war crimes court declares Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga unfit to stand trial

Published

19 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

An 88-year-old Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga has been declared unfit to stand trial by judges at a United Nations War Crimes Court in The Hague.

In a decision published by the court on Wednesday, the judges acknowledged that Kabuga was no longer able to actively participate in his trial, and rather proposed an alternative process that aims to resemble a trial but does not allow for a conviction instead of stopping the proceedings completely.

“The trial chamber finds Mr. Kabuga is no longer capable of meaningful participation in his trial,” the publication said.

“The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, therefore, finds that Mr. Kabuga is not fit for trial and is very unlikely to regain fitness in the future.

“It is therefore agreed to adopt an alternative finding procedure that resembles a trial as closely as possible, but without the possibility of a conviction,” it added.

Kabuga who was arrested in Paris where he had been in hiding under a false identity for several years, was one of the most wanted suspects of the Rwandan genocide, and was charged at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda with genocide and crimes against humanity.

At his initial arraignment in September last year, the ICC heard that Kabuga was alleged to have been the main financier of the ethnic Hutu militias who slaughtered over 800,000 minority Tutsis as well as political opponents during the genocide in 1994.

According to the UN, Kabuga, a wealthy businessman from the Hutu ethnic group, had established and financed an infamous media outfit, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), which was notorious for inciting violence and promoting the targeting and elimination of individuals from the Tutsi ethnic group who were referred to as “Cockroaches”.

Kabuga was arrested in Paris in 2020 after decades on the run and sent for trial in The Hague where he pleaded not guilty to charges of sponsoring the infamous Hutu radical radio station urging people to kill Tutsi “cockroaches”.

He also denied supplying machetes and supporting the murderous Interahamwe Hutu militia.