It was late at night on 10 December 1987 when prison officers had woken Mzolisi Dyasi in his cell in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. He remembers the bumpy drive to a hospital morgue where he was asked to identify the bodies of his pregnant girlfriend, his cousin and a fellow anti-apartheid fighter. In response, […]

A young South African girl who disappeared last year aged six was allegedly sought by a traditional healer for her eyes and fair complexion, a court has heard. This is among the allegations that have emerged at the ongoing trial of Joshlin Smith’s mother, Kelly Smith, who has been accused of orchestrating her kidnapping. Ms […]

Russia is ready for a halt in fighting, says Vladimir Putin, but “there are nuances”. Those nuances that he laid out ahead of talks with US envoys at the Kremlin are so key to his thinking they could scupper any hope of a 30-day ceasefire. They are demands that he has had throughout Russia’s full-scale […]

Southern African leaders have announced they will pull their troops out of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where they have been helping the government fight rebel forces. The troops were sent two years ago to support the Congolese army fight the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels, which has seized control of large parts of mineral-rich eastern DR […]

Freddy Mukuza’s final moments were witnessed by a friend, who stood helpless, 50m (160 ft) away. When he heard that Freddy had been shot – by M23 rebels he was told – he and others rushed to the scene in Goma, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. “When we arrived, we found Freddy still breathing, […]