A prayer meeting is being held in Senekal in the Free State for peace and unity following violent protests at the local magistrate’s court last week.
Angry farmers stormed the courtroom and set a police vehicle alight when two suspects accused of the murder of 21-year-old farm manager Brendin Horner appeared.
Sekwetje Mahlamba and Sekola Matlaletsa are expected to appear again on Friday for a formal bail application.
Both white and black people have gathered to pray for peace and unity amid tensions in Senekal.
Cele meets with farmers:
Police Minister Bheki Cele has appealed for calm ahead of the bail application of two suspects accused of murdering Horner.
Cele, together with State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo, met with local farmers in the Free State on Monday.
This follows the violent protests in Senekal.
Minister Cele has assured farmers that his department will prioritise their issues.
“There have been allegations that have been made here that members of SAPS are not clean on the things that are happening here. It has not been raised by white farmers or black farmers, but it has been raised by all farmers that I don’t care to see or know their colour. It will be important then to interpret this properly. There are a few things that we have to ask.”
In Episode 15 of our Podcast series ‘In First Person’, Grace tells us how he suffered sexual and physical abuse at different times from people who were supposed to love and protect her and later contracted HIV from a blood transfusion.
Somalia’s insurgents are moving millions of dollars through the formal bank system and appear to be investing in businesses and real estate, according to a United Nations report offering a rare glimpse into their finances.
Al Shabaab has for years been battling Somalia’s internationally-backed government to impose strict Islamic law in the anarchic Horn of Africa nation.
“Al Shabaab remains in a strong financial position and is generating a significant budgetary surplus, some of which is invested in property purchases and businesses in Mogadishu,” said the report by the U.N. sanctions panel on Somalia.
The report by the group, which monitors compliance with an arms embargo on Somalia, is due to be published this week.
The al Qaeda-linked Somali militants carry out frequent bombings and attacks at home and have also killed hundreds of civilians in Kenya and Uganda. Earlier this year, al Shabaab killed three Americans at a U.S. military base in Kenya.
The U.N. report included details on two bank accounts held at Salaam Somali Bank, founded in 2009 as part of the Hormuud group of companies, raising questions about Somalia’s capacity to enforce a 2016 law aimed at curbing terrorist financing.
The bank did not respond to requests for comment.
Somalia’s Financial Reporting Center, which oversees compliance laws against money laundering and terror financing, said it is investigating the allegations against Salaam.
Nearly $1.7 million moved through one of the accounts during a 10-week period until mid-July this year, the report said, noting the account appeared set up to receive Islamic tax called zakat.
‘SUPER EFFICIENT SHABAAB’
With around 5 000 fighters, al Shabaab controls towns and countryside in southern Somalia, but its spies and assassins operate nationwide. Its estimated expenditure last year was around $21 million, with about a quarter of that going to the Amniyat intelligence arm.
Al Shabaab also runs its own courts. One businessman told investigators that the courts had summoned him this year and ordered him to pay more than $100 000 in zakat based on a review of his business, which they had assessed before he arrived.
The businessman, who was not named, provided a banking deposit slip and a receipt from al Shabaab to investigators as proof of payment. “Al Shabaab maintains a registry of citizens, which includes financial assessments on individuals and businesses,” the report said.
Another account, which appeared to handle fees levied on businessmen usng Mogadishu port, had $1.1 million moved through it from mid-February until the end of June this year, the report said. It included a cash deposit of $25 000 by someone calling himself “A B C” on documentation.
In total, the two accounts made more than 128 transactions exceeding the $10 000 threshold that should trigger automatic reporting to the Financial Reporting Centre.
When asked if the accounts had been shut down, Amina Ali, head of the centre, told Reuters: “All the necessary steps have been taken.”
The report also examined a single al Shabaab road checkpoint – one of dozens – that former al Shabaab tax officials told investigators made between $1.8 million-$2.4 million per year.
In the government-controlled southern port of Kismayo, businesses are forced to pay the insurgency between $300-$600 monthly depending on their size, which could earn them nearly $6 million a year from Kismayo alone, the report said.
Businessmen are afraid to refuse al Shabaab for fear of being killed, said Hussein Sheikh Ali, a former Somali national security advisor and founder of the Mogadishu-based Hiraal Institute thinktank. Their own report on al Shabaab finances is due out this month.
U.S.-supported Somali special forces sometimes attack al Shabaab checkpoints to cut their revenues, he said.
“Shabaab is super efficient in terms of collecting money throughout industries and the country,” he said.
“We know they have surplus money… and we believe they may send some money to al Qaeda.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the late Dr Vuyo Mahlati for the immense contribution she has made towards social upliftment.
Ramaposa has described Dr Mahlathi as a land reform champion and a tireless advocate for the empowerment of smallholder farmers and rural women.
Dr Mahlati, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 55.
She was the President of the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (Afasa) and the former Chair of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture.
President Ramaposa has described her passing as a great blow to the agricultural fraternity and to the country as a whole.
Presidential spokesperson is Tyrone Seale says, “The President has expressed condolences also on behalf of Deputy President David Mabuza, who convened the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture and worked very closely with dr Mahlathi. The president says she leaves behind a formidable legacy, and it would no doubt have been her wish that Afasa remains a strident and activist voice for the transformation of the sector, and a vital contributor to the land reform process.”
Last year, Morning Live interviewed, Dr. Mahlathi on the land report:
During the release of the land report, Dr. Mahlathi called on Ramaphosa and his cabinet to expedite land reform in a way that will not compromise the country’s food security:
