An aircraft crashed outside South Africa’s capital Pretoria on Tuesday, injuring 20 people.
At least one of them is in a critical condition, emergency medical services ER24 said on Tuesday.
ER24 posted a picture on its Twitter feed of passengers being helped out of a plane downed in a field.
It is thought to have happened in the residential neighbourhood of Derdepoort in Pretoria, close to Wonderboom Airport.
Zimbabwe is ready to help foot the bill for the funeral arrangements of Morgan Tsvangirai in a tribute to the opposition leader who died after a long battle with cancer, a government spokesman said on Thursday.
Tsvangirai’s death on Wednesday in a South African hospital cast his Movement for Democratic Change party into unknown territory less than three months after the army ousted Zimbabwe’s veteran ruler Robert Mugabe.
Arguably Zimbabwe’s most popular politician, Tsvangirai’s career was ultimately defined by his tussles, bother literal and figurative, with 93-year-old Mugabe, who resigned after a de facto coup in December.
“The Zimbabwean Embassy in Pretoria has been instructed to help in any way appropriate in the circumstances, including assuming the costs that are attendant to the proper handling of the body of the late (Tsvangirai),” said George Charamba, who is also the presidential spokesman.
Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has made no public statement yet on the former trade union leader’s death but postponed a trip to Bulawayo in the south of Zimbabwe due to other “pressing commitments”, the state-owned Herald newspaper said.
Elections are due within the next six months in Zimbabwe and Tsvangirai’s illness and now death leaves his party in disarray, to the advantage of the ruling ZANU-PF party, now led by Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s former deputy.
Nigeria High Commission in South Africa says the mission will carry out a comprehensive census of Nigerians living in that country for improved service delivery.
The High Commissioner, Amb. Ahmed Musa Ibeto, said in Pretoria, South Africa on Tuesday that the exercise would cover the nine provinces of that country.
“ The mission plans to have a comprehensive data of Nigerians in South Africa. We want to know their locations in each province.
“ My intention is to have a comprehensive census of knowing the citizens of Nigeria residing in South Africa.
“ I have made it very clear that it doesn’t matter if they have the correct papers or travel documents,” he said.
Ibeto said that the mission’s aim was to have a data that would make it easy to know the number of Nigerians and their locations in each province.
The envoy said that the exercise would assist the mission to know how to track the citizens and provide services to them.
“ If we achieve that, we can provide services, we can track them, we can easily take care of their welfare. So, without this comprehensive data, there is no way we can take care of our nationals.
“And I told them that with what I have in mind, in terms of having an interactive website, where the citizens can interact with the mission,” he said.
Ibeto said that Nigerians could use the website to access consular services from their locations.
“ This will lessen expenses of traveling to Johannesburg or Pretoria for such services,” the Nigerian envoy said.
Tens of thousands of South Africans Friday stormed the streets of Johannesburg,Cape Town,Durban , Pretoria and other major cities in a national outpouring of anger at scandal-tainted President Jacob Zuma.
Nobel laureate and anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu, 85 and ailing, made a rare public appearance to support the protests.
His foundation posted a scathing tweet in his name: “We will pray for the downfall of a government that misrepresents us.”
In Johannesburg, police fired rubber bullets to disperse about 100 ruling party members who were making their way toward protesters, the African News Agency reported.
Separately, ruling party members assaulted several protesters participating in a march organized by the Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s biggest opposition group.
DA leader,Mmusi Maimane said in Pretoria that Zuma is a junk president.
“We are not a junk country we just have a junk president,” Maimane said.
Other ANC members in military uniforms who had been posted outside their party headquarters helped to escort the protesters to safety.
Police in Pietermaritzburg city also fired rubber bullets to keep Zuma supporters away from a rally against him.
The Fitch agency cited political uncertainty as a factor in its decision to downgrade South Africa’s credit rating to below investment grade; days after Standard & Poor’s did the same.
Zuma’s Cabinet reshuffle, in which Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was fired, will further discourage companies from investing in South Africa and could weaken “standards of governance and public finances,” Fitch said.
The government appealed for calm and said it respected the right to protest peacefully. The country turned to democracy after white minority rule ended in 1994 with the country’s first all-race vote and the election of Nelson Mandela as president.
In some cities, protesters with banners lined stretches of road or stood on overpasses; passing cars honked their horns. In the capital, Pretoria, they marched to the Union Buildings, which houses the offices of Zuma and other government officials. In Cape Town, motorcyclists with South African flags led a rally. “Fire Zuma,” read some placards.
South African media outlets posted photos of Tutu and his wife, Leah, standing with residents at a bus shelter outside the retirement home where they are staying in Hermanus, near Cape Town. Tutu was shown smiling and raising a walking stick, apparently to acknowledge passing protesters.
The retired Anglican archbishop, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his peaceful campaign against apartheid, has criticized the ANC for alleged mismanagement over the years.
He has been hospitalized several times since 2015 because of infections linked to past treatment for prostate cancer.
The Nigerian Community in South Africa have confirmed attacks and looting of Nigerian-owned businesses in Pretoria West on Saturday.
Mr Ikechukwu Anyene, President, Nigeria Union, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone from Pretoria, South Africa, that the attacks began at 4.00am.
He said that the union had reported the incident to the Nigeria mission and South African police.
“ As we speak, five buildings with Nigerian businesses, including a church have been looted and burned by South Africans.
“ One of the buildings is a mechanic garage with 28 cars under repairs, with other vital documents, were burned during the attack.
“ Also, the pastor of the church was wounded and is in the hospital receiving treatment,” he said.
Anyene said the union had informed Nigerians in South Africa to be vigilant in the face of renewed xenophobic attacks.
According to him, the union received information that there will be xenophobic attacks against foreigners on Feb. 22 and Feb. 23.
“ We began taking precautionary measures when the incident took place today.
“ The attack in Pretoria West is purely xenophobic and criminal attack because they loot the shops and homes before burning them,” he said.
Anyene called on the Federal Government to persuade its South African counterpart to protect Nigerians in their country.
“ These attacks should not be allowed to continue because it is a big setback,” he said. (NAN)