The State of Qatar participated in a ministerial meeting on developments related to the Strait of Hormuz, held on Thursday via videoconference at the invitation of the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office. Qatar was represented at the meeting by HE Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al Khulaifi, who stressed in his remarks that the security of the Strait of Hormuz is an international issue, given its close link to global energy security and the safety of international supply chains. He underscored the importance of reaching consensus on a comprehensive security framework that ensures freedom of navigation through the Strait and preserves regional stability. His Excellency also reaffirmed Qatar’s firm commitment to its role as a reliable partner in supporting maritime security and its continued contribution to the stability of international markets. He strongly condemned Iranian threats to close the Strait, as well as unjustified attacks on shipping. His Excellency described such actions as a grave and explicit violation of international law, a direct threat to international peace and security, and a serious risk to global maritime security and energy security. He emphasized that the Strait of Hormuz is a vital international waterway that must not, under any circumstances, be subjected to faits accomplis or used as a tool of coercion or political pressure by any party. He further stressed the need to address the future of the Strait of Hormuz within a collective framework that includes all countries of the region. He welcomed the efforts of the Gulf Cooperation Council to develop joint solutions to challenges related to the Strait, and emphasized that GCC states must be a key part of any relevant regional arrangements or agreements.
The State of Qatar has sent Its Eleventh identical letter to HE Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, and HE Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of April, Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, regarding the latest developments of the Iranian attack on its territories. This attack constitutes a blatant violation of its national sovereignty, a direct threat to its security and territorial integrity, and an unacceptable escalation that threatens the security and stability of the region. The letter was sent by HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani. The letter noted Qatar’s Ministry of Defense’s announcement that the country was subjected to attacks by a number of drones from the Islamic Republic of Iran on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, March 28, 29 and 30, 2026, which Qatar’s Armed Forces successfully intercepted, and to the targeting by three cruise missiles on Wednesday, April 1, which Qatar’s Armed Forces managed to successfully intercept two of them, while the third hit an oil tanker leased to Qatar Energy in the economic waters of the State of Qatar. The letter noted that the necessary measures were taken, and coordination was made with the concerned authorities to evacuate the tanker, whose crew numbered 21 people, without any human losses being recorded. In this regard, the letter highlighted that QatarEnergy confirmed that the tanker “Aqua 1,” a fuel oil tanker chartered by QatarEnergy, was targeted by a missile attack on Wednesday, and that none of the tanker’s crew members were harmed, and that this attack did not result in any environmental effects, noting that this attack was carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran even after the Security Council adopted Resolution No. 2817 (2026), which condemned in the strongest terms the heinous attacks launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the State of Qatar and neighboring countries, and demanded an immediate end to all such attacks. The State of Qatar also reiterated that this attack constitutes a violation of Security Council Resolution 2817 (2026), and once again urged the Security Council to assume its responsibilities in maintaining international peace and security and to take the necessary measures to stop these serious violations and deter their perpetrators. The letter emphasized that the targets of the attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran are purely civilian in nature, and that targeting them constitutes a blatant violation by Iran of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, and of the principles of international humanitarian law, specifically the principle of distinction, the prohibition of targeting civilians and civilian objects in armed conflicts, the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks, the principle of proportionality, and the obligation to take due precautions to avoid civilian targets. The letter stressed that these illegal actions by the Islamic Republic of Iran entail international responsibility, making it obligated, as the case may be, to provide compensation for all damages incurred by the State of Qatar as a result of these actions. All damages and losses resulting from the attacks will be assessed by the competent authorities. Qatar will keep the UN and the UN Security Council informed of developments. The letter emphasized that the State of Qatar reserves its right to respond in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations and the right to self-defense guaranteed by international law, stressing that Qatar will not hesitate to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty, security, and the safety of its citizens and residents on its territory. The State of Qatar also requested that this letter be circulated as an official document of the Security Council.
In the villages and busy taxi ranks of Rustenburg, North West, blue LPG cylinders are becoming unlikely symbols of dignity and safety.
At the centre of this quiet energy shift is Refilwe Sebothoma, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hakem Energies, a self-funded enterprise determined to tackle energy poverty while building opportunity from the ground up.
“I am very passionate about entrepreneurship because I believe it is a powerful tool that can help me empower people. Throughout the years, we have done a lot of things in different industries.”
Ending energy poverty
Her move into the energy sector was driven by concern about what she calls “energy poverty”.
“In marginalised communities such as townships and villages, you still find people without electricity,” she explains.
“And for those who do have electricity, it is expensive and they experience things such as load shedding. Some villages can go for weeks without electricity.
They then have to collect wood, while others resort to using paraffin and coal. There are a lot of dangers associated with energy poverty – and it mostly affects women.”
One incident cemented her resolve.
“In one of the villages where we sell gas, a woman was recently brutally raped and killed while she was collecting wood in the field. From a business perspective, it still shouldn’t be happening that people have to risk their lives. That is how this business was started. LPG for us was a solution that is already available, but we needed to package it in a way that low-earning communities can afford.”
Registered in 2022 and operational from 2024, Hakem Energies has built its model around flexibility.
“One of the biggest things for us is that customers can refill as they can afford. If you go to a fuel station to fill a 9kg cylinder, it will cost you about R400 and it is not something that our communities can afford. With our model, you can come with whatever amount you can afford. If you can only afford R40, that is what you will refill for.”
Affordability is matched by strict compliance.
“We just want to make sure that we comply correctly because this is a highly regulated industry. It is really important that we do things safely so that we can continue to save lives.”
Hakem’s reach extends beyond households.
“We serve not only households but also a broad range of commercial clients – from restaurants and resorts to funeral parlours, taxi ranks and mining operations. Whether in bulk or bottles, we deliver safe, certified LPG energy that keeps industries moving and communities thriving.”
Partnering with women and youth
The company also partners with local women and young people to distribute LPG.
“We see every flame lit not just as energy delivered, but as possibility ignited.”
Operating from North West, with a branch in Mpumalanga and plans to expand into Limpopo and Gauteng in 2026, the business employs 14 people.
Growth has required deep pockets in a tightly regulated sector
“We have five LPG boxes and one costs about R1 million – that’s a lot of money that many small businesses cannot afford. I was able to self-fund, but it has been very difficult and the margins are extremely tight. We are also consistently fighting against illegal operators who are not paying government taxes.”
Support from the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency’s (SEDFA) Asset Assist Programme provided a R230 000 grant.
“They sat with us to analyse where the business was and the kind of support that we needed. They bought us stock – cylinders and LPG – which really shifted things for us and gave us the ability to expand and attract new customers.”
Sebothoma believes national reforms could further unlock growth.
In his 2026 State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa committed more than R2.5 billion in funding for over 180 000 SMMEs, alongside R1 billion in guarantees. He also pledged to ease regulatory hurdles through the Business Licensing Bill and amend the National Credit Act regulations to make credit more accessible and affordable, particularly for women- and youth-led enterprises.
Sebothoma welcomed the commitment, describing it as “the kind of support SMMEs were looking to receive from government,” she concluded.
Traffic volumes along major corridors across the country are expected to increase as travellers return from various religious and holiday destinations.
With the majority of road crashes attributed to human behaviour, Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy has urged drivers, passengers and pedestrians to take responsibility for their conduct on shared roads.
Government continues to implement the 365 Days Arrive Alive Road Safety Campaign throughout the year, aimed at reducing road accidents and fatalities.
“Our mandate is clear: to ensure that every South African who sets out on a journey returns home safely. We are calling on every driver, passenger and pedestrian to take ownership of their conduct on our shared roads,” Creecy said.
She emphasised that law enforcement during this period will be uncompromising.
Should you find yourself in an emergency, call:
Police: 10111
Ambulance: 10177
Emergency: 112
ER24: 084 124
Netcare: 082 911
Report bad driving by using the National Traffic Call Centre Number: 0861 400 800.
Road users are therefore encouraged to follow these safety tips:
Make sure that your vehicle is in a roadworthy condition before departure.
Take safety breaks every 2 hours or 200km.
Be responsible for seatbelt wearing – always wear a seat belt and see that everyone in the car is wearing theirs.
Obey the rules of the road and carry your driver’s licence with you.
Be extra cautious, paying attention to the signals and brake lights of other vehicles, especially trucks.
Carry a fully charged cell phone with you so you can request assistance in the event of an emergency.
Always adjust your driving to the driving conditions and environment.
If it is raining, turn your headlights and windscreen wipers on. Try to reduce speed and try not to brake suddenly. Often, there is oil and petrol on the road, which can cause you to skid out of control.
Always keep in mind – if you cannot see or operate the vehicle safely, you should not be driving.
Inspect your vehicle and trailer tyres, lights, tow connections, brakes, batteries, and fluid levels. –SAnews.gov.za
The State of Qatar expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the riots and attacks targeting the Embassy of the sisterly United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the residence of its head of mission in the Syrian capital, Damascus, as well as the violation of the inviolability of diplomatic missions that accompanied them.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that targeting diplomatic premises constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, stressing the need to hold the perpetrators of these acts accountable and ensure that such acts are not repeated.
The Ministry reiterates the State of Qatar’s full solidarity with the UAE, emphasizing the importance of taking the necessary measures to guarantee the protection of diplomatic missions and ensure the safety and security of their personnel, in accordance with the provisions of international law and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Pan African Visions (PAV) (https://PanAfricanVisions.com), a globally respected platform for African business, investment, and policy intelligence, is proud to announce that it has joined as an Official Media Partner for the 2026 U.S.-Africa Business Summit, to be held in Mauritius from July 26–29, 2026.
This renewed collaboration with one of the most influential U.S.-Africa commercial platforms underscores Pan African Visions’ growing stature as a credible, high-impact media and strategic communications partner, trusted by governments, investors, and institutions to shape and amplify Africa’s global narrative.
Convened by the Corporate Council on Africa in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Mauritius, the Summit has, for over two decades, stood as the premier platform driving trade, investment, and commercial engagement between the United States and Africa—where policy aligns with capital and partnerships translate into tangible deals.
As an official media partner, Pan African Visions will deliver comprehensive, high-level coverage, including exclusive executive interviews, investor-focused insights, and strategic storytelling that connects African opportunities to global capital and decision-makers before, during, and beyond the Summit.
“Pan African Visions has proudly served as a media partner for this prestigious Summit before, and we are honored to be working together again,” said Ajong Mbapndah L, Founder and Publisher of Pan African Visions. “This continued partnership reinforces our growing and credible presence as a trusted platform in telling the African story, strengthening strategic networks, and connecting governments, investors, and businesses to real opportunities across the continent.”
Through this partnership, Pan African Visions further cements its position as a preferred media and engagement platform for global stakeholders seeking authentic, high-impact access to Africa’s evolving investment landscape.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Pan African Visions.
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Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Olivier Moreillon, Research Associate, University of Johannesburg
There’s a line in Cape Fever, the new book by award-winning South African novelist and playwright Nadia Davids, that doesn’t just establish the story, it also makes a haunting promise:
But small house, big house, smells or no smells, this is much the same: that in the city you will come to know a person by two things: what’s inside their house, and the house’s way with the wind.
The remark gestures towards the invisible forces moving through both houses and history. Just as a building’s “way with the wind” reveals how it stands in relation to its surroundings, Davids suggests that a household’s inner life exposes the moral currents shaping an entire society.
What lies inside Mrs Hattingh’s decaying colonial manor thus becomes a measure not only of its inhabitants’ inner lives, but also of an entire colonial society teetering on the brink of moral and historical reckoning.
Set in an unnamed harbour city in the early 1920s, clearly reminiscent of Cape Town, the novel follows Soraya Matas, a young Muslim woman who becomes a live-in maid for the financially struggling widow Mrs Hattingh. Mrs Hattingh’s household exists in a state of uneasy anticipation. Her son Timothy, a soldier who survived the first world war, is expected home from England, yet his return is repeatedly delayed.
Assumed to be uneducated, Soraya quietly conceals her literacy. When Mrs Hattingh offers to write weekly letters to Soraya’s absent fiancé, Nour, on her behalf, what begins as an act of benevolence unfolds into a strange ritual that binds the two women ever more tightly.
As a scholar of South African literature, I am interested in how fiction revisits the country’s layered pasts and the intimate spaces in which power unfolds. Davids’s work has occupied a distinctive place within this landscape, combining historical sensitivity with psychological insight. Cape Fever offers a tense and atmospheric story that gradually reveals itself as a probing meditation on voice, authority, and memory.
The power of the pen
Although Soraya dictates what she wants to say in the letters, Mrs Hattingh shapes the words on the page. She does not always record Soraya’s words faithfully. Sometimes she embellishes them, sometimes she alters their tone, and sometimes she quietly inserts her own interpretations. What appears to be an act of help becomes a quiet act of power.
As Mrs Hattingh’s words travel outward to Nour in the letters she writes for Soraya, the domestic space mirrors the wider colonial order, where white employers exercised intimate authority over the lives of the people who served them. Relationships were often framed as paternal kindness or protection, yet they were sustained by profound inequalities.
Davids captures this uneasy mixture of intimacy and hierarchy with striking precision. Assumed kindness masks control, hierarchy seeps into intimacy, and the power to tell a story becomes the power to define reality.
It is here that Davids’s portrayal of Mrs Hattingh reveals itself as one of the novel’s great strengths, resisting caricature and allowing complexity to unsettle easy moral certainties. The widow could easily have remained a brittle emblem of colonial entitlement. Instead, she is rendered with psychological nuance.
She is controlling and condescending, yes, but also fragile, lonely, and quietly desperate. Against expectation, and however unlikely it may seem at first, Mrs Hattingh grows on the reader. Her vulnerability surfaces in fleeting gestures, and her dependence on the ritual of writing exposes her own need to be heard.
Haunted by history
Cape Fever, however, is far more than a chamber drama. Mrs Hattingh’s manor is haunted by presences only Soraya senses. These spirits hover in corridors and cling to cracked plaster, whispering of historical memory and unresolved grief. The decaying house stands as a gothic embodiment of colonial decline saturated with what has been silenced.
Mrs Hattingh’s son Timothy hovers over the story as another kind of ghostly figure. His anticipated arrival turns the manor into a place of suspended time. The promised homecoming deepens the novel’s atmosphere of unease, and Timothy becomes a living reminder of war’s distant violence and its lingering aftermath, his absence intensifying both Mrs Hattingh’s solitude and the fragile balance of the household.
Davids uses psychological suspense to expose the emotional afterlives of empire and the war. The unseen shapes the living, and ancestral echoes unsettle the present. The house’s “way with the wind” becomes a metaphor for the forces that move through history.
Shifting shadows
The novel’s tension arises from the shifting balance of power between two women who seem fundamentally unlike yet become inextricably bound to one another. Their relationship is marked by subtle renegotiations of authority, moments of advance and retreat, dominance and vulnerability.
At one point Soraya declares:
I see the marvel now, that we, who have been ripped to pieces so many times over, who have known such darkness, can still spin and sew lives of such brightness, make music that fills the streets, sing prayers that ring out over the entire city; that we find ways to say over and over, We are here!We are here!
Davids’s language is suffused with a lyricism that lends the novel sustained grace, imbuing each scene with subtle beauty. Her prose shimmers with layered meaning, giving even the most mundane gestures an undercurrent of tension.
Suspense-packed yet intellectually incisive, Cape Fever is far more than a domestic affair. It is a meditation on voice, power, and memory. It is a gothic-inflected exploration of empire’s intimate spaces. It is a novel whose echoes will travel far beyond the Cape.
– Cape Fever: a haunting new novel from award-winning South African writer Nadia Davids – https://theconversation.com/cape-fever-a-haunting-new-novel-from-award-winning-south-african-writer-nadia-davids-277685
Members of the Regional Assembly of the Northern Red Sea Region conducted meetings from 20 March to 2 April with residents of 17 administrative areas in Ghinda sub-zone focusing on the resolutions adopted at the 21st regular meeting of the Regional Assembly.
At the meetings, the members of the Regional Assembly provided extensive briefings on harmful practices and their health consequences, and called for integrated efforts on the part of parents to ensure that school-age girls attend regular education and to strengthen women’s participation in the adult education program, among other issues.
Calling on the public to enhance participation in the implementation of development programs, Mr. Yihayish Gebreselasie, managing director in the sub-zone, said that solar systems are being installed in the administrative areas of Mai-Habar, Leaiten, and Nefasit with a view to addressing electricity demands.
The participants conducted extensive discussion on the issues raised at the meetings and adopted various recommendations.
Schools cultural and sports week has been enthusiastically conducted in Ara’eta sub-zone.
Mr. Idris Ibrahim, head of the education office in the sub-zone, said that the program, which was held in Tio and in which students from 20 elementary schools, seven junior schools, and one high school took part, featured football, general knowledge, traditional dance competitions, and other activities.
Mr. Idris indicated that sports have significant contribution in the development of the teaching-learning process as well as in transferring noble societal values to the young generation. He also called for its reinforced continuity.
The National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students branch of Sawa and Higher Education Institutions has provided vocational training to 217 students, including 120 female students of Mai-Nefhi College of Engineering and Technology.
The training, which was provided alongside their regular college education, included basic Arabic language, graphics, and ideology.
Noting the significance of acquainting students with technology alongside their academic education, Mr. Abel Yohannes, head of the union branch at the college, called on the trainees to apply practically the knowledge they gained from the training.
Ms. Mensura Ismail, head of the union branch of Sawa and Higher Education Institutions, noting that a strong society builds a strong country, said that the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students is earnestly working by designing a clear strategy to realize its objectives and mission.
In the same vein, Tsaeda Kristain Secondary School in Berik sub-zone has encouraged outstanding students who scored higher GPA in the School Leaving National Examination.
