South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has told Parliament that the people who organised and carried out violence against African migrants will be arrested and charged — a commitment that matters directly to the large Zimbabwean community living and working in South Africa.

Answering oral questions from MPs on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said police and other security agencies were gathering reports and evidence on the instigators. “There will be arrests, and there will be charges preferred against those who have done so,” he said. He added that a number of people had already been arrested, and that individuals seen to be leading the anti-migrant campaigns were of direct interest to investigators.

Ramaphosa said cases in which violence had caused injury or death would also be pursued, and that it was for the police and the prosecuting authority to ensure “anyone engaging in criminality is brought to book”.

The commitment came under pressure from EFF leader Julius Malema, who accused the state of inaction. “The level of violence perpetrated against African foreign nationals in this country over the past few months has a face,” Malema said, arguing that attacks had been carried out in the presence of police without arrests, which created the impression that the violence was state-sanctioned. He said two people he linked to the anti-migrant campaigns had previously met the president, telling Ramaphosa: “You should have locked them up that day when they came to meet you.”

Ramaphosa rejected any suggestion that the state endorsed discrimination, saying the government had “firmly and publicly rejected xenophobia, afrophobia, vigilantism and all forms of discrimination against people from other countries”, and that South Africa remained an active participant in continental and regional bodies.

No timeline was given for the arrests, and neither the president nor the police have said how many cases are under investigation.

Sources: IOL; Sowetan / TimesLIVE.

South Africa and Zimbabwe signed five new bilateral agreements in Pretoria on Friday at the close of the fourth session of the two countries’ Bi-National Commission, with President Cyril Ramaphosa hosting President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

According to the South African government’s news service, the instruments cover correctional services, agriculture, arts, culture and heritage, women’s empowerment and gender equality, and a memorandum of understanding linking Zimbabwe’s Foreign Service Institute with South Africa’s diplomatic academy. That last agreement was signed by South African International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola and Zimbabwe’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Amon Murwira.

Migration, the issue that has shaped life for Zimbabweans in South Africa this year, was addressed directly. Closing the ministerial segment on Thursday, Lamola said the two delegations had “engaged frankly on the complex question of migration” and reaffirmed a commitment to “managing migration in a lawful, humane and coordinated manner, while unequivocally rejecting xenophobia, vigilantism and all forms of violence directed against foreign nationals”.

The commission also agreed a list of what Lamola called High-Impact Priority Projects. These include the construction of a third bridge over the Limpopo, making the Beitbridge One Stop Border Post fully operational, a fertiliser manufacturing plant, regional automotive component manufacturing, platinum group and precious metals value-addition, and industrial parks or special economic zones. Lamola cautioned that further work and consultation would be needed before those projects can move forward.

Ramaphosa described Zimbabwe as one of South Africa’s largest trading partners and said both governments had “undertaken here to redouble efforts to expand investment and trade”. He also said the two countries were committed to “moving people and goods seamlessly and securely across our border in a well-managed and coordinated manner”.

More than 33 agreements and memoranda have now been concluded between the two governments since the commission was set up. Officials agreed to deploy an electronic monitoring system to track whether this session’s decisions are actually carried out before the fifth session convenes.

Sources: Department of International Relations and Cooperation (South Africa); SAnews; Channel Africa; The Citizen; NewZimbabwe.com

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has been re-elected for a second five-year term, taking 61.4 percent of the valid votes cast against 38 percent for his main challenger, Brian Mundubile, according to results announced by the Electoral Commission of Zambia in the early hours of Tuesday.

“I therefore declare Hichilema Hakainde S to be president-elect of the Republic of Zambia this 18th day of August, 2026,” commission chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis said. Around five million votes were cast in the 13 August election.

It was the seventh presidential run for the 64-year-old, who came to power in 2021 amid a debt crisis and campaigned on his economic record, including Zambia’s debt restructuring and lower inflation. Mundubile, contesting for the first time, argued that improving macroeconomic indicators had made little difference to ordinary Zambians’ daily lives.

The vote was preceded and followed by serious tensions. On election night, authorities arrested 11 people, including senior opposition figures, in a raid the government said targeted “militia activity”. Mundubile’s NRPUP party rejected that account, saying the raid took place at its leader’s home and involved gunfire. The following day, the electoral commission suspended vote counting for several hours after reports of violence against polling staff and the theft of ballot papers.

Mundubile has alleged possible alteration of results forms and called for an independent investigation, a claim Hichilema’s camp dismissed. European Union observers said the election was largely peaceful but took place in an environment that “limited fundamental freedoms”, with unequal campaign conditions distorting the playing field.

For Zimbabwe, the outcome means continuity in a key neighbour and trading partner, with Hichilema expected to keep close ties within SADC through his second term.

Sources: Al Jazeera (AFP/Reuters); NewZimbabwe (DW).