✝️ "Yesterday we celebrated White Cross Day in Orania"

📎 Joost Strydom

🇿🇦🚢🇩🇪 German warships avoid passage through the Red Sea, rerouted via South Africa

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) decided on Monday that the frigate "Baden-Württemberg" and the supply ship "Frankfurt am Main" should instead take the much longer route around the Cape of Good Hope when returning from their months-long Indo-Pacific mission. This shows how great the concern about further escalation in the Middle East currently is.

https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/gazakrieg-marine-kriegsschiffe-meiden-passage-durchs-rote-meer-a-c539c6f0-ce9f-4c20-a19c-3b5a486163fd

📝 Commissioned in 2019, the frigate Baden-Württemberg lacks adequate combat systems to cope with the Houthi threat.

🇿🇦🇮🇱 South Africa condemns Israeli minister's call to annex West Bank

South Africa has condemned a statement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that 2025 will be the “year of annexation” of the occupied West Bank.

The statement Wednesday by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation came after Smotrich said he had ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied territory.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/south-africa-condemns-israeli-ministers-call-to-annex-west-bank/3393354

🇿🇦 Vlaams Belang: South African government tries to marginalize Afrikaner identity

In a recent committee meeting of the Flemish Parliament, Vlaams Belang MP Kristof Slagmulder expressed his deep concern about the increasing marginalisation of Afrikaans as a language of instruction in South Africa. “ Afrikaans is not just a language; it is an essential part of the identity of millions of South Africans and is also closely linked to Dutch,” he said.

Slagmulder pointed to recent policies that have seen universities and schools replace Afrikaans with English as the primary language of instruction, potentially making Afrikaans impossible as a language of instruction in the future. “This trend is worrying,” Slagmulder said. “It is a deliberate attempt to marginalize a language and culture that has been an integral part of South African society for centuries.”

Slagmulder called on the Flemish government to take concrete measures for the Afrikaans-speaking community.

“Flanders shares historical and linguistic ties with Afrikaans. It is our duty to stand up for the rights of this community and to advocate for the preservation of Afrikaans in education,” Slagmulder added, pointing out in this context that Flemish people are also confronted with a language struggle, such as the Frenchification of the Denderstreek or the Brussels periphery, and the Anglicisation of our universities.

https://www.vlaamsbelang.org/nieuws/zuid-afrikaanse-regering-probeert-afrikaner-identiteit-te-marginaliseren

🇿🇦 South African government says it won’t help thousands of illegal miners inside a closed mine

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s government says it will not help an estimated 4,000 illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country’s North West province who have been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.

The miners in the mineshaft in Stilfontein are believed to be suffering from a lack of food, water and other basic necessities after police closed off the entrances used to transport their supplies underground.

It is part of the police’s Vala Umgodi, or Close the Hole, operation, which includes cutting off miners’ supplies to force them to return to the surface and be arrested.

North West police spokesperson Sabata Mokgwabone said information received from those who recently helped bring three miners to the surface indicated that as many as 4,000 miners may be underground. Police have not provided an official estimate.

In the past few weeks, over 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in North West province, with many reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic supplies.

Police continue on Thursday to guard areas around the mine to catch all those appearing from underground.

https://apnews.com/article/south-africa-illegal-miners-arrests-4d376ae6f6afca6170220f88fe859f90

🇲🇽🇿🇦 Fatal fentanyl hits SA – Mexican cartels among drug trafficking gangs active in South Africa

Drug cartels based in Mexico are accused of fuelling the fentanyl overdose crisis in the US. Now the names of notorious cartels are starting to crop up in South Africa cases. Evidence suggests that two notorious Mexican cartels – Sinaloa and Jalisco – are among the international drug trafficking gangs active in SA.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-11-16-fatal-fentanyl-hits-sa-mexican-cartels-among-drug-trafficking-gangs-and-money-launderers-active-in-mzansi/

🇺🇸🇿🇦 US Ambassador to South Africa Brigety Resigns

Reuben Brigety, the US ambassador to South Africa, said he will resign effective Jan. 10 in line with procedure after Donald Trump election victory.

Brigety accused South Africa of loading weapons onto a Russian ship, Lady R, to be used in the Russian-Ukraine War.

@SouthAfricaReports