By Joe Udo COTONOU (CONVERSEER) – Reports from Beninese media suggest that an attempted coup d’état has been underway in Cotonou since the early hours of Sunday, 7 December 2025, heightening uncertainty across Benin’s commercial capital. According to updates from TchadOne, armed military personnel attacked President Patrice Talon’s residence in the Le Guézo neighbourhood at…
By Frank Ulom KINSHASA (CONVERSEER) – Fresh fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has triggered a new wave of displacement, with thousands fleeing villages in South Kivu as clashes between the Congolese Armed Forces and M23 rebels intensify. Families carrying their belongings were seen trekking through the region over the weekend, escaping what…
By Joe Udo KIGALI (CONVERSEER) – The United States and Rwanda have signed a $228 million agreement designed to strengthen Rwanda’s health sector and support long-term financial independence in national health management. The announcement was made late on Friday, shortly after Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Felix Tshisekedi reaffirmed their…
By Our Reporter CAPE TOWN (CONVERSEER) – President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the killing of Marius “Vlam” van der Merwe, a key witness before the Madlanga Commission, describing the attack as “heinous” and a direct assault on the integrity of South Africa’s justice system. Van der Merwe, publicly known as Witness D, was shot outside…
By Our Reporter BRAKPAN (CONVERSEER) – Marius ‘Vlam’ van der Merwe, also known as Witness D in the Madlanga Commission, was tragically shot and killed in front of his family in Brakpan. Van der Merwe, a former officer with the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) and the owner of QRF Task Team, had testified in…
By Joe Udo HARARE (CONVERSEER) – A United States-based 33-year-old Zimbabwean senior high school teacher, Zvikomborero Maria Makedenge, has been charged in court for allegedly raping a 16-year-old male student. Makedenge was arraigned before Harare Magistrates Court on 28 November, after her sex video with the 16-year-old on 2 August surfaced online It was alleged…
By Our Reporter DAKAR (CONVERSEER) – Senegal, on Monday, 1 December 2025, commemorated the 1944 massacre of African soldiers by French colonial forces, marking 81 years since one of the most consequential and long-suppressed atrocities of the colonial era. The ceremony, held in Dakar under the patronage of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, seeks to shed…
By Our Reporter CAPE TOWN (CONVERSEER) – Court proceedings in the high‑profile Senzo Meyiwa murder trial were briefly halted on Tuesday after the South African Police Service (SAPS) intervened following intelligence that a group present in the courtroom intended to target judges, prosecutors and other key figures involved in the case. Three men, who had…
By Joe Udo PRETORIA (CONVERSEER) – The Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team based at the Head Office has arrested four suspects, Judge Portia Dipuo Phahle, the leader of a well-known church and two others, aged between 32 and 64, on charges of corruption and money laundering during an operation conducted last night. The takedown operation…
By Joe Udo CAPE TOWN (CONVERSEER) – The SAPS has welcomed the successful prosecution and sentencing of a 57-year-old male accused of the rape of a fellow inmate at the Grootvlei Correctional Service. It was alleged that on 30 January 2024 at about 12:00 midday, the accused, Thabo Samuel also known as 15, approached the…
