₦airaland Forum

Odunayaw:
Tinfool as usual

Ramaphosa invites isolated Zelenskiy for a state visit

President Cyril Ramaphosa has invited President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to South Africa for a state visit and is hoping it will happen soon, his office said this week while the United States sidelined and insulted the Ukrainian leader.

“The president wants that visit to happen as soon as possible,” said Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya.

The formal invitation was extended on 15 January, and followed meetings between Ramaphosa and Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September and the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in November.

No date has been agreed, Magwenya said, but Ramaphosa has asked diplomats to prioritise preparations for a visit.

Confirmation of the invitation came after the US began peace talks with Russia on the war in Ukraine on Tuesday and President Donald Trump signalled that he may abandon long-standing US military and financial support for Kyiv.

Ukraine was not invited to that meeting in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and Zelenskiy’s pleas for a meeting with Trump and some coordination prior to talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin were shunned.

This prompted apprehension not only in Ukraine but in Europe that the Trump administration was moving to foist a peace accord on Zelenskiy that favours Putin, a perception that firmed as the week wore on.

It was informed not only by Ukraine’s exclusion from the talks but by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s remarks last week that Washington would not support Ukraine’s aspirations to join Nato and that a return to Ukraine’s borders before 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, were “unrealistic”.

Trump, for his part, suggested that Russia may have a right to Ukrainian territory seized when Russia invaded the country on 24 February 2022 because “they fought for that land”.

After the meeting in Saudi Arabia, Trump said Ukraine had started the war, the biggest in Europe since World War II.

Zelenskiy responded to Trump’s revision of history by saying: “I would like to have more truth with the Trump team.” He added that the US president was living “in a web of disinformation”.

Trump then called Zelenskiy “a dictator” and on Wednesday threatened him in a social media post, saying he had “better move fast” to make peace or “he is not going to have a country left”.

Magwenya said Ramaphosa believed that there could be no credible peace process without Ukraine’s participation, and that it was not for other nations to dictate the terms of negotiated settlement.

“No peace can hold unless all parties are involved and they have to be involved equally in the process. That is the only way in which you can resolve a conflict in a manner that is long-lasting,” he said.

“All parties must have a seat around the table. We don’t believe that anybody who is involved in a conflict should be excluded in a process and we know this from our own experience, from when we negotiated our own political settlement that culminated in the constitutional democracy that we are so proud of.”

Magwenya said that where Ramaphosa could help to facilitate negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv, he would be “more than happy to do so”.

“But what we will not do as South Africa is to start dictating the terms,” he added.

“The nitty-gritty details must be discussed by the actual parties that are involved in the conflict. There cannot be any external, dictatorial approach to how the parties resolve the conflict.”

The falling out between Washington and Kyiv came as South Africa was preparing to host a meeting of foreign ministers of G20 nations in Johannesburg on Thursday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is snubbing the meeting as part of the ongoing diplomatic row between Washington and Pretoria, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend.

Magwenya confirmed Ramaphosa was expecting a courtesy call from Lavrov, suggesting that he would brief the president on the talks in Riyadh, which were officially led by Rubio.

Leaders of major European countries on Monday held a hastily arranged summit in Paris, prompted by Trump’s rapprochement with Putin and decision to embark on negotiations on Russia’s war in Ukraine without including them.

Magwenya said it was imperative that Europe be given a seat at the negotiating table.

“We believe that all interested parties must be heard, and that includes Europe. A peace deal between Russia and Ukraine should not exclude any party. It should include the US, it should include Europe.”

Foreign diplomats in South Africa said they expected the US initiative on the war in Ukraine to be discussed on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.

The event is an opportunity for South Africa, which holds the year-long presidency of the G20, to shore up consensus around an agenda that focuses strongly on equitable development and sustainability — themes Rubio dismissed as proof of the host nation’s “anti-Americanism” — and to deepen alliances with European nations.

European diplomats last week expressed support for South Africa’s leadership of the world’s top forum for economic cooperation, with European Commission president Antonio Costa saying the EU was committed to deepening ties with South Africa, as a “reliable and predictable” partner.

Officials said while the government would not seek to isolate the US after Trump suspended all donor funding to South Africa, the tone adopted recently by Hegseth and US Deputy President JD Vance would not hurt its search for common ground with European partners.

At the 61st Munich Security Conference last Friday, Vance told European leaders to stop marginalising far-right parties, after his meeting with the ultra-nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has not been banned but kept out of ruling coalitions by the country’s so-called firewall against extremism.

Vance was rebuked by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said his country would not take directions on how to run its democracy or accommodate a party that minimised Nazi crimes.

“A commitment to ‘never again’ is not reconcilable with support for the AfD,” Scholz said.

In his presidential order cutting off aid to South Africa, Trump reiterated his support for Afrikaners, who he says are a white minority group who face racial persecution under post-apartheid rule.
https://mg.co.za/politics/2025-02-20-ramaphosa-invites-isolated-zelenskiy-for-a-state-visit/

Lurker4Long:
I now understand why Kikuyu always reacted the way he did towards him.

Lurker4Long:
That's the Milkor Bushcat APC. Any idea how many you guys have acquired?
Welcome back!

Lurker4Long:
I now understand why Kikuyu always reacted the way he did towards him.

Lurker4Long:

Ramaphosa invites isolated Zelenskiy for a state visit

Magwenya said Ramaphosa believed that there could be no credible peace process without Ukraine’s participation, and that it was not for other nations to dictate the terms of negotiated settlement.

“No peace can hold unless all parties are involved and they have to be involved equally in the process. That is the only way in which you can resolve a conflict in a manner that is long-lasting,” he said.

“All parties must have a seat around the table. We don’t believe that anybody who is involved in a conflict should be excluded in a process and we know this from our own experience, from when we negotiated our own political settlement that culminated in the constitutional democracy that we are so proud of.”

“The nitty-gritty details must be discussed by the actual parties that are involved in the conflict. There cannot be any external, dictatorial approach to how the parties resolve the conflict.”

Fidha254:
The way Rwandan media is having unrestricted access to M23 captured territories

https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/24237/news/africa/tshisekedis-vast-armoury-in-goma-and-plan-toinvaderwanda

Tinfoil:
The DRC and Nigeria have become ungovernable, they should be split up into smaller countries

A mountain fire in Cape Town affecting the Newlands and Kirstenbosch area in Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) burnt ferociously from 3.40am on Sunday. About 50 hectares were burnt by Sunday afternoon — roughly half the size of the Cape Town CBD.

South African National Parks (SANParks) urged people to avoid the affected Newlands, Kirstenbosch and Rhodes Memorial areas. TMNP warned that trails in the Newlands and Kirstenbosch area were closed and that authorities continued to monitor the situation closely.

When the fire broke out, the TMNP cautioned that it was burning in an inaccessible area above the Lady Anne Barnard trail, with a possibility of the fire spreading to the Back Table.

At about 7am, firefighters had been battling the blaze for three hours in challenging terrain with ground crews unable to access water sources for vehicles and hoses. Aerial support had been called in to control the flames.

Fortunately, things turned around.

At about 2.30pm on Sunday, Lauren Howard-Clayton, TMNP Communications Manager for SANParks, said “Firefighters are continuing their battle against the flames in the Newlands area of Table Mountain National Park. Currently, 80 firefighters are on the scene, supported by three helicopters and a spotter.”

Howard-Clayton said one team had just been airlifted to the head off the fire on the Back Table near McClears Beacon.

She confirmed that about 50ha had burnt so far, which could be a significant area for a fire, especially in a windy mountainous terrain where flames could spread unpredictably.

The cause of the fire remains unclear.

While officials battled to get the Newlands blaze under control, multiple fires had been raging in the Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM), in the larger Western Cape over the weekend and the previous week – Witzenberg and Wellington had the most problematic fires with teams still battling to control some of the flames.

“The Cape Winelands District Municipality, together with resources from CapeNature and Witzenberg Municipality, have had a very challenging night fighting fires in difficult circumstances,” CWDM spokesperson Jo-Ann Otto said on Sunday morning.

On Wednesday last week, Otto said a fire that started on Oaklands farm above Wellington had been most problematic. Gale-force winds and high fuel loads provided by eucalyptus plantations and other vegetation caused the fire to spread very quickly. The fire travelled down to the Slangrivier Road which it jumped and moved into the Bo-Hermon area.

Otto said that through consistent backburning, teams were able to divert the fire from reaching horse stables and a protea plantation.

“Despite multiple crews, firefighting tankers, purpose-built Land Cruisers and the support of local farmers and agricultural workers, two sheds and a home have been destroyed. Two cottages high on the mountainside were evacuated; however, fire services were able to protect these structures,” Otto said.

On Sunday morning, Otto confirmed that in Wellington, the fire at Dunstone had been contained on Saturday night while the Rooshoek fire was reported to be contained by 2am on Sunday. Teams continue to monitor and mop up in that area.

“Teams from CWDM and CapeNature successfully drove the fire back into the plantation, where it could burn itself out.”

Otto said the fire at Oaklands had no active flames on Sunday morning, but the area was extremely hot, with a lot of smouldering coals and tree stumps. Teams were prepared for possible flare-ups.

🔥 Update on Newlands Fire 🔥

Firefighters are continuing their battle against the flames in the Newlands area of Table Mountain National Park. Currently, 80 firefighters are on the scene, supported by three helicopters and a spotter. pic.twitter.com/vSyM1RGnjj

— SANParks TMNP (@TableMountainNP) February 23, 2025

Odunayaw:
I have always swallowed my amazement why my country never experiences wildfires. I fear that if I voice it I may jinx it

Odunayaw:
I have always swallowed my amazement why my country never experiences wildfires. I fear that if I voice it I may jinx it

Lurker4Long:
Off-topic

GreenandGold, fire season has started...

According to SANParks, despite warnings that hiking trails in the area were closed as a result of the fire and that the public should avoid the area, people were encountered along the burnt trails on Monday morning.

SANParks advised that the hiking and running trails in Newlands, Devil’s Peak and Maclear’s Beacon remain closed until further notice for safety reasons.

“Rockfalls have occurred due to the fire and boardwalks have burnt, making the trails unsafe for hikers,” Louw said.

The public was urged to strictly adhere to these trail closures for their safety and to allow firefighting teams to complete their operations unhindered.

Baller254:
kenyas north dry red extreme environments with exotic, nomadic cross-border tribal peoples, has been a challenge for years
.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXuYprs3j7c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRMxMoix7WI

NTSA:
8weeks ago, the Hamaji wing of the Oromo Liberation Army (a sprinter group of OLF) held an open forum with hundreds of fighters in attendance at Hoba village in Sololo Marsabit county for the first time on Kenyan Soil. The meeting was led by OLA commander in KE Garmacho
NB The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) is an armed rebel group that split from Ethiopia's Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)

Lurker4Long:
Off-topic

GreenandGold, fire season has started, so that WhiteHawk and other choppers up-country will have to come join the fire-fighting fleet down here. My woman lives in Newlands, and she's had an interesting smoke-filled day, as you can see from the photos.

🔥 Update on Newlands Fire 🔥

Firefighters are continuing their battle against the flames in the Newlands area of Table Mountain National Park. Currently, 80 firefighters are on the scene, supported by three helicopters and a spotter. pic.twitter.com/vSyM1RGnjj

— SANParks TMNP (@TableMountainNP) February 23, 2025

GreenandGold:
Damn, that looks like magma running down the mountain.

rugged7:
Because , at some point in your life, you have to stop copying your colonialists and start being original.

Same reason americans and some african countries have stopped wearing the british lawyers' peruke/wigs.

ViceAdmirlAgain:
Namibian Army

Shaytun:
Identify

ViceAdmirlAgain:
Namibian Presidential Falcon 700B jet & Namibian Air Force Shaanxi Y-9E