WE WILL NOT BE BULLIED -SA’S RAMAPHOSA

South Africa refuses to be bowed. That was one of the key messages of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state-of-the-nation address on Thursday.

His statement, reiterated over X, was apparently aimed at his US counterpart, Donald Trump - who has just signed off on sanctions against the International Criminal Court for ‘targeting America and its close ally Israel.’ (Last year, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza.)

Continued……In his address and tweet, Ramaphosa defended South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice - invoking the global solidarity enjoyed by oppressed South Africans during their fight against the apartheid regime.

Tel Aviv has instructed its diplomats to lobby members of the US Congress to pressure South Africa into dropping its ICJ case against Israel, warning Pretoria it will ‘pay a heavy price.’

Going by president Ramaphosa’s remarks, South Africa remains unshaken.

Sources
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-02-06-we-will-not-be-bullied-resolute-ramaphosa-stands-up-to-us/?dm_source=dm_block_grid&dm_medium=card_link&dm_campaign=main

Rubio-Trump vs South Africa
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-top-diplomat-rubio-will-not-attend-g20-meet-south-africa-2025-02-06/
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/trump-cut-off-all-future-funding-south-africa-2025-02-02/

US sanctions ICC
Trump imposes sanctions on ICC, accusing it of targeting US and Israel | Trump administration | The Guardian

Israeli lobby against South Africa
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-lobbying-us-congress-south-africa-icj-genocide

More than 150 Kenyan riot police have arrived in Haiti’s capital, just days after US President Donald Trump halted funding for a Nairobi-led UN security mission. This new contingent joins over 600 Kenyan officer already collaborating with Haitian police forces. The US has frozen more than $13 million of a promised $15 million in aid for the mission, as part of a broader suspension of foreign assistance initiated by Trump. However, the US State Department has since approved waivers for $40.7 million in foreign aid to support the ongoing UN operation and Haitian police.

Continued……. The arrival of additional officers comes in response to a surge in gang violence. A UN human-rights report indicates an increase in gang-related homicides despite the presence of the Kenyan-led multinational security force.

In early 2024, the Kenyan High Court deemed the deployment of Kenyan police to Haiti unconstitutional. Flouting its ruling, Kenyan President William Ruto and then-Haitian Interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry proceeded to sign an agreement that authorised the deployment - widely slammed as providing Blackface cover for more US meddling.

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream

Continued….. These revelations about the sheer scale of USAID funding so-called ‘independent media’ highlight the United States’ hypocrisy considering the Biden administration’s unfounded allegations in September 2024 that Russia ‘secretly’ funds outlets that feature ‘Kremlin propagandists’ like African Stream. This allegation led US tech companies, such as Alphabet (Google and YouTube’s parent company), Meta (Facebook, Instagram and Threads’ parent company), Stripe, and TikTok to suspend or even ban our accounts, leaving our approximately 2.5 million subscribers without a source of information about the Pan-African movement.

Let us know in the comments what you think of this hypocrisy.

Sources
News
https://rsf.org/en/usa-trump-s-foreign-aid-freeze-throws-journalism-around-world-chaos

Assange treatment cast doubt on US claims
https://theweek.com/politics/julian-assange-extradition-fight

Samantha Power warns against shutdown
https://archive.ph/MVFu8#selection-985.0-985.381

KAGAME KNOWS EVERYTHING EXCEPT WHERE HIS TROOPS ARE

Years of investigations have confirmed the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) has de facto control of the M23 militia, whose latest insurgency forced about 500,000 Congolese to flee their homes in January.

In June 2024, a UN experts report concluded that Rwanda had around 3,000 to 4,000 troops in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to reinforce M23. Despite this, the country’s president, Paul Kagame, in an exclusive interview with CNN International correspondent Larry Madowo (@larrymadowo on X) on 3 February nonchalantly responded, ‘I don’t know’, when asked if any Rwandan troops were in the DRC.

Many have accused Rwanda and Uganda of exacerbating the crisis in the Congo by funding and training the M23, who have wreaked havoc in the resource-rich DRC. 

Continued………In this clip from Episode 18 of our ‘Pan-African Attitude’ podcast, Kambale Musavuli (@kambale on X), political analyst at the Center for Research on the Congo-Kinshasa, peeled back the layers of Kagame’s disingenuous response, citing evidence of Rwanda’s role over the last three decades in the Western-backed war that had k*lled 6 million Congolese by 2010 and internally displaced about 7 million as of last year. He rhetorically questions how Kagame can know everything else but nothing about his army’s whereabouts.

Moreover, Musavuli, who is also the West Africa representative for Pan Africanism Today’s secretariat, sheds light on Rwanda’s propaganda machine on social media and how it uses artificial intelligence (AI) to obscure the truth.

You can watch the complete 6 February episode on our X, Rumble and Patreon platforms.

Sources:

https://docs.un.org/en/S/2024/432

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/03/africa/rwanda-kigame-troops-dr-congo-intl/index.html

https://theconversation.com/ai-propaganda-campaign-in-rwanda-has-been-pushing-pro-kagame-messages-a-dangerous-new-trend-in-africa-23429

https://www.caritas.org/2010/02/six-million-dead-in-congos-war

https://drcongo.iom.int/en/news/internal-displacement-overview-2024-published

https://lieber.westpoint.edu/conflict-eastern-drc-state-responsibility-rwanda-uganda/

USAID IS NOT A HUMANITARIAN ORG

The Trump administration shutting down the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has reignited scrutiny of the agency’s mandate, which critics argue extends beyond humanitarian aid to covert operations advancing US geopolitical interests. 

USAID worked against Venezuela’s revolutionary leader, Hugo Chavez (1954-2013), orchestrated the 2014 Ukraine coup d’état, and, in 2009, launched a ‘Cuban Twitter’ called ‘ZunZeneo’ to spark political dissent amongst Cuba’s youth.

In Africa, USAID’s legacy is similarly controversial. During the Cold War, the agency’s programmes aligned with US efforts to counter Soviet influence, such as backing corrupt dictatorial administrations like Zaire’s (now DRC) Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-97), whose brutal rule the US tolerated because of his anti-communist stance.

Video credit: @5149jamesli (X)

Continued…….. Sources
USAID Venezuela
https://the307.substack.com/p/how-the-ned-and-usaid-are-tools-of

USAID Ukraine
https://the307.substack.com/p/how-the-ned-and-usaid-are-tools-of

USAID Cuba
https://the307.substack.com/p/how-the-ned-and-usaid-are-tools-of

USAID Congo
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/3/what-is-usaid-and-how-central-is-it-to-us-foreign-policy

ANALYSING CLAIMS AROUND M23

M23 has made some key gains in recent weeks, seizing control of the eastern Congolese city of Goma. Despite unilaterally declaring a ceasefire on 4 February, the rebel group went on to violate this by capturing the town of Nyabibwe - apparently with its sights set on Bukavu, another regional capital in DRC’s east.

While the militia claims its mission is to defend the marginalised Tutsi community, its actions strongly suggest other motives are play - as its trail of atrocities, focus on lucrative mines and all-but-undeniable assistance from neighbouring Rwanda attest.

Our man William Sakawa digs deeper.

Continued……Sources:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/congo-ceasefire-m23-nyabibwe-1.7451523

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/4/rwandan-backed-m23-rebels-declare-ceasefire-in-drc

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-63899461

https://www.msn.com/en-us/war-and-conflicts/military/un-says-the-death-toll-in-fighting-in-the-eastern-congo-city-of-goma-is-at-least-900/ar-AA1ylgli

https://cic.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/The-Resurgence-of-the-M23-EN.pdf
https://www.hrw.org/report/2005/06/01/curse-gold

https://archive.ph/HA8kK
https://www.hrw.org/report/2005/06/01/curse-gold

https://www.africa-confidential.com/article/id/14013/Tshisekedi-calls-out-Kagame-on-the-M23-militia

https://docs.un.org/en/s/2024/432

LET’S TALK ABOUT LINGUISTIC IMPERIALISM

Linguistic imperialism is the process whereby dominant powers impose their language on those they colonise, suppressing indigenous languages and thus marginalising their speakers and sustaining power inequalities.

Indigenous languages in colonial Africa were frowned upon, while colonial languages were made mandatory. In Anglophone Africa, policies were all written in English; media and broadcasting used English; and there were many systemic policies forbidding the use of indigenous languages.

For example, students in many Kenyan schools were punished for using any other languages, with most of these punishments involving shaming tactics such as the wearing of bones from dead animals as chains around the neck. This also happened to the indigenous people who were forced to speak Arabic and change their names in places like Sudan.

Continued……. This warped the consciousness of individuals, leading to a loss of appreciation for indigenous languages and cultures - and promoted the adoption of the coloniser’s worldview, values, systems and structures.

UNESCO’s 1953 report, The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education, indicated that around 40% of the global population received education in an unfamiliar language. Africa, which is home to nearly 30% of the world’s languages, still uses the colonisers’ languages as national languages.

Consequently, the education and values instilled remain those of the colonisers. Many languages are at risk of extinction, with only a few speakers left. The loss of these languages is equivalent to the loss of African heritage and culture.

Sources:

https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/The_Use_of_Vernacular_Languages_in_Educa.html?id=rKH1nAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10032042/

https://repo.pacuniversity.ac.ke/items/55d065ce-2b5d-4b16-9b81-93ff9ba4d218

https://publishingperspectives.com/2017/04/ngugi-wa-thiongo-on-translation/

A Post-Colonial Perspective on African Education Systems by Getahun Yacob Abraham

English and American Linguistic Hegemony: A Case Study of the Educational Testing Service by Yeonhee Yoo and Gon Namkung

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-024-02821-z

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379561854_Linguistic_Imperialism_as_a_Tool_in_Cultural_Hegemony_Language_Decline_and_Revitalization_of_Indigenous_Communities_in_Canada

BELGIUM ORDERED TO PAY FOR CONGO CHILD KIDNAPPINGS

In a landmark decision, Belgium’s court of appeal recently declared that the systematic kidnapping of mixed-race children from their African mothers in the Belgian-controlled territories of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi amounted to crimes against humanity. This pivotal case was filed by five women, now in their 70s, who were forcibly taken from their Congolese mothers between 1948 and 1953. The ruling is not just a victory for the plaintiffs, it is a rare acknowledgement of Belgium’s colonial crimes - and also sets a precedent for recognising other injustices, as well as reinforces the growing demand for reparations.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/02/belgium-found-guilty-of-crimes-against-humanity-in-colonial-congo

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/12/court-ruling-crimes-against-humanity-belgium-colonial-africa-hailed-turning-point

DID INDIANS DO INDEPENDENCE BETTER?

Did Indians deal with their colonial past better than Africans? Thau-Thau Haramanuba, the leader of South Africa’s Rastafari United Front, seems to think so. He claims we’re still stuck trying to conform to British ideals and culture, whereas the Indians just kept what served them - the technology. Is he right? Do we, for example, obsess too much about ‘perfect’ spoken English as a marker of intelligence? Do we try to imitate European culture too much? Like why are African judges in 2025 still wearing those silly wigs? Why do we think looking smart is wearing a suit made by Italians? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream

MIKE BENZ: HOW U.S. DEFEATS CHINA IN AFRICA

How far is the United States willing to go to block African collaboration with China? 

In this video clip, former US State Department official Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber on X) revealed a destabilisation training initially published by the US 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne), a military contingent specialising in ‘irregular warfare’ using an ‘indigenous approach.’ The document, noscriptd, ‘A Vision for 2021 and Beyond,’ uses an example of a made-up West African country that they call ‘Naruvu’ to demonstrate how the US military, US State Department, intelligence forces, and US Agency for International Development (USAID) could collaborate to sabotage an African state that is cooperating ‘too much’ with China.

Continued……. Many have been confused by the Trump administration’s recent decision to shut down USAID, an agency that has claimed to advance US foreign-policy interests and ‘open markets’ for US companies. US Senator Chris Murphy recently admitted on CNN, ‘USAID chases China all over the world, making sure China doesn’t monopolise contracts for critical minerals and port infrastructure all around the world.’

Video credit: @MrWinMarshall (X)

Sources:

https://www.moore.army.mil/infantry/magazine/issues/2021/Summer/pdf/7_Thielenhaus_txt.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20241209133304

https://www.soc.mil/USASFC/Documents/1sfc-vision-2021-beyond.pdf

https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1886505754959454303

NO LET-UP IN CONGO’S HORROR: LEOPOLD II TO M23

The recent surge in violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has resulted in the eastern city of Goma falling under the control of Rwanda- and Uganda-backed M23 rebels.

The three-decade-long conflict - largely over natural resources - has thrown the Congo into one of the worst humanitarian crises in Africa.

However, as Maurice Carney, co-founder and executive director of Friends of Congo, points out, the roots of the Congo’s oppression and plunder stretch back much further. From the brutal reign of King Leopold II of Belgium to subsequent dictatorships, the DRC has been trapped in a spiral of relentless turmoil.

Video credit: Friends of Congo

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream