Burundi says the AFC/M23 rebels lobbed explosives over the border into Chibitoke, and Foreign Minister Edouard Bizimana is not having it. The spillover happened right after regional peace talks wrapped up in Washington, where Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye signed an accord but warned everyone that actually following through is the hard part.
AFC/M23 fired back, saying Burundi and Kinshasa have been coordinating airstrikes and artillery hits on North and South Kivu for days, killing 23 civilians. The rebels called it a terrorist operation designed to wipe out eastern Congolese communities.
Burundi has been backing Congolese forces against the rebels with troops and drones in South Kivu, though officials rarely admit it...
Four people died when three cars slammed into each other on the B1 highway about 33 kilometers south of Otjiwarongo after rain made the road slick. A sedan lost control and veered into oncoming traffic, hitting a pickup truck head-on, before a Corolla rear-ended the sedan hard. The victims were Jana Grove at 21, Christina Prinsloo at 57, Chirise Steyn at 80, and an unidentified 60-year-old woman from the sedan.
Thirteen people total were involved in the crash, and nine survivors got taken to Otjiwarongo State Hospital with injuries ranging from minor to serious before some transferred to Windhoek facilities. Police opened a culpable homicide case and are still investigating the wreck.
Simonis Storm economist Almandro Jansen says rental costs in Namibia are cooling slightly to 4.8% annually, but major cities like Windhoek, Swakopmund, and Walvis Bay still face serious affordability problems because new housing supply barely moves, land development drags, and construction materials stay expensive. Municipal bills and utility hikes keep hammering household budgets, and housing makes up 28.4% of what people spend.
Overall housing inflation with utilities held at 4.1% annually through November after October's 1.5% spike from tariff increases. Water and sewage costs dropped to 1.3% from 4.8%, while maintenance and repair expenses hit 2.1% because materials and labor keep climbing.
Jansen expects housing inflation to stay...
A key witness who spilled the beans at the Madlanga Commission got gunned down in Brakpan with his family watching, and political parties are losing it over the total failure to keep him safe. Marius van der Merwe had recently testified against suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi about allegedly being told to dump a murder victim's body after cops suffocated someone.
The 41-year-old was not under any protection despite dropping serious allegations about police corruption and cover-ups. Cops confirmed suspects rolled up in a white Nissan bakkie, and an AK-47 was used in the hit.
President Cyril Ramaphosa called it an attack on justice and promised better whistleblower protection, while...
A group of 17 Western embassies in Tanzania is pushing authorities to hand over bodies from post-election violence to families and free political prisoners. The missions claim credible evidence points to extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and hidden corpses after President Samia Hassan won with nearly 98% of the vote.
Hundreds reportedly died when security forces crushed protests, but the government has not released official numbers. Opposition leader Tundu Lissu sits in jail on treason charges, while at least 240 others faced similar accusations before prosecutors showed leniency. The UN says dozens of activists, academics, and local leaders have been grabbed since mid-November, sometimes by unidentified armed groups...
Flex Commodities out of Dubai just fired up bunker fuel operations at Walvis Bay in Namibia through a partnership with GAC Investment CC called Flex GAC Namibia. The move is part of their West Africa expansion play and gives the port another refueling stop for ships cruising the South Atlantic.
They're pumping VLSFO that hits ISO 8217 specs from 2010 and 2017, plus RMG 380 and LSMGO with 0.1% sulfur content. Ship owners can grab fuel at offshore zones and anchorage spots around Walvis Bay, which basically adds another reliable option for vessels working that route.
Scammers are weaponizing AI to pull off pig-butchering schemes, which are basically long-con frauds where they fake friendships or romantic relationships before draining victims financially. Standard Bank Namibia compliance head Roxzaan Witbooi warns that these predators slide into DMs on social platforms and dating apps, spend weeks or months earning trust, and then pitch sketchy crypto or forex trades as can't-miss opportunities.
The scary part is how they're automating the whole operation with chatbots that sound human, deepfakes for fake profile pics and videos, and bogus trading dashboards that show made-up profits. AI lets them juggle dozens of victims at once while customizing their approach based on your online activity and...
A bunch of economists dropped a new think tank called the Namibia Institute for Economic Policy because they say the country keeps fumbling its natural resource advantages. Co-founder Rowland Brown pointed out that minerals, fish, wildlife, and fresh oil and gas discoveries have not actually helped most people despite solid infrastructure, and unemployment keeps climbing while GDP per capita shrinks.
Brown said policy gaps are killing the conversion from potential to real development, and households are getting crushed by income stress while government cash runs thin. The institute wants to push reforms that boost investment and cut red tape to create jobs, claiming things could flip around fast if leadership makes the right strategic...
Namcor partnered up with ReconAfrica and BW Energy to drill the Kavango West 1X exploration well on petroleum exploration license 73, and they hit paydirt with oil and gas discoveries in the Otavi carbonate formation. The well pulled roughly 400 meters of hydrocarbon section with 64 net meters confirmed as actual pay through wireline logs and mud analysis.
Acting managing director Maureen Mbuende said the find shows the Damara Fold Belt has serious potential for future extraction, and the results look solid for what the country could pump out later.
