South African prisons are famously overcrowded. Prison populations are believed to exceed capacity by an overall 33%, although that number jumps to over 200% at some facilities, according to recent reports.

The confined, often overcrowded conditions of prisons make them a breeding ground for disease. In particular, they are a high-risk environment for the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB)—a leading cause of death in South Africa. TB spreads in the air when a person with the disease coughs, speaks, or sings.

In South Africa's general population TB prevalence is 737 per 100,000 people—one of the highest in the world.

A global review found that people in prison were more at risk of TB than the general population. But very little is known about the TB prevalence in South Africa's prisons. A 2010 study of the country's largest prison found that 38.6% of the study participants showed at least one symptom of TB. Only 1% of participants were receiving TB treatment.

In two separate papers we built models to better understand how TB is spread in a crowded environment, such as a prison. Our findings make it clear that as long as there is an influx of infected patients, TB cannot be eliminated. It will continue to spread through the influx of new carriers or new potential hosts. This in turn increases the risks of drug-resistant and multi-drug-resistant variants of TB developing.

Mathematical epidemiological modeling is a great tool for predicting the behavior of a disease over a period of time. Models are not meant to treat the disease. But they inform public health decisions and policy. Models can be modified to suit a certain behavior of the disease, specific lifestyle factors in the population and certain interventions by public health authorities. The accuracy of forward projections depends on the quality and quantity of the available (historical) data.

Mathematical models are able to inform us of the likelihood that, with or without control strategies such as screening and vaccination, the disease can be eliminated or will persist at a specified level of endemicity.

Modeling in crowded environments

Over the past few years, we and other researchers have been modeling the transmission of TB, using compartmental models. This is a modeling technique commonly applied in epidemiology to predict the spread of an infectious disease.

The technique derives its name from the fact that the population is divided into "compartments" according to the disease status of individuals:

We then applied this technique to what is known as a crowded environment. This can be anything from an open-air concert to a mining population to a prison—any place where people could potentially gather en masse and in close proximity.

A key objective of the modeling study is what is known as the stability analysis of the disease-free equilibrium state, or the point where the disease is no longer found within that environment. This is because it is important to understand how the disease can possibly be eliminated from the population. There is a lot of maths involved.

In a 2018 paper we looked at the inflow of infected patients into a prison, computing what the impact would be on the broader prison community.

In a more accurate paper—in the interests of better accuracy—we added further complexity by developing a novel two-group model that mirrors the dynamics of TB in a prison system.

Our model, in addition to the compartmentalization, further divides the prison population into two groups: sentenced individuals, and remanded individuals awaiting trial.

The model showed mathematically that when infected people continue to enter the system, the disease cannot be eliminated. It also showed that the average time inmates spend in prison could make a difference to TB dynamics—but this needs further study.

Next steps

There are a number of solutions.

The World Health Organization recommends early diagnosis, equitable access to health services, and the co-management of TB and HIV.

At the top of the list is the universal screening of those coming into the system. Research shows that this commonly proposed measure can reduce the number of infectious individuals and help eliminate the disease.

Hand in hand with this should be a strategy to admit infected inmates to a prison facility which has an elimination plan in place, such as treatment for latent cases.

Providing comprehensive curative and preventive services for cases is vital if TB is to be eliminated in prisons.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

© Thomson Reuters FILE PHOTO: People stand in line to receive COVID-19 vaccine, in Narok

By Emma Farge and Jennifer Rigby

GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) -Developing nations are lobbying for fairer access to treatments than they got during COVID-19 as global talks begin on drafting new health rules for combating pandemics.

But they worry that the odds of a favourable outcome from a scheduled 18 months of negotiations at the World Health Organization (WHO) are already stacked against them, as they lack the negotiating firepower of wealthier countries.

South Africa, Pakistan and India were among countries that made formal requests during an initial three days of talks, which ended on Wednesday, to try to ensure the process is inclusive.

That challenge is "very daunting," said an ambassador from a developing country who asked not to be named. "The advanced countries have the requisite resources and can afford to have it covered and we cannot," he said.

Countries agreed for a six-member body to rework an initial draft with a view to starting negotiations on that version in February next year, the WHO said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Then, over a year of tough negotiations on the new document lie ahead, with a deal targeted by May 2024. One diplomat estimated the talks alone would take up to 400 hours.

Countries' relative negotiating clout is significant since questions of fairness - including access to vaccines and drugs and calls for transparency in governments' dealings with pharmaceutical firms - are set to be at the heart of talks.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the planned accord a chance to make the world safer for generations, while labelling the distribution of shots during COVID-19 as "vaccine apartheid".

Dr Jaouad Mahjour, the WHO's Assistant Director-General, Emergency Preparedness and International Health Regulations, said the health body had heard small delegations' concerns "very clearly" and would be taking them into consideration.

Three sources familiar with the negotiations say developing countries are seeking a trade-off built into the treaty, which would reward them for sharing information about disease outbreaks with guarantees of access to treatments.

Pressure for a breakthrough on this may increase, they say, with talks on a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID treatments deadlocked at the World Trade Organization.

© Thomson Reuters FILE PHOTO: Healthcare workers carrying a vaccine box walk through a salt pan to vaccinate the pan workers against the coronavirus disease in Surendranagar district

RESOURCES FOR TALKS

In parallel to the treaty talks, country teams are discussing setting up a G20 pandemic fund and revamping the WHO's existing health emergency rules. Experts following the latter will have to sift through over 20 proposals containing some 300 amendments.

To respond to the challenge, some Western countries like the United States have appointed a lead negotiator. U.S. representative Pamela Hamamoto told reporters the current draft accord represented a "kitchen sink version" and said "a lot" would need to change before Washington could sign it.

© Thomson Reuters FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured outside a building of the WHO in Geneva

Meanwhile, "small governments will not be able to engage in (the) process as they will be totally overwhelmed," said Clare Wenham, associate professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, who follows the WHO.

Many poorer countries lack technical certified to advise on WHO matters within the Geneva diplomatic mission, where the U.N. agency is based. Instead, diplomats from smaller nations split their time between health and other topics, like trade.

South Africa's Precious Matsoso, co-chair of the pandemic treaty talks, told Reuters countries could hire experts to help, or band together for regional representation.

(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva and Jennifer Rigby in London;Editing by Josephine Mason, John Stonestreet and Frances Kerry)

Thirusha Naidu grew up in South Africa, a fourth generation descendent of indentured labourers brought to South Africa in the 1860s. 1994, the year she completed her master's degree in clinical psychology at the University of Durban-Westville, was the same year that apartheid finally came to an end. “Most of my education was during the apartheid era”, Naidu says, “and I think that really influenced how I see and think about the world.” Now Head of Clinical Psychology at King Dinuzulu Hospital and Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioural Medicine at the School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, her path had not been without the challenges mirroring those her country faced as it emerged from decades of racist doctrine. “When I went to university in the 1990s, it was just the first few years where universities were integrated…I went to the white university for my undergraduate degree. And it was like being in a foreign country, because all the professors were white…And you couldn’t get a first in your course, because you just didn’t speak English the right way, even though it was your first language. I just thought, ‘well, I’m not working hard enough. I’m not getting this’. Colleagues said well, if you want to get into a postgraduate programme, you should transfer over to the Black university…We were looking to why we were not getting it right, rather than realising that there was this terrible system that was oppressing us. And there was no language for it. I transferred to the other university. Then I realised everything I was saying about the racism agenda was heard in a different way.” She then completed a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

The main focus Naidu's work was to take was on “equity and marginalised people, and I think more and more, specifically on marginalised women”, she says. Earlier in her career, her research explored the experiences of women in interracial marriages and adolescent mothers in rural communities and she worked in the South African Military Health Service, talking to soldiers who had returned from exile at a time when “the South African military was letting in people of colour…integrating people who had been in the apartheid resistance movement into the South African army…but they still had difficulties adjusting”. Naidu now teaches and does research on equity and diversity in health professions education, and she practises as a clinical psychologist in a hospital that is “the main treatment centre for TB and HIV in the province, and a specialist psychiatric facility”. She explains that even though “we have many global health experts come in and want to do research on our patients”, she still sees “how oblivious Global North researchers are about being a woman, for instance, with TB and HIV. In a hospital in South Africa, it's not just about the disease, it's about the fact that if you’re a woman of colour, and disadvantaged, the social dynamics of the disease are 100 times worse for you. My work around that is trying to concientise health workers to see these dynamics on an interpersonal level, on a systemic level, and on a structural level—that there is inequity there.”

That systemic perspective guides Naidu's work. “You can’t just look at the disease and the microbe”, she says. “You have to look at the system, and how failure of interventions has to do with the system, and not the patient not being adherent, or the patient not arriving on time, or the patient being ‘deviant or manipulative’...And this is how women, and especially poorly resourced women of colour are judged by hegemonic white standards, and male standards. It places them as the failure, even when it comes to issues like domestic violence, unplanned pregnancies, multiple pregnancies, and multiple partners. All of those things are easy to blame women for, and I’ve seen people do that all the time when they default on medication. And it's not about that. It's about what effort it takes for these women to negotiate their everyday lives. They’re at a huge disadvantage.” For Naidu, positive change is “about shifting power, changing actors, and changing practice”. As she highlights: “More and more, I’m seeing that the thread of my work is around really rethinking systems, so that equity is possible. And thinking about it from the perspective of marginalised women of colour. If we really want to see change in these systems, we have to bring these women's voices in, because it's their kind of thinking and experience that can change the system.”

In her teaching Naidu encourages students to challenge existing global health dynamics and push for what they think are priorities for the Global South. “We in the Global South need to find validity and affirmation and confidence in our own voices”, she adds, “and mine them and resurrect them. Sometimes to exclude others telling us what to do. There are fictions around that, such as economics, global politics. But we have to start to reframe, start teaching our students, and conscientise them to having confidence in our own voices, in our own ways of thinking; reflecting on our context, and not over valuing and wholeheartedly supporting Global North ways of doing, and of seeing the world. It's important to start looking at how stigmatised and marginalised people use different types of agency to find gaps to defy structural oppression and associated imbalances. This is where researchers will learn about respectful and relevant ways to level current imbalances.” As Naidu comments: “Reflecting on my work and experiences, I continue to learn how to trouble and dismantle structural injustices, which result from epistemic injustice in health care.”

In 2014 the United Nations set an ambitious goal: to end the AIDS pandemic by the year 2030.

There have been significant advances in HIV treatment and prevention. Access to antiretroviral therapy has saved millions of lives. The UN estimates that since 2010 there's been a 52% decrease in AIDS-related deaths. New infections have also fallen drastically.

But we're far from out of the woods. A accurate report warns that this progress is in danger if current conditions of inequality prevail. Experts across the board have identified inequality as a major challenge to efforts to end AIDS.

Over the years public health experts have written numerous articles for The Conversation Africa about the drivers of this pandemic. We've selected three here which highlight the complexity of the problem.

Addressing inequalities

UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima argues that HIV, like COVID, feeds off inequalities. In an interview with Imraan Valodia, head of the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand, Byanyima highlights how women who don't have access to basic rights such as health and education pay the price in poverty, ill health and sometimes even death.

Read more: Head of UNAIDS unpacks the knock-on effects of COVID-19. And what needs to be done

The vulnerability of women and girls

Adolescent girls and young women are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection. It's estimated that every week 4,900 women between 15 and 24 years old acquire HIV. Women in this age group are twice as likely as their male counterparts to be living with HIV. Unequal gender dynamics often make it difficult for young women to negotiate whether, when, or how they want to have sex. But there is a way for adolescent girls and young women to protect themselves without having to negotiate condom use. Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a pill containing antiretroviral drugs that can help prevent HIV. Morten Skovdal, associate professor of health psychology, asked Zimbabwean healthcare workers for pointers on how to Improve access to PrEP for young women.

Read more: Six ways to Improve HIV prevention pill uptake among young women in Zimbabwe

Barriers to treatment

The risk of HIV infection and the uptake of treatment or prevention measures are influenced by several factors. These include biology, people's behaviour and their social contexts. Behavioural scientist Hilton Humphries explains how individuals make decisions about whether to use PrEP, in the context of structural inequalities that sustain risk - things that individuals can't always control.

Read more: How inequality drives HIV in adolescent girls and young women

Authors: Ina Skosana - Health + Medicine Editor (Africa edition) | Hilton Humphries - Behavioural Scientist, Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) | Imraan Valodia - Pro Vice-Chancellor: Climate, Sustainability and Inequality and Director Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, University of the Witwatersrand | Morten Skovdal - Associate professor in Health Psychology, University of Copenhagen

© Thomson Reuters FILE PHOTO: People stand in line to receive COVID-19 vaccine, in Narok

By Emma Farge and Jennifer Rigby

GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) - Global talks have begun on drafting new health rules for combating pandemics, and developing nations are lobbying for fairer access to treatments than they got during COVID-19.

© Thomson Reuters FILE PHOTO: Healthcare workers carrying a vaccine box walk through a salt pan to vaccinate the pan workers against the coronavirus disease in Surendranagar district

But they worry that the odds of a favourable outcome from a scheduled 18 months of negotiations at the World Health Organization (WHO) are already stacked against them, as they lack the negotiating firepower of wealthier countries.

© Thomson Reuters FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured outside a building of the WHO in Geneva

South Africa, Pakistan and India were among countries that made formal requests, during an initial three days of talks that ended on Wednesday, to ensure the process is inclusive.

That challenge is "very daunting," said an ambassador from a developing country who asked not to be named.

"The advanced countries have the requisite resources and can afford to have it covered and we cannot," he said.

Countries' relative negotiating clout is significant since questions of fairness - including access to vaccines and drugs and calls for transparency in governments' dealings with pharmaceutical firms - are set to be at the heart of talks.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the accord a chance to make the world safer for generations, while labelling the distribution of shots during COVID-19 as "vaccine apartheid".

Dr Jaouad Mahjour, the WHO's Assistant Director-General, Emergency Preparedness and International Health Regulations, said the health body had heard small delegations' concerns "very clearly" and would be taking them into consideration.

Three sources familiar with the negotiations say developing countries are seeking a trade-off built into the treaty, which would reward them for sharing information about disease outbreaks with guarantees of access to treatments.

Pressure for a breakthrough on this may increase, they say, with talks on a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 treatments deadlocked at the World Trade Organization.

MARATHON TALKS

At the WHO, 18 months of tough negotiations on the 32-page document lie ahead, with a deal targeted by May 2024. One diplomat estimated the talks alone would take up to 400 hours.

In parallel, country teams are discussing setting up a G20 pandemic fund and revamping the WHO's existing health emergency rules. Experts following the latter will have to sift through over 20 proposals containing some 300 amendments.

To respond to the challenge, some Western countries like the United States have appointed a lead negotiator. U.S. representative Pamela Hamamoto said this week that despite progress, the draft was "not yet ready for our use".

Meanwhile, "small governments will not be able to engage in (the) process as they will be totally overwhelmed," said Clare Wenham, associate professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, who follows the WHO.

Many poorer countries lack technical certified to advise on WHO matters within the Geneva diplomatic mission, where the U.N. agency is based. Instead, diplomats from smaller nations split their time between health and other topics, like trade.

South Africa's Precious Matsoso, co-chair of the pandemic treaty talks, told Reuters countries could hire experts to help, or band together for regional representation.

(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva and Jennifer Rigby in London; Editing by Josephine Mason and John Stonestreet)

© Esa Alexander/Reuters South African president Cyril Ramaphosa speaks at the Green Hydrogen Summit at Century City in Cape Town, South Africa, Nov. 29.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South Africa’s ruling party said Friday that it is still considering whether to allow legislators to start impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa, the last remaining member of Nelson Mandela’s inner circle still in government leadership.

A panel of two judges and a lawyer sent shock waves through the government on Wednesday when they recommended an impeachment committee investigate whether Ramaphosa committed misconduct in an incident involving a large sum of money hidden in a couch that was later stolen.

Ramaphosa said in response, “I categorically deny that I have violated this oath in any way, and I similarly deny that I am guilty of any of the allegations made against me.”

It is unclear whether he will face criminal charges. If he were to step down, it would deepen the divisions within the already-struggling ruling party, the African National Congress.

Memories of the party’s glory days — when it led the liberation struggle against apartheid — have faded for many voters after decades of scandals and mismanagement. Many commentators are predicting Ramaphosa’s troubles could hasten the end of the ANC’s long domination of national politics. The party has controlled one of Africa’s wealthiest and most influential nations since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Ramaphosa was one of Mandela’s chief aides — he held the microphone when Mandela made his first public speech after his release from prison. He was Mandela’s lead negotiator with the White-led government in the run-up to the 1994 elections and later chaired the commission that wrote the new constitution.

Despite his prominence, however, Mandela did not appoint Ramaphosa as his deputy. Instead the former labor organizer went on to become a successful businessman.

His ascent to the presidency and announcement of an anti-corruption drive sparked widespread relief — dubbed “Ramaphoria” — after the systematic looting of state-owned companies and attempts to dismantle the criminal justice system that led his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, to resign. Ramaphosa’s narrow victory in the 2017 party leadership conference quashed Zuma’s plan to have his ex-wife succeed him, but Zuma still commands loyalty from a powerful ANC faction.

© Esa Alexander/Reuters Former South African president Jacob Zuma dances with a military veteran, Fumanekile Booi, at the African National Congress Youth League political education meeting in Philippi in Cape Town, South Africa, Nov. 19, 2022.

Ramaphosa “is seen as a man of integrity in a party tainted by years of corruption scandals and mismanagement,” said Pauline Bax, the deputy director of the Africa program at the International Crisis Group think tank. “This will deepen divisions at a time when there’s no clear successor.”

Ramaphosa consistently scores as more popular than the ANC in opinion polls and was widely viewed as the party’s best chance to arrest a sharp decline in its electoral support, which sank below 50 percent in last year’s municipal elections for the first time since the country’s first all-race elections, in 1994.

Justice Malala, a prominent political commentator, said the nation is undergoing a second major political transition as voters desert the ANC. Ramaphosa’s key weakness has been not facing up to that reality, he said.

“Cyril rejoined the ANC knowing what it had become,” he said, adding, “He tried to provide his colleagues some dignity and not send them to jail, and they saw that as weakness.

“This case is all about getting rid of him and stopping his reform agenda,” Malala said. “The ANC may have some good people, but it is so eaten up — consumed — by greed and corruption and infighting that it is incapable of renewing itself. … It is in its death throes.”

The ANC leadership conference is scheduled for this month, and Ramaphosa had seemed assured of a landslide victory after securing just over half the votes from ANC party branches. Whoever wins will represent the ANC in the next election.

His main challenger, former health minister Zweli Mkhize, trailed him with nearly a quarter of votes. Mkhize resigned last year after he was implicated in a corruption scandal over coronavirus-related contracts that were awarded to a communications company controlled by former associates, but he has not been charged.

University of South Africa political analyst Lesiba Teffo said the ANC probably knows it will suffer severe losses at the polls in 2024 without Ramaphosa.

“Even his detractors know they need him for the next election,” Teffo said. “The ANC knows that if they recall him, it will damage the country and weaken the ANC more in the elections. It is a political conundrum for the ANC. He still has a lot of credibility and support despite the mistakes he has made.”

The political turmoil goes back to a long-running inquiry into a murky theft of cash from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm. He said the money, which was hidden in a sofa, was from the sale of buffaloes to a Sudanese businessman in 2019.

© Esa Alexander/Reuters South Africa's former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo listens to journalists' questions after he hands over the report on whether President Cyril Ramaphosa should face an impeachment inquiry over the Phala Phala saga in Cape Town, South Africa, Wednesday.

But the panel, led by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, threw doubt over that explanation, asking why a foreigner would carry half a million dollars of cash into South Africa, visit the farm on Christmas Day with no prior arrangement, pay cash and then leave without ever claiming the buffaloes.

The panel also asked why the cash had been left there for 40 days rather than put in a bank and why no one was able to provide contact details or identification documents for the Sudanese businessman, who has not been in contact for the past 2½ years. The theft — and that Ramaphosa allegedly did not report it to the police — raised questions about whether the money was improperly acquired, the panel said.

Ramaphosa maintained that he did report the theft to authorities, telling the head of his protection unit, Maj. Gen. Wally Rhoode, who is with the police. But the report said that was not sufficient, noting the incident became public only after a former spy chief allied with Ramaphosa’s rival Zuma announced he had filed charges against the president and others over the case, sparking a media storm.

The political turbulence comes as South Africa is battling low economic growth, massive rolling power blackouts, high unemployment and rampant crime. The South African rand has fallen 4 percent against the dollar since the report was issued Wednesday, according to Bloomberg data, amid uncertainty over the country’s leadership and the future of economic restructuring.

John Perlman speaks to health department spokesperson Foster Mohale on the severe need for ambulances in South Africa.

© Provided by 702 A Mpumalanga Health Department ambulance. Picture: @MpuHealth1/Twitter

South Africa has a serious shortage of ambulances and paramedics.

Health minister Joe Phaahla has revealed to Parliament that South Africa has fewer than half the ambulances it needs to respond to the population's health needs.

About 7000 ambulances are needed in South Africa, but it has fewer than half that number.

Even though municipalities can procure ambulances... the primary responsibility lies with the provincial department.

Foster Mohale, Health Department Spokesperson

The national department's role would be to provide the provincial departments a guideline, based on the population figures.

Most people living in suburban areas are medically insured and they can rely on private ambulances. But we advise the provinces to deploy more ambulances to areas like informal settlements.

Foster Mohale, Health Department Spokesperson

According to the minister, 967 ambulances are not in use due to accidents or maintenance and repairs.

But Mohale says the provincial departments need to ensure they have buffer ambulances to fill this void.

However, the Western Cape has a different problem - there are enough ambulances but not enough emergency personnel.

It's a combination of factors... it's the issue of budget but also training. But there are also other challenges like the paramedics being victimised by the community and criminals...

Foster Mohale, Health Department Spokesperson

Scroll up to listen to the interview.

Enlarge this image

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa responds to questions in Parliament Cape Town, South Africa, on Sept. 29, 2022, where he denied allegations of money laundering while being questioned over a scandal that threatens his position and the direction of Africa's most developed economy. Nardus Engelbrecht/AP hide caption

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Nardus Engelbrecht/AP

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa responds to questions in Parliament Cape Town, South Africa, on Sept. 29, 2022, where he denied allegations of money laundering while being questioned over a scandal that threatens his position and the direction of Africa's most developed economy.

Nardus Engelbrecht/AP

JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa faced calls Thursday to step down after a parliamentary panel's probe found he may have breached anti-corruption laws in connection with the alleged theft of a large amount of money from his Phala Phala game farm.

The calls follow allegations by the country's former head of intelligence, Arthur Fraser, that Ramaphosa tried to conceal the theft of a huge sum of cash stuffed into couches at his farm in 2020. Fraser, an ally of the president's political rival and predecessor, Jacob Zuma, accused Ramaphosa of money laundering and violating foreign currency control laws.

In its report, the parliamentary panel raised questions about the source of the money and why it wasn't disclosed to financial authorities, and cited a potential conflict between the president's business and official interests.

Parallels

South Africa Elects Cyril Ramaphosa As Its New President

Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the money was proceeds from the sale of animals at his farm. But opposition parties and Ramaphosa's detractors in the ruling African National Congress party have called for him to step down.

The ANC's national executive committee, the party's highest decision-making body, is expected to meet Thursday evening to be briefed on the matter and possibly to determine Ramaphosa's fate. Ramaphosa is seeking reelection as party leader during the ANC's upcoming conference. That would enable him to run again for South Africa's presidency in 2024.

Lawmakers are expected to debate the report on Tuesday, and they will vote on whether further action should be taken, including whether to proceed with impeachment proceedings. ANC lawmakers are a majority in Parliament and may push back against attempts to impeach their leader.

"The president appreciates the enormity of this issue and what it means for the country and the stability of government," Ramaphosa's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told reporters, saying the president is still processing" the report. "We are in an unprecedented and extraordinary moment as a constitutional democracy as a result of the report, and therefore whatever decision the president takes, it has to be informed by the best interest of the country. That decision cannot be rushed," Magwenya said.

According to the parliamentary report, Ramaphosa claimed the stolen money amounted to $580,000, disputing the initial amount of $4 million that Fraser alleged was stolen.

The report also questioned Ramaphosa's explanation that the money was from the sale of buffaloes to a Sudanese businessman, Mustafa Mohamed Ibrahim Hazim, asking why the animals remained at the farm more than two years later.

Goats and Soda

What Hugh Masekela Meant To South Africa's Freedom Fighters

The report said an investigation by the central bank suggested there were no records of the dollars entering the country. "We are unable to investigate or verify the source of the foreign currency," it states.

The parliamentary panel said Ramaphosa put himself into a situation of conflict of interest, saying the evidence presented to it "establishes that the president may be guilty of a serious violation of certain sections of the constitution."

The report criticized Ramaphosa for failing to inform the police in line with proper procedures, choosing instead to entrust the matter to the head of his presidential protection unit.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, is among those calling for Ramaphosa's impeachment.

"President Ramaphosa most likely did breach a number of constitutional provisions and has a case to answer. Impeachment proceedings into his conduct must go ahead, and he will have to offer far better, more comprehensive explanations than we have been given so far," Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen said.

Political analyst Dale McKinley said he was not convinced there is enough information to force Ramaphosa to resign.

"I don't see Cyril Ramaphosa stepping aside unless he is charged. If he is charged, he is going to have to swallow it and basically do that," McKinley said. "If he does not get charged and it is simply just this impeachment process, my sense is that ... he will try to shore up his base and ride it out. I might be wrong, but I think politicians, their first instinct is survival."

Who is in trouble?

Cyril Ramaphosa took power as South Africa’s president in 2018 and led the ruling African National Congress party to a general election victory a year later. He campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, attracting much support after the turbulent nine-year rule of his populist predecessor, Jacob Zuma, who was forced out by a series of scandals. Ramaphosa, 70, has since struggled to push through much-needed reforms and has faced fierce resistance from Zuma loyalists.

A former labour activist once tipped for the presidency of a free South Africa by Nelson Mandela, Ramaphosa earned a fortune as a businessman when he took a break from politics after being passed over in favour of others. He enjoys breeding and raising valuable animals, including cattle. These commercial and personal interests now threaten a premature end to his political career.

Why?

Somewhere between $500,000 and $5m was stolen from Ramaphosa’s game ranch at Phala Phala, in Limpopo province, in early 2020. The cash does not appear to have been declared according to strict local money laundering regulations or for tax. Nor was its theft reported to police. Instead, a presidential bodyguard was tasked with tracking down the money and then possibly paying off the culprits. Local media call the scandal Farmgate.

What just happened?

An independent panel appointed by parliament has reported finding evidence of wrongdoing that could constitute gross misconduct, an infringement of the constitution and a breach of the presidential oath. None of this is ideal for a president elected to clear up corruption and restore integrity to public life. But the real problem is that parliament could go on to impeach Ramaphosa, who says he is innocent.

So now what?

Parliament will vote on whether impeachment will go ahead. A two-thirds majority for the move would be necessary, meaning that about half of the ANC’s members would have to vote with the opposition parties. This is unlikely, because Ramaphosa has long been seen as the party’s best candidate for general elections expected in 2024. But it is possible. Even if impeachment goes ahead, it is a long process.

Whatever happens, Ramaphosa will face an attempt to replace him as ANC leader at a conference next month. He is considered very likely to see off any such challenge, but has been weakened. If he loses the party post, it would be hard for him to hold on to the presidency for very long.

Reports in local media on Thursday night suggested that Ramaphosa might resign as early as this weekend rather than face a drawn out battle to remain in office.

What does this mean for South Africa?

The rand nosedived on news of the potential impeachment, reflecting international markets’ fears for the country’s political stability and the future of a leader seen as business friendly. South Africa suffers from rolling nationwide power cuts that have crippled businesses, and from soaring unemployment, anaemic growth, a failing education system and inadequate healthcare. It has been battered by the Covid-19 pandemic and the current global economic crisis, and a change of leader forced by bitter internal competition between factions would be the last thing the country needs.

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Students and staff are back from a study abroad trip where they helped communities in Cape Town, South Africa with books, social media skills and building community gardens.

They talk about their experience, and you can read the original story below.

Twenty West Texas A&M University students soon will depart on a trip that will change not only their lives, but also the lives of children and families an ocean away. Students in WT’s Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities and the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences will depart Nov. 10 for a 13-day trip to Cape Town, South Africa, where they will work on several community improvement projects.

Dr. Enyonam Osei-Hwere, associate professor of communication and the 2022 Magister Optimus for WT, will lead the trip with Dr. Brock Blaser, WT’s Vernon Harman Professor of Dryland Farming.

In Cape Town, the students will partner with four schools, providing new books for schoolchildren, building community gardens and developing marketing projects to benefit communities.

“A lot of our students have never traveled outside of the country,” Osei-Hwere said. “If you don’t have exposure to other parts of the world, your perception is very different. This will be eye-opening for our students.”

Students signed up in May for the trip and largely will pay their own way with some assistance from WT’s Study Abroad program and from the Department of Communication and the Department of Agricultural Sciences.

“I’m looking forward to experiencing different cultures,” said Tearanee’ Lockhart, a junior broadcast journalism major from Amarillo. “I’m sure there’s going to be some culture shock, but I’m excited for it.”

The WT contingent will bring about $38,000 (retail value) brand-new books for young readers provided by donations to Storybridge Amarillo and Leaders Readers Network, two Amarillo-area nonprofits that encourage childhood literacy.

“What touched me especially was (Osei-Hwere) telling me of a South African woman who approached her and said, ‘Thank you for seeing us. Sometimes it feels that many do not see us here,’” said Chandra Perkins, Storybridge executive director. “It really made me reflect on the universal need to be seen, to feel like you are visible.”

“The opportunity to work with Dr. Osei-Hwere and WT students is the perfect partnership,” said Chris McGilvery, executive director of The Leaders Readers Network. “We are honored to collaborate with this Study Abroad program to provide brand-new, diverse books for South African students.”

Encouraging literacy is a key component of the trip, Osei-Hwere said.

“We’re giving these books, all hand-signed with messages of hope and encouragement, directly to the students to take home with them,” said Osei-Hwere, a Ghana native who has lived in the U.S. for 15 years. “I was born on that continent. My circumstances are no different. Literacy was the game changer for me, and I want these students to make sure they grow up with a habit of reading. That’s what can change your circumstances.”

Students also will build community gardens for women living at safe houses operated by Philisa Abafazi Bethu, a nonprofit center advocating for the rights of women who are victims of domestic and intimate partner violence. The center’s clients also will take part in social media workshops, receive how-to videos on community gardens and more, and WT students also will cook and serve a Thanksgiving lunch for 4,000 people in the community.

“We are extremely excited to join Dr. Osei-Hwere and the Department of Communication students on this community service opportunity to Cape Town,” Blaser said. “I am confident that all of us will come home with a greater appreciation for what we were able to share with and learn from the wonderful people of South Africa. Helping others learn gardening and food productions skills to provide for themselves and their families sounds simple in many ways, but the need is real and the opportunity to impact lives is an honor.”

WT students also will tour the United States Consulate in Cape Town and learn about the role of embassies and consulates in American foreign policy and how the consulate in Cape Town specifically employs media tools and strategies in bringing social change, education and development to communities, similar to the vision of the South Africa Global Media Study Abroad program at WT.

This is Osei-Hwere’s third trip to Cape Town for Study Abroad programs.

“I admire the dedication of our faculty and appreciate the support WT provides to Study Abroad and international efforts in general,” said Carolina Galloway, director of Study Abroad and Nationally Competitive Scholarships. “This program has been a transformative one not only for our students but also for the local communities in Cape Town, and illustrates the impact we can make when we open ourselves to learning from and helping others. Our Study Abroad programs continue to benefit students and help them be more aware of the reality that exists outside of our geographical borders, as well as better prepared for the global job market that awaits them after graduation.”

Participating WT students, in addition to Lockhart, include Sophia Britto, a senior digital communication and media major from Amarillo; Logan Burleson, an agriculture doctoral candidate from Newland, North Carolina; Madison Colvin, an sophomore agriculture major from Bryan; Lauren G. Fritzler, a junior agriculture media communication major from Merino, Colorado; George Graybill, a senior animal science major from Keenesburg, Colorado; Andrew Helterbran, a senior digital communication and media major from Amarillo; Ashtyn S. Kardosz, a sophomore agribusiness and economics major from Gonzales; Katelynn Kenyon, a senior agriculture media communication major from House, New Mexico; Anita Knoll, a senior agriculture media communication major from Hereford; Alex Kuehler, a senior plant, soil and environmental science major from Groom; Tyrone Leggett, a junior health sciences major from Hartford, Connecticut; Carmella S. Love, a junior communication studies major from Amarillo; Grady McAlister, a sophomore plant, soil and environmental science major from Nazareth; Lexis Metz, a junior plant, soil and environmental science major from Vista, Colorado; Madylin J. Moczygemba, a junior agribusiness and economics major from Karnes City; Frank Navarette, a graduate student in communication from Amarillo; Alexandra Rivera, a senior digital communication and media major from Dimmitt; Lindsey Sawin, a junior agriculture media communication major from Vernon; and Jessica Smith, a senior plant, soil and environmental science major from Amarillo.

Osei-Hwere said she hopes this trip will have a long-lasting impact on its participants.

“When we come back, the challenge to our students is to go into their communities and replicate the work they did in South Africa,” she said. “They don’t have to get on a plane. The challenges in South Africa also are here in our own communities.”

Tackling regional challenges in the Panhandle and beyond is the key mission of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World. That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the five-year campaign — which was publicly launched in September 2021 — has raised more than $110 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.