President Zuma apologises over Nkandla affair
He promises to pay back some non-security costs
He calls constitutional court ruling 'helpful'
Says he did nothing dishonest
Says some officials will be disciplined over procurement
US to 'track' money stolen from Nigeria's government
DR Congo game ranger killed by suspected rebels in park
Email stories and comments to africalive@bbc.co.uk - Friday 1 April 2016
President Zuma said that the Constitutional Court decision was "ground breaking" in holding him to account.
It said he should have repaid the money paid for non-security upgrades to his private home
He said: "I will respect the judgement and will abide by it".
Quote MessageGuided by the constitution we have an independent judiciary which is a trusted final arbiter in all disputes in society. Yesterday the constitutional court of the republic playing this crucial role issued a judgement on the matter of security upgrades at my private residence. I welcome the judgement... unreservedly.
President Zuma begins his address talking about the constitution:
Quote MessageFellow South Africans I address you during an important year when our country celebrates 20 years since President Nelson Mandela signed the constitution of the republic into law in Sharpeville which took place on the 10 December 1996.
Image source, ReutersPresident Jacob Zuma's address appears to have been delayed.
But as a nation waits to hear what he has to say, speculation is rife and people are linking it to April Fool's day:
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South Africa's President Jacob Zuma is due to start speaking soon.
You can watch it via this link:
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South Africa's governing ANC has announced that it will be speaking at 18:00 GMT - an hour after President Jacob Zuma is due to speak.
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South African tweeters are on tenterhooks for President Jacob Zuma's announcement expected at 19:00 GMT.
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A Sudanese player in a German football club said on BBC Outside source that he thought a team photo where his team mates blacked up was "a wonderful thing".
Image source, Deinster SV/FacebookThe Deinster SV team posted the image on its Facebook page alongside a message denouncing a racist attack on two players Emad and Amar .
"Violence against refugees is pathetic," the post reads. "Emad and Amar, you are one of us just like everyone else and we're happy you are with us."
The post made some people uncomfortable. This tweeter wrote ""Protest against racism. Hm. Not really sure about that".
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But Emad Babiker, a striker in the team told Outside Source that he appreciated the show of support:
Quote Message“I think it’s really nice for my friends. I thank everyone that supports me."
South Africa's President Jacob Zuma is due to address the nation in the next 30 minutes following the ruling by the country's highest court that he breached the constitution by allowing government money to be used to upgrade his private home.
He has been under intense pressure to resign, with the opposition saying they will introduce impeachment proceedings against him in parliament.
But his allies in the governing ANC's Women's League and Youth League say they still have confidence in his leadership.
Nigeria's militant group Boko Haram has released a new video, vowing that it will continue to fight for its version of Islamic rule.
"You should know that there is no truce, there is no negotiations, there is no surrender," an unidentified masked man in camouflage said Hausa, the main language in the region.
The message came after an unverified video last month showed Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau looking frail, and suggesting that his time at the helm of Boko Haram may be coming to and end.
In the latest video, there are men holding AK-47 rifles in front of Toyota Hilux pick-up trucks and a lorry mounted with a military cannon.
Nine MPs have resigned from Gabon's ruling party, reports AFP news agency.
The resignations add to speculation that a breakaway party may be formed to challenge President Ali Bongo in elections in August.
Parliamentary leader Guy Nzouba Ndama, who has headed the chamber since 1997, announced his resignation yesterday.
Image source, Getty ImagesMr Bongo first came to power in a 2009 vote following the death of his father who had ruled Gabon for 42 years
The BBC's Brian Hungwe has been looking at how a new Zimbabwean law aimed at increasing local ownership is going to affect employees in foreign-owned companies.
Employees fear becoming jobless and one worker told our correspondent that it doesn't benefit him because if companies like Nestle close there is nowhere for him to go.
Brain starts his report in a heated meeting between foreign investors and the country's indigenisation minister:
Zimbabwe clamps down with its indigenisation laws
More than 2,600 people have been arrested in Ethiopia's Oromia region in the last three weeks to prevent further protests, an opposition group has said, Reuters news agency reports.
In January, Ethiopia scrapped plans to incorporate parts of the region into the capital, Addis Ababa, following widespread protests which, according to activists, led to about 200 people being killed by the security forces.
Although the authorities also promised not to prosecute those arrested, 2,627 people have been "illegally rounded up" in the last three weeks, the Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (Medrek) is quoted by Reuters as saying.
"The whole purpose [behind] why they are increasing their witch-hunt is to simply stop the public from planning or initiating any future public protest," its chairman Beyene Petros told the agency.
The government has not yet commented on the allegation.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has previously blamed "anti-peace forces" for the unrest, and has disputed claims that some 200 protesters have been killed.
Gen Sejusa accused the president of being a dictator
Uganda's High Court has granted bail to former intelligence chief David Sejusa, following his arrest in January on charges of insubordination and going Awol (absent without leave), the state-run New Vision newspaper reports, external.
He denied the charges, and his supporters said the case was aimed at silencing him ahead of disputed presidential election last month which saw incumbent Yoweri Museveni extend his 30-year rule.
Gen Sejusa went into exile in the UK in May 2013 after claiming that Mr Museveni was creating a "political dynasty" in Uganda, and grooming his son to succeed him.
He returned to Uganda 18 months later.
Zimbabwe's Indigenisation Minister Patrick Zhuwao has dismissed concerns that a new law aimed at increasing local ownership of private companies will scare off foreign investors.
In a BBC interview, he said:
Quote MessageThose statements come from voodoo economists and these statements are really very far removed from reality. There is nothing peculiar about this law.
Quote MessageAnd for anybody to turn around and say that that law is not a good law is attempting to negate the imbalances that were created by racism as a result of our colonial history.
Quote MessageWe are a country that really makes sense in terms of investment but it must be investment that also fits in and ties in well with what is required."
The government had set a deadline of today for foreign companies to transfer the majority of their shares to local ownership.
There are conflicting reports about how many firms have complied with the controversial indigenisation law.
A previous deadline two years ago was largely ignored. The government has said that any company that does not comply will have its operating licence cancelled.
A comedian in Burundi who was arrested for allegedly poking fun at President Pierre Nkurunziza has been freed, an intelligence source has told the BBC Kinyarwanda Service.
Alfred Aubin Mugenzi was picked up by intelligence agents on Tuesday at a hotel in Muramvya, 50km (31 miles) east of the capital, while on a promotional tour for a beer company, AFP news agency reports.
Image source, AFPMr Nkurunziza defied the opposition by running for a third term last year
Known as Kigingi, Mr Mugenzi is alleged to have lampooned Mr Nkurunziza during a performance in neighbouring Rwanda last year, it reports.
See our 12:21 post for more details
Somali model Iman has announced the death of her mother in an Instagram post:
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Alongside the photo of her father, mother and late husband David Bowie, she wrote:
Quote MessageSaddened by death of my mom Maryan Baadi. May Allah grant her the highest jennah [paradise]. I beg that you respect my family's privacy during our time of grief #ripmaryanbaadi.
African Union commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will step down from her post in July, her spokesman has said, amid speculation that she intends to return to South Africa to run for the leadership of the governing African National Congress (ANC) and becoming the next president of the country.
Her ex-husband, Jacob Zuma, is due to step down as ANC leader next year and as president in 2019.
Image source, AFPMs Dlamini-Zuma has been in the AU post since 2012
Some political analysts say she is likely to gain the backing of Mr Zuma, and the ANC Women's League, if she runs for the top job, but will face a strong challenge from South Africa's current Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Possible candidates to succeed her at the AU include Algeria's Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra, who is a former AU Peace and Security commissioner, and his counterpart in Botswana, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, AFP news agency reports.
The BBC's Peter Mwai in Nairobi has spotted this story in the Kenyan newspaper The Standard:
Image source, The StandardThe article says that the Kenyan Film Constitution Board has banned overweight people from appearing on TV in order to make sure children are not "exposed to certain lifestyles that are harmful to their overall growth".
The article doesn't explicitly say it is an April Fools' Day prank but this is the line that made our correspondent suspicious:
"A confidential law sneaked into the country's statute books".
What April Fools' Day pranks have you spotted?
Get in touch:
We reported in our 11:45 post that Uganda's police chief had announced the immediate removal of the police stationed outside opposition leader Kizza Besigye's home in a suburb of Kampala.
But this picture taken by the BBC's Patience Atuhaire shows that the police van was still there four hours after the announcement.
Mr Besigye has been under house arrest since Yoweri Museveni was declared winner of the presidential elections in February.