Andrew Harding
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, EPA

South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) - the party of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela - has never got less than a thumping 62% in any national election.

That could be about to change. After a decade of economic stagnation and soaring corruption, opposition parties are threatening the ANC’s comfortable majority.

President Cyril Ramaphosa insists he can fix the ANC, and transform South Africa.

Many here are inclined to believe him. But plenty are not.

The big cities are starting to slip into the hands of the official opposition - the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are gaining ground too - alarming the white minority and turning South African democracy into a livelier, and often angrier space.

Read: Charting divides 25 years after apartheid

Anger over corruption, the faltering economy and land reform are key issues as South Africans vote in the sixth democratic election since apartheid ended 25 years ago.

The African National Congress (ANC), which led the fight against apartheid, has governed the country since 1994.

But its support has eroded as large inequalities have remained.

The centrist Democratic Alliance (DA) and left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are providing the main challenge.

A leading South African cartoonist believes that voters have a "crappy choice":

Read the full BBC story here

Image source, AFP

Sudan's ruling military council is insisting that Sharia remain the basis of the country's new laws.

Protest leaders had handed them a list of proposals for an interim government, following the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir in April.

But the 10-member military council said it had "many reservations" about their suggestions - including the protesters' conspicuous silence on Islamic law.

Talks between the military and opposition remain deadlocked.

Read the full BBC story here

Image source, Getty Images

Troops loyal to Libyan militia leader General Khalifa Haftar say they have shot down a warplane and captured its pilot, whom they allege is a foreign "mercenary".

Images and videos posted on social media purportedly show the pilot in blood-splattered clothes, and with an apparent wound to the head.

Gen Haftar's Libya National Army (LNA) said the Mirage F1 was downed in Al-Hira region, some 70km (43 miles) south of the capital, Tripoli.

In a video posted by a pro-LNA website, the pilot said he was a 29-year-old "from Portugal".

Portugal's Defence Ministry could not confirm his nationality, Reuters news agency reported.

"For now the only thing we can say is that he is not a Portuguese soldier," a ministry spokeswoman was quoted as saying.

Our proverb of the day:

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Welcome to BBC Africa Live where we will bring you the latest news and views from around the continent.

That's all from BBC Africa Live for this week, but you can keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or check the BBC News website.

Our African proverb of the day:

And we leave you with this photo of Kenyan actress Lupita Nyongo'o at the Met Gala held last night in New York:

Click here to see the best of the rest of the night's outfits.

Jose Tembe
BBC Africa, Maputo

Image source, Anadolu

Mozambique has decided to set up a special academic calendar for students affected by Cyclone Kenneth, which hit the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula last month.

Forty-three people have died and 70 schools have been destroyed across both provinces, affecting more than 22,000 children.

"Students in the storm-hit areas lost 10 days of classes," said Mozambique's Deputy Minister of Education Armindo Ngunga when he announced the calendar change on Monday.

He added that extra assistance would be provided to allow catch-up classes on Saturdays.

Leocadia Bongben
BBC Pidgin, Yaoundé

The UN has warned Cameroon's government it needs to act fast if it is to deal with a crisis of violence in various parts of the country, calling violations by security forces "unlawful" and "counter-productive".

It "plays into the hands of the extremist groups, by feeding local resentment and aiding recruitment", Michelle Bachelet said at the end of her four-day visit.

During that time, the UN human rights high commissioner held talks with President Paul Biya, government officials, political parties and civil society leaders over the Anglophone crisis.

Also of concern were the Islamist insurgency in the Far North region, and the violence that has spilled over Cameroon's borders from Nigeria, Chad and Central African Republic (CAR).

Ms Bachelet said the lack of access for international and humanitarian agencies to crisis regions was a concern. She also appealed for an end to civilians being tried in military courts, and urged the authorities to re-think their approach to dissenting politicians.

"I believe there is a clear - if possibly short - window of opportunity to arrest the crises that have led to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people, as well as the killings and brutal human rights violations and abuses," the UN human rights chief said in a statement.

It comes a day after Human Rights Watch accused the Cameroonian government of using routine torture.

The government has yet to formally respond to allegations, but on Tuesday morning President Biya addressed Cameroonians in a tweet stressing the need to forgive and forget and "work towards a common goal":

Thomas Naadi
BBC Africa, Accra

A separatist group in Ghana say they will declare an independent state on Thursday if the national government fails to release some of its leaders arrested on Sunday.

The Homeland Study Group Foundation wants to form a new country called Western Togoland, comprising of parts of northern Ghana plus the Volta region.

The nine people arrested could be charged with treason and face the death penalty if found guilty.

BBC World Service

A lawyer for two men arrested over the killing of two UN investigators in the Democratic Republic of Congo says his clients have escaped from prison.

Trésor Kabangu named them as Evariste Ilunga Lumu and Tshiaba Kanowa, saying they broke out of prison in the city of Kabanga overnight.

They are accused of murdering the investigators, an American and a Swede, as they probed alleged atrocities committed during fighting between the army and a local militia in the central Kasai region two years ago.

A UN peacekeeping official, Florence Marchal, said the escape revealed flaws in the Congolese justice system that needed fixing.

Fourteen people are on trial for the deaths of the investigators.

Image source, MOD

A British soldier has died in Malawi during counter-poaching operations, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.

Mathew Talbot, 22, of the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, was on a patrol on 5 May when he was killed by an elephant.

His commanding officer, Lt Col Ed Launders, described Guardsman Talbot as "determined and big-hearted".

Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt said he served with "great courage and professionalism" and was carrying out "vital" counter-poaching work.

She added: "This tragic incident is a reminder of the danger our military faces as they protect some of the world's most endangered species from those who seek to profit from the criminal slaughter of wildlife."

• Read the full story here

Image source, Getty Images

Samuel Chukwueze faces a dilemma after being offered the chance to play for Nigeria at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations and Under-20 World Cup.

However his Spanish La Liga side Villarreal have told the 19-year-old that he cannot play in both.

The Under-20 World Cup ends in Poland on 15 June with the Nations Cup in Egypt starting six days later.

"It is a little dilemma that we must try to fix and hopefully there will be a good solution," Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr told BBC Sport.

• Read the full story here

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Heads of state from southern Africa are meeting on the final day of a summit designed to draw up a common policy on the management of elephants.

The meeting in Botswana will be attended by representatives from Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. All are countries in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, which is home to an estimated 200,000 elephants.

The government in Botswana has proposed lifting a ban on hunting.

It argues that international media coverage tends to ignore conflict between humans and elephants in rural areas.

More on this topic:

• Botswana mulls using elephants for pet food
• 'Uncomfortable realities of big game hunting'
• All about elephants

A number of soldiers remain stationed outside the house of Benin's former President Thomas Boni Yayi in Cotonou, reports the BBC's Rachida Yénoukunmè Houssou.

It comes days after deadly force was used against opposition protesters who had gathered close to his home.

Their anger had been sparked by the exclusion of all opposition parties from parliamentary elections on 28 April. Turnout was at a record low, at only 27%.

Analysts say recent events have ruined the country's democratic image.

• Read the full story here

Image source, AFP

Ethiopia's fugitive former spy chief and 25 other intelligence agents have been charged with human rights violations.

Getachew Asefa served as the head of the Ethiopia National Intelligence and Security Service until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed removed him from the post last year as part of wide-ranging reforms.

Mr Getachew along with four other defendants will be tried in absentia, AFP news agency reports.

Over the past year, high-level officials - including the attorney general and the Tigray regional president - have said that the former spy is "hiding" in his native Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, with attempts to find and arrest Mr Getachew proving unsuccessful.

However AFP news agency says there are reports that officials in the region have been shielding Mr Getachew, none of which are confirmed.

Fergal Keane
BBC Africa editor

Image source, Reuters

South Africans face a daily diet of revelations about outright theft of state resources and corrupt tendering by party and government officials. When President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived I was able to approach and ask him about corruption.

Our very brief exchange went as follows:

Q: Can you save this country from the crooks trying to destroy it?

A: Well the ANC is going to win this election and as we win the election we are going to proceed with a process of renewal.

For "renewal" read clearing out of the powerful forces which thrived under former President Jacob Zuma. They remain a threat and the president's triumph over them is by no means assured.

The party's list of candidates includes some of those under investigation for corruption.

And here is the paradox for voters. Received wisdom has it that the president needs a solid mandate in order to tackle corruption and defeat his internal enemies. But for some former ANC supporters, a vote for the ANC with Mr Ramaphosa at the helm is an endorsement of the party's corrupt legacy.

• Read the full article here

Civil rights groups in Kenya are mounting a legal challenge against the $60m (£46m) government initiative to collect the data of its citizens.

The project aims to store the fingerprints, personal data and ID numbers of the entire population of Kenya.

This includes family and biographical details and information about their education and land ownership.

Kenya's High Court is to make a decision about the project within the next few weeks.

Keren Weitzberg, an academic at the University of London who is researching ID cards and biometrics in Kenya, tells BBC Newsday "the lack of transparency and civic education raises a lot of concerns":

Ethiopian factory workers who make clothes are on average the industry's worst-paid in the world, according to a new report, external.

"The government’s eagerness to attract foreign investment led it to promote the lowest base wage in any garment-producing country - now set at the equivalent of $26 (£20) a month," researchers for the New York University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights found.

"On that amount... workers cannot afford decent housing, food or transportation."

Meanwhile Chinese garment workers earn $340 a month, according to AP news agency, and those in Kenya earn monthly pay of $207.

Research focused on the Hawassa Industrial Park which employs 25,000 workers.

H&M, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger are among the brands whose items are produced there.

The report authors recommend the introduction of a minimum wage and diversifying into higher-value clothing and other manufactured goods.

Correction 8 May 2019: We have removed an incorrect reference to Gap being one of the companies whose clothes are produced in the Hawassa Industrial Park

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Namibia's President Hage Geingob has declared a state of emergency to tackle the effects of a drought which has hit the southern African state.

All governments department have been mobilised to "protect" Namibians and their livestock, he said.

"The rain season is almost over and we did not receive good rainfall. This means that we are facing the natural disaster of drought and many will be affected by the situation," Mr Geingob added.