Nobuhle Simelane
BBC News, Johannesburg

South Africa's foreign affairs minister has spoken to Hamas's leader in order to "discuss getting humanitarian aid to Palestine", her office said.

After militant group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel last weekend, the Israeli army has laid siege to Gaza, the densely populated Palestinian area where Hamas is based.

Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor on Tuesday confirmed she had a call with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, on behalf of the South African government.

Hamas, rather than South Africa, had initiated the talks, the office said.

"During the call, and in line with the government's position, Minister Pandor reiterated South Africa’s solidarity and support for the people of Palestine and expressed sadness and regret for the loss of innocent lives both Palestinians and Israelis," the statement said.

"Minister Pandor and the Hamas leader discussed how to get the necessary humanitarian aid to Gaza and other parts of the Palestinian territories."

The minister’s office denied reports by a local media house that stated she expressed support for the Hamas attack on Israel.

South Africa is one of the few countries to publically confirm it has had talks with Hamas since the war began last weekend.

BBC Newsday
World Service radio

Drilling has started in two oil sites in Uganda with the hopes of producing 230,000 barrels a day, Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa has told BBC Newsday.

As the world tries to wean itself off fossil fuels because of the damage they cause to the climate, Ms Nankabirwa said their impact must be mitigated by laws and investments.

Nigerian music star Rema's song Calm Down falls off the Billboard Hot 100 chart after 57 weeks.

Image source, Getty Images

"This is my political home now," says South Africa's ousted public protector after joining the Economic Freedom Fighters party (EFF).

Busisiwe Mkhwebane donned the group's trademark red beret, external as she told a press conference on Tuesday that she had joined up because "our people are landless, and EFF are saying they expropriate the land without compensation".

"I believe that the state should be the owners - we should be owning the banks, insurance companies. The health system is not benefitting the poor and the marginalised. Education should be free," she continued.

Her announcement comes less than a month after parliament found her to be incompetent and guilty of misconduct.

She told reporters that she had never been a member of the governing African National Congress (ANC), and that after her sacking she had been courted by several political parties wanting to sign her up.

More on this topic:

• Busisiwe Mkhwebane's path to public protector
• Who is EFF leader Julius Malema?

BBC Newsday
World Service radio

Zimbabwe is losing an estimated 300 teachers a month as they seek better conditions abroad, says their biggest union.

Sifiso Ndlovu, the CEO of the Zimbabwe Teachers' Association, says the main reason for the exodus is the poor pay teachers get compared to other countries in southern Africa.

He told BBC Newsday that a salary rise would be challenging in the current economic context, but Zimbabwe must do all it can to attract and retain talent:

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir says he will host representatives of Sudanese political leaders in the capital, Juba, in a bid to end the brutal six-month conflict.

A statement from Mr Kiir’s press unit says the meeting will take place next week, but it does not mention who will attend.

Mr Kiir appealed to the military and political leaders in Sudan "to end the ongoing conflict through peaceful dialogue".

He spoke on Monday evening after a briefing from the deputy chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council, Malik Agar Eyre, on the latest development in Sudan.

South Sudan president's national security adviser, Tut Gatluak Manime, says Sudan's leaders will review the Juba Peace Agreement - signed in 2020 between then transitional government and rebel factions - while seeking a way to resolve the current crisis.

The Sudanese army has been fighting its former allies, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), since April.

Thousands have been killed and more than five million people displaced, according to a UN estimate. On Sunday the conflict marked six months.

Analysts believe Mr Kiir is in a better position to mediate between Sudanese rivals.

In June, the East African regional bloc Igad appointed Kenyan President William Ruto to lead the quartet mediation team to resolve Sudan’s conflict.

The Sudanese army rejected the Kenyan-led initiative, accusing Mr Ruto of maintaining strategic relations with the RSF, an allegation Kenya denied.

The convicted men dug up a body for a ritual that they believed would make them rich.

Emery Makumeno
BBC News, Kinshasa

Image source, Reuters

Forty-seven bodies have been recovered from the Congo River as search and rescue efforts continue following the weekend boat disaster, a minister has said.

Marc Ekila, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s transport minister, said the boat accident was caused by overloading and sailing at night, which are prohibited by regulations.

He was speaking for the first time in a televised press conference on Monday night, two days after the deadly incident in which a boat capsized.

It had just departed from the western city of Mbandaka moving further west deep into the DR Congo’s rainforest region when the incident happened.

Mr Ekila said an investigation was under way and those responsible for the capsizing would be held to account.

Currently, the owner of the boat - who was not on the boat at the time it capsized - and the captain are believed to be at large.

The passenger manifest was not found, making it impossible at this stage to know how many were on board and how many are still missing.

According to the minister, this year alone has seen 88 incidents on DR Congo's waters.

Read more on this story:

• DR Congo boat accident: At least 40 dead, 167 missing in Mbandaka

Image source, AFP

Guinean security forces have arrested a dozen journalists who were demonstrating against alleged media censorship in the country, local media report.

Among those arrested in Monday's protests was the secretary-general of the Union of Professionals of the Press of Guinea (SPPG), Sekou Jamal Pendessa, local media said.

The union had called a march in the capital, Conakry, to demand that the authorities lift restrictions placed on a popular news website, Guineematin and to protest against other violations of press freedom.

Guineematin has reportedly been blocked in Guinea for the last two months.

Guinea’s ruling junta, which has banned protests since 2022, has not provided any explanation for the blockage.

“The mixed police and gendarmerie forces gassed us," Abdouramane Diallo, an SPPG official, told AFP.

He said that one journalist was slightly injured during the protests.

The journalists were brought to a court after being accused of taking part in an illegal assembly.

Image source, Getty Images

Ghana has deployed its navy and other teams to rescue thousands of people affected by the spillage of excess water from some of the major dams amid heavy rains.

More than 8,000 people have been rescued in the Volta region after heavy flooding caused by the overflow of Akosombo and Kpong hydro-electric dams.

A navy official told local media that they had “evacuated over 8,000 flood-stricken people to safe havens”.

Commodore EA Kwafo said they were also responding to distress calls as well as keeping watch on critical infrastructure.

He said they had taken “more boats downstream and experienced divers and lifesavers to assist in the rescue efforts” and more resources would be made available depending on the situation.

The "controlled spillage" of the dams began about a month ago and is still ongoing, the Volta River Authority said.

It says the flooding has created a humanitarian challenge downstream in several communities in parts of the Volta, Eastern and Greater Accra regions.

At least 12,000 people are reported to have been displaced by the floods so far.

CCTV footage appears to show the moment an airstrike hits the Rafah crossing area between Gaza and Egypt.

Image source, Getty Images

A Somali TV journalist was on Monday killed in a suicide bombing at a restaurant in the capital, Mogadishu, police have said.

Abdifatah Moalim Nur, alias Qeys, who worked for Somali Cable Television, died in the explosion at Blue Sky restaurant near the presidential palace and national museum.

In a statement, police said four other people were injured when a bomber blew himself up in front of the restaurant.

Information Minister Daud Aweis condemned the "cowardly terrorist suicide attack".

Qeys, a staunch advocate of press freedom, faced threats, the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), a local media watchdog, said.

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) also condemned the "senseless and brutal" killing of the journalist.

The al-Shabab militant group said it carried out the attack.

Our proverb of the day:

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Apartheid may now be long buried politically but in and around South Africa’s main cities it has left a visible legacy. Those entrenched historical problems could be about to get worse as cities like Johannesburg and Cape Town continue to grow rapidly, as a result of both migration and the natural population growth. Persistent power cuts and creaking infrastructure are major challenges to the ever-quickening pace of urbanisation. Can an ambitious new plan for Stellenbosch, the place where apartheid was reportedly conceived, help to break down the post-apartheid legacy of urban planning?

Palestinians with dual citizenship have headed to the border ahead of Israel's expected ground operation.

Algeria says it has agreed to the Palestinian Football Association's request to host its team's forthcoming international football matches because of the ongoing war between Gaza and Israel.

Legal action by Nairobi-based workers who filtered out graphic Facebook posts will continue.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team - we'll be back on Monday morning.

Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our Focus on Africa podcast for stories behind the news.

A reminder of Monday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of South Africa's Damian Willemse with fans after his team stunned France in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final last night.

Image source, PA

Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromoo

A freedom fighter, a hero, a pioneering woman - these are some of the tributes coming in for Ethiopian musician Hallo Dawwe, whose body was laid to rest on Monday in Adama town.

She was especially popular among Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, the Oromo, who have long complained about cultural marginalisation at the hands of the state.

Therefore, music was used as a tool for empowerement by musicians.

Artist Saliha Sami called Hallo ''my model''.

''I love her confidence. She defies a lot of pressures. I follow her character,'' Saliha told the BBC.

Hallo sang for more than four decades and recorded a total of 23 cassette albums, which makes her one of the most prolific musicians of her time.

However, she spent the last 10 years on bed rest because of a long-term illness.

"The people who I suffered to promote their language, culture and history have abandoned me,'' she complained in a recent interview with the BBC.

Hundreds showed up to her burial to pay their respects.

Image source, Masiri Images

Up-and-coming Zimbabwean musician Ashta Eez has told the BBC how being one of the very few African perfomers in Poland has been great for her career.

Eez inititially found it difficult to break into the music industry in her native Zimbabwe.

"What was very hard for me was dealing with prejudice because most underground producers don’t take women seriously," she told DJ Edu, host of the BBC's This Is Africa show.

She eventually managed to gain traction by posting videos of herself dancing on social media.

Her single Ayeye held the top spot on Zimbabwean station Star FM's music chart for five weeks.

After being chosen as a support act for popular Zimbabwean musicians like Freeman HKD and Amara Brown, Eez left the country to study in Poland.

The move was one of the best things to happen to her career, she said. As one of the few African artists in the eastern European country, she has been receiving lots of offers to open for superstars from the continent when they perform in Poland.

These include Nigerian hitmaker Omah Lay and Eswatini's ampaniano darling Uncle Waffles.

On supporting these two musicians, Eez said: “I felt a lot of emotions, I was nervous and excited at the same time.”

You can hear the interview with Ashta Eez on This Is Africa on BBC World Service

Read more:

• Afrobeats’ Omah Lay: I try to put a smile on people’s faces, external
• Somalia's violin novice to TV orchestra triumph in four years