UN human rights experts* have expressed grave concerns about continuous encroachment on traditional Maasai lands and housing, accompanied by a lack of transparency in, and consultation with the Maasai Indigenous Peoples, during decision making and planning. This trend most recently culminated in security forces’ violence against the Maasai Indigenous Peoples who were protecting their ancestral land in the Loliondo Division of Ngorongoro District, in northern Tanzania.

In photos: Cape of floods

City residents battle cold and rain as a heavy storm hits Cape Town

The Kuilsriver gushes along Covid informal settlement in Mfuleni, Cape Town, flooding the bordering houses. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

So little money has been allocated to cleaning up the legacy of the South African mining industry that it will take another 70 years to clean up just a fraction of the country’s more than 6,000 abandoned mines.

There are roughly 6,100 “derelict or ownerless” mines scattered across South Africa, many of which can expose people and the environment to significant harm due to pollution of the air, water and soil.

Amisse Assane has been a fisherman in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, for 25 years, but the rich waters that used to give him an income are now closed off by the security forces because of the armed insurgency in the region.

“It was once possible to make 10,000 meticais [€146.00] a day, but not any more,” says Assne in Kimuâni, one of the local languages.