South Africa virginity tests condemned

A South African government minister has slammed as "illegal" a new scholarship scheme for female students who pass virginity tests. 

Last month, the uThukela municipality in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province said it would award scholarships to 16 female university students on conditions they remained virgins. 

The scheme was intended to "reduce HIV, Aids and unwanted pregnancy" among young girls, said mayor Dudu Mazibuko. 

In a colum in today's Daily Maverick, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini described virginity testing as "ineffective, unhygienic and a gross violation of a girls' human rights". 

"Many first sexual encounters are unwanted... Despite this there is a huge stigma attached to girls who 'fail' the virginity testing," she said, calling the grant scheme akin to a "sexual offense".

Ms Dlamini, who is also the head of the governing African National Congress' women's league, is the most senior government official to denounce the scheme. 

President Zuma's Nkandla home has grown

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has agreed to repay some of the $23m the government controversially spent on upgrading his private residence - including building an ampitheatre, swimming pool, and cattle enclosure. 

Mr Zuma's decision came a week before South Africa's highest court, the Constitutional Court, hears a case brought by opposition parties to demand that he repays the money.

In papers filed in court, Mr Zuma said the auditor-general and finance minister should determine how much he should repay in order to "achieve an end to the drawn-out dispute". 

In 2014, South Africa's  Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said the president had "benefited unduly" from some of the upgrades, and he should repay the government for money spent on non-security features. 

The total cost of the security upgrades was estimated to be around $14m. 

Savimbi's family sues Call of Duty makers

The son of killed Angolan rebel chief Jonas Savimbi has urged a French court to punish the makers of the video game "Call of Duty" for representing his father as a "barbarian", reports AFP news agency.

Cheya Savimbi told the court that he wanted to "rehabilitate the memory and image" of his father.

Three of Mr Savimbi's children are seeking €1m in damages. 

The game's makers, Activision, said the depiction was "rather favourable".

Savimbi founded the Unita movement, waging a 27-year civil war with the Angolan government.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 shows him rallying his troops with phrases like "death to the MPLA", referring to the party that has governed Angola since independence from Portugal in 1975.

But his family said they are outraged at the depiction.

"Seeing him kill people, cutting someone's arm off... that isn't Dad," said Cheya Savimbi.

Nigeria economists doubt $2tn claim

Leading Nigerian economists have questioned reports that more than $2tn had been stolen from the treasury and had been recovered. 

Local media quoted Justice Minister Abubakar Malami as saying that the money was recovered by the anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in the last 12 years.

But Nigeria's former deputy central bank governor Obadiah Mailafia told me that even though a lot of money had been looted, the $2tn figure seemed to be an exaggeration. 

"Look at our budget, the highest amount budgeted in our history was $31bn, I don't think it is true," he added. 

Another leading Nigerian economist Bismarck Rewani told the BBC that the $12tn figure was impossible to believe it was more than the entire Nigerian budget for that time.

Eight Nigerian athletes banned for doping

Eight Nigerian athletes have been banned from competition for doping. 

Four of them won gold at last year's African Games in Congo's capital, Brazzaville. 

The eight are:

• Long jumpers Chinazom Amadi and Samson Idiata 
• Weightlifter Elisabeth Onua  
• Wrestlers Patience Opuene and Ebi James Igbadiwei 
• Sprinter Deborah Odeyemi  
• Para-athletes Sunday Ezeh and Thomas Kure 

They have all been banned for four years, except for Onua who has been given an eight-year suspension for multiple doping violations.

Nigeria general accused of atrocities 'reinstated'

The Nigerian government's decision to reinstate a senior general implicated in mass murder makes a "mockery" of its commitment to end war crimes, and underlines its "monumental failure" to stamp out impunity, rights group Amnesty International has said in a statement.
Major General Ahmadu Mohammed was in command of operations when the military executed more than 640 detainees following an attack by militant Islamist group Boko Haram attack on a detention centre at a military barracks in March 2014, Amnesty says.
He was retired for unrelated reasons, but was reinstated earlier this month despite a promise by President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the allegations against him and other senior officers, it added.
"Young men and boys, rounded up by the military, were either shot, starved, suffocated or tortured to death and no one has yet been held to account. It is unthinkable that Major General Muhammed could resume command of troops before an investigation has even begun,” Amnesty said.
Nigeria's government has not yet commented on Amnesty's statement.

Nigeria in talks with World Bank over cash crisis

Nigeria is holding exploratory talks with the World Bank help it fund a forecast $11bn budget deficit.
The Nigerian economy has been hit hard by the collapse in oil prices and the World Bank says it's been asked for $2.5bn, with a further $1bn reportedly sought from the African Development Bank.
"We have held exploratory talks with the World Bank. We have not applied for emergency loans," Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun told Reuters news agency.
The new government of President Muhammadu Buhari had been planning to run a budget deficit to try to stimulate the country's economy, but the gap between revenue and expenditure has been growing and it's now being forced to seek help, correspondents say.