Johannesburg’s 11th mayor in 10 years has been sworn in. On 16 August, the ANC’s Dada Morero replaced Al Jama-ah’s Kabelo Gwamanda, who was installed as mayor last year after his party colleague Thapelo Amad resigned after just four months as leader of South Africa’s biggest metro.

The Al Jama-ah mayors were put in place with the support of an ANC-EFF coalition that removed the DA’s Mpho Phalatse in January 2023.

When he announced his cabinet on 30 June, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that although he had hoped to reduce the number of portfolios it had not been possible as he wanted to include ‘all the parties’ in the Government of National Unity.

To do this, he has added new portfolios and new posts. The new government of 75 ministers and their deputies is the biggest since 2014, but only by three. There are now 11 parties represented in the newly formed coalition government.

At the end of 2023 there were 31.6-million refugees around the world, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). About 8.9-million had fled their homes in African countries, 6 in particular: Sudan, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea. Most of them were hosted in neighbouring countries.

Just over 8-million refugees were hosted by African countries. More than half were in just 4 countries: Uganda, Chad, Ethiopia and Sudan. But the conflict in Sudan, which broke out in April 2023, forced 1.2-million to flee, the UNHCR estimates. Most of them went to Chad and the Central African Republic.

Fighting in eastern DRC and insecurity and flash floods in Somalia displaced more than a million people, many fled to Kenya and Ethiopia.

The UNHCR says 75% of refugees are hosted in low- and middle-income countries. But more than half of the people who are forcibly displaced remain in their home countries.