“NO ELECTRICITY, NO VOTE,” SOUTH AFRICANS THREATEN TO SHUN RULING PARTY ANC. (PHOTO)

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 “No electricity, no vote,” South Africans threaten to shun ruling party ANC Residents in Katlehong, a township outside Johannesburg, have resolved to boycott South Africa's upcoming local elections on November 4 due to long-standing failures by authorities to provide basic services like electricity. For over 20 years, around 180 households in the community have relied on illegal electrical connections pulled from neighboring areas to power their homes. Angry over the lack of formal grid infrastructure, residents are directing their frustration at the ruling African National Congress (ANC). "We have made a collective decision: no electricity, no vote," said community leader Lesiba Rankapole, 59. "We know it is illegal, but we had no choice because we cannot live without electricity. Our children cannot progress without electricity." "I was born ANC, but today I do not want anyone to tell me about the ANC because I am suffering," added 57-year-old resid...

ZIMBABWE BANS EXPORTS OF ALL RAW MINERALS AND LITHIUM CONCENTRATE. (PHOTO).


 Zimbabwe bans exports of all raw minerals and lithium concentrate


Zimbabwe has frozen exports of raw minerals and lithium concentrate, the mines ministry said on Wednesday, tightening control over materials key to clean‑energy technologies and defence industries.


The ban takes immediate effect, covers all raw minerals already in transit and will remain in place until further notice, the ministry said.


"Government expects cooperation of the mining industry on this measure which has been taken in the national interest," Minister of Mines Polite Kambamura said in a statement.


Securing access to rare earths and other strategic minerals has become a global priority, given their role in smartphones, green energy systems, military equipment and many other goods.


This has prompted many producing nations to tighten controls and plug leaks in their supply chains.


Zimbabwe "will be engaging the industry in the near future on new expectations and way forward," said Kambamura, AFP reported.


‘Value addition’


"Government remains committed to ensuring transparency, in-country value addition and beneficiation, compliance, and accountability in the exportation of Zimbabwe's mineral resources."


The export ban on lithium concentrates had originally been scheduled to start in January 2027, a deadline the government hoped would push mining companies to begin processing and refining the mineral locally.


The southern African nation holds the continent's largest lithium reserves and ships much of its production to China for further processing into battery‑grade materials.


Mining is Zimbabwe's second‑largest contributor to the country's GDP, accounting for 14.3 percent of output after manufacturing, according to World Bank data.

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