Africa in Focus with Advocate Sipho Mantula, Researcher: Thabo Mbeki African School of Public & International Affairs: Unisa

1 September 2026
September is Heritage Month, where South Africa recognises and celebrates the rich culture and traditions of our nation. 
Heritage Month is being commemorated this year under the theme “Reimagine our heritage institutions for a new era”. 

1. Niger: Russia 
Russian Military Helped Foil Coup in Niger 
In a viral video interview, Viktor Voropaïev, Russian ambassador to Niger, said the Nigerien government requested its assistance in quelling the mutiny, which lasted for hours between 28 and 29 August.
Russia says it helped the military regime in the Republic of Niger repel a coup.Viktor Voropaïev, Russian ambassador to Niger, said the Nigerien government requested its assistance in quelling the mutiny, which lasted for hours between 28 and 29 August.

2. Kenya: Rwanda
Rwandair Cancels Nairobi Flights Again Amid Air Traffic Control Issues
RwandAir has cancelled flights to and from Nairobi for a second consecutive day due to ongoing operational constraints affecting air traffic control services at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
"We continue to closely monitor and assess the situation in coordination with the relevant authorities," reads a statement issued by the airline on August 31.

3. The Gambia- Banjul
Controversy Regarding Ex-President Jammeh's Assets Still Looms
After a long lull, civil society is again calling for substantiation of the inquiry's results into former President Jammeh's assets. 
The haste with which the new government decided to begin an inquiry into the assets of former President Jammeh and the final seizure of 25-billion-dalasi worth of assets in cash and kind (excluding landed properties) left most Gambians wondering how the President accumulated so much wealth and what the government is going to do with the sum, which was far beyond what was calculated to pay reparations of victims.

4. In our historical archives, it was on this day, 1 September 1952, when Nakedi Mathews Phosa, former premier of Mpumalanga (1994-1999), Afrikaans poet and lawyer, was born in Mbombela, Nelspruit.