For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Shomolekae.

Making headlines: Police deployed as anti-migrant deadline looms; Ramaphosa urges African health sovereignty, self-reliance in wake of Ebola outbreak; And, Ethiopian prime minister's party gets another big parliamentary majority

Police deployed as anti-migrant deadline loom

South Africa will deploy more police this week to deter possible violence before a June 30 deadline set by xenophobic protest groups for foreigners to leave the country.

Vigilantes have in recent weeks carried out attacks on foreign nationals in several parts of the country, prompting Malawi, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zimbabwe to help more than 3 000 of their citizens to return home.

More protests by anti-immigrants groups are planned in KwaZulu-Natal today.

The demonstrations have stoked fears of a recurrence of violence in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July 2021 that followed the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma.

In addition to deploying officers to potential hotspots, police ministry officials will meet with provincial and city leaders, private security companies and community policing forums to ensure that “the political leadership and the leadership in civil society is prepared for any eventuality,” said Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia.

Ramaphosa urges African health sovereignty, self-reliance in wake of Ebola outbreak

President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted the critical need for African nations to establish self-reliance during health emergencies.

Stressing that health security is deeply tied to economic development, Ramaphosa believes Africa can no longer afford to be at the “back of the global queue” for vital medical supplies, as witnessed during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Writing in his weekly newsletter to the nation today, Ramaphosa urged the continent to build the capacity to protect itself before the next global crisis strikes.

He outlined a comprehensive strategy to fortify domestic health systems, emphasising that preparation cannot wait until an outbreak occurs.

He suggested the establishment of public health institutes in every African country and that every community health worker must be empowered with proper resources, alongside the deployment of early tracking systems to detect new diseases, and the manufacturing of local diagnostics, medicines, and vaccines.

He also urged for the strengthening of the African Medicines Agency to standardise regulation and the creation of centralised procurement systems to guarantee steady demand for local producers.

And, Ethiopian prime minister's party gets another big parliamentary majority

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party won another large parliamentary majority in this month's elections, results released by the national election board showed.

Abiy, whose party had been widely expected to dominate the elections against a fragmented opposition, was appointed in 2018 following mass protests against the long-ruling EPRDF coalition. He created the Prosperity Party the following year.

Abiy's party won 438 seats, roughly 90% of those for which results were announced at a ceremony broadcast on Facebook. It needed 274 to secure a majority.

Not all the lower house of parliament's 547 seats were up for grabs, as voting did not happen in the Tigray region and some parts of Amhara.

At the last elections in 2021 the Prosperity Party won a similar percentage of the available seats.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

Don’t forget to follow us on the X platform, at the handle @PolityZA