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

Making headlines: Phala Phala impeachment committee to meet on Monday; DA makes history with breakthrough by-election victory in ANC stronghold; And, US puts its focus on keeping Ebola cases out of the country

Phala Phala impeachment committee to meet on Monday

South Africa's parliament has scheduled for Monday a meeting of an impeachment committee that will further probe allegations surrounding President Cyril Ramaphosa's "Farmgate" scandal, the Democratic Alliance party said today.

The meeting is the next stage in the impeachment process against Ramaphosa that was revived by the constitutional court earlier this month.

Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing over the scandal, in which bundles of cash were stolen from a sofa on his farm in 2020. An independent panel found preliminary evidence he committed misconduct in 2022, but Ramaphosa's party the African National Congress blocked the impeachment process through a parliamentary vote that year.

This month the constitutional court declared that vote invalid, effectively reviving the process.

On Tuesday, Ramaphosa filed court papers arguing the panel's findings against him were flawed and should be set aside. He threatened to seek an urgent court order to halt impeachment proceedings if parliament moves ahead with the process while his legal challenge is pending.

DA makes history with breakthrough by-election victory in ANC stronghold

The DA has secured a historic breakthrough in Gauteng by winning a crucial by-election in Emfuleni’s Ward 28.

This victory in a traditional ANC stronghold signals a major political shift.

This outcome marks the DA's first-ever victory in a township ward. DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga highlighted the significance of the win, stating it proved the DA was growing in every community.

In yesterday’s by-election, the DA won the former ANC stronghold with 32.36% of the vote, growing from just 14.21% in 2021 and 19.31% in 2024.

The ward seat became vacant after former ANC ward councillor Cedric Davids was expelled from the party for alleged misconduct.

And, US puts its focus on keeping Ebola cases out of the country

The United States said it must prevent any cases of Ebola from entering the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where an outbreak has already caused a suspected 220 deaths and 900 cases.

The World Health ​Organization has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo ​strain of ⁠Ebola the third-largest such outbreak on record, and a public health emergency of international concern.

The Trump administration's response, which it says aims to contain Ebola to the outbreak region, is a departure from the 2014 Ebola outbreak when the US treated patients in some of its 13 specialised infectious disease centers.

The US is in talks with Kenya over opening a facility there to quarantine US citizens who are exposed, two US officials said. Kenya's government has not yet approved the plan.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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