For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: South Africa summons US ambassador again over 'undiplomatic conduct'; Parties criticise Ramaphosa’s ‘delayed response’ to Ekurhuleni femicide crisis; And, Burundi to take third-country deportees from US

South Africa summons US ambassador again over 'undiplomatic conduct

South Africa's foreign affairs ministry called in US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III yesterday for a third time over what it described as "undiplomatic conduct," a senior government official said, but did not elaborate on what the conduct was.

This is the third demarche since Bozell started his duties nine months ago, a senior official at South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation said.

A demarche is a formal diplomatic protest from one government to another.

Relations between the two countries have been strained by US President Donald Trump's repeated false claims that white South Africans face systemic persecution.

White South Africans are, on average, wealthier and more likely to be employed than Black South Africans. The government policies criticised by Trump are intended to address inequalities that persist from the apartheid era.

Bozell, a conservative activist and writer who arrived in Pretoria as Trump's envoy in February, was first called in within weeks of taking up the post over remarks that DIRCO said undermined South Africa's judiciary and historical context.

Parties criticise Ramaphosa’s ‘delayed response’ to Ekurhuleni femicide crisis

Opposition parties and civil rights organisations have criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa's recent national address on gender-based violence and femicide, calling his proposed measures “belated, repetitive, and detached” from the realities faced by women.

The backlash follows intense public outrage surrounding the brutal murders of at least 11 women in Ekurhuleni over recent months.

Acknowledging that gender-based violence and femicide remains a severe national crisis, Ramaphosa admitted that despite existing programmes, the State frequently fails women.

He emphasised that protection orders must not become “mere pieces of paper” and that forensic evidence must not sit unprocessed.

DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis stated that Ramaphosa has been announcing emergency responses to gender-based violence and femicide since 2019 without producing meaningful change.

Hill-Lewis pointed out that despite an Emergency Response Action Plan, a National Strategic Plan, multi-billion-rand funding commitments, and classifying gender-based violence and femicide as a national disaster last year, a massive gap remains between State rhetoric and the lived experiences of women.

ActionSA president Herman Mashaba mirrored these sentiments, describing the President's address as a delayed attempt to manage the consequences of a hollowed-out criminal justice system.

The EFF rejected the premise of the President's address entirely, describing it as a reactive intervention prompted only by public pressure rather than proactive governance.

And, Burundi to take third-country deportees from US

Burundi has agreed to join a clutch of other African nations in receiving migrants from other countries deported from the US under President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policy.

However, Bujumbura will only accept those not accused of crime or terrorism links, said Presidential spokesperson Nancy Ninette Mutoni.

The announcement gave no details of numbers, timing, or financial details.

Washington has sent so-called third-country deportees to some half a dozen African nations under opaque deals that Senate Democrats say have cost tens of millions ​of dollars.

In many cases, deportees had secured legal protections from immigration courts in the US against repatriation. ​But rights groups say the third-country deals allow the US to circumvent those protections.

Mutoni said preparations were underway to arrange accommodation, living conditions and integration into local communities.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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