Andrew Stegmann

UK to stop funding Malawian charity amid ‘cult’ links

The UK government is to stop giving money to a charity in Malawi following a BBC investigation which found it was under the control of a cult-like group.

Dapp, which runs education and health projects in the African country, has received millions of pounds in the last decade from the UK, EU and Unicef.

It is connected to the Teachers Group, whose leaders are wanted by Interpol over fraud allegations.

British officials have suspended funding and launched an investigation.

The move follows an investigation by the BBC and its US partners into Dapp Malawi, the Malawian branch of charity Development Aid from People to People.

Dapp is one of the major NGOs active in Malawi, providing a range of aid projects from farming to health and education.

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Andrew Stegmann

South Africa: Home Affairs On Police Rescue of Malawian Children From Human Trafficking

The Department of Home Affairs has welcomed the arrest of three people in Rustenburg, North West, on charges of human trafficking following the rescue of 57 Malawian children and young adults by police officers, over the weekend.

The vigilance of the South African Police Services in this regard is commendable. It goes to show why the department has all along raised alarm about this heinous crime calling on all to support government’s efforts to combat it, for the sake of the vulnerable, especially children, who are likely to fall victim to unscrupulous people.

The documentation of children may be perceived by some as unimportant and inconvenient however it plays a critical part in giving children identity and the rights that come with it. Those who are privy to the modus operandi in modern slavery and human trafficking know that documentation, or lack thereof, is where exploitation begins.

Birth certificates that share with officials the legal guardianship of a child should not be undermined. They play a critical role in eliminating possibilities for our ports of entry to be negligent or implicit in child trafficking.

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Andrew Stegmann

Home affairs will provide temporary IDs for disaster-hit voters – Gigaba

Cape Town – Home affairs will issue temporary identity certificates for free to those who lost their documents during recent severe weather around the country, Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Thursday.

Many victims of the flooding, fires, storms and tornadoes were anxious that they would not be able to vote in the municipal elections next week.

“We are and will continue to do all in our power to assist them in whatever way possible for them to return to their normal lives,” he told journalists in Cape Town.

Home affairs would set up mobile units in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape this weekend.

Community development workers, employed by municipalities, were compiling lists of those affected. These lists would be passed on to regional home affairs branches.

Gigaba said it was difficult to determine how many had lost their documents at this stage.

He visited Masiphumelele in Cape Town on Thursday morning to see the houses that had been flooded.

In the Western Cape, almost 10 000 people had been affected by flooding in Langa and Phillipi, and three homes and at least 55 people were displaced in Gugulethu because of a fire, he said.

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Andrew Stegmann

Chinese investment in A&K brings in capital for expansion

It remains ‘business as usual’ throughout Abercrombie & Kent’s global network following the announcement last Friday that the Chinese Zhonghong Group would purchase a majority of the equity interests in A&K from its current owners, including a company owned by investment funds managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC (a US-based global investment manager).

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

Zhonghong is principally engaged in the development and operation of tourism-related properties and commercial real estate in China.

A&K Director, Media Relations, Pamela Lassers, told Tourism Update that A&K would retain its distinctive brand, culture and management independence under Geoffrey Kent’s leadership as Chairman and CEO.

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