Quotes

'The road ahead might be daunting, but we shall not be weary.'

– Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy, who was sworn in for a new five-year term Monday. The milestone risks being undermined by growing alarm over the war in the north.

‘I am not inclined to give any postponement until next year. That is unacceptable. What I am trying to alert or revive is that we are not only dealing with the niceties of the law. We are dealing with the essence of the survival of the rule of law, if these people can be kept in custody for that long. So, for that reason, I was not going to entertain any application for this matter to be postponed to next year. It's preposterous to make such an order.’

– Justice Ramarumo Monama, who is presiding over the case against terrorism-accused twin brothers Tony-Lee and Brandon-Lee Thulsie in SA. He has slammed the state and defence over delays in the matter. The brothers have spent five years behind bars awaiting trial. Prosecutor Advocate Adele Barnard last week told the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) that the defence had requested a postponement to March 2022.

‘We never stopped making the bronzes even after those ones were stolen. I think we make them even better now’.

– Osarobo Zeickner-Okoro, a founding member of a guild of artists from Nigeria's Benin City has offered to donate artworks to the British Museum in London as a way to encourage it to return the priceless Benin Bronzes that were looted from the city's royal court by British troops in 1897.

‘He has served the nation well, and I think as much as we want to be gung-ho and send him to the gallows, we do need to also recognise some of the things that he has done. Minister Mkhize has served the nation well.’

– President Cyril Ramaphosa, who defended former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, saying the fact that he was implicated in the damning Digital Vibes corruption scandal did not take away the contribution he made in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic

‘We used to drink very strong whiskey. We were restless and we would hurt people. But with bombe, it calms you down. When you're done, you go home without bothering anyone.’

– Cedrick, a 26-year-old gang leader, on a drug derived from crushed vehicle exhaust filters has Kinshasa’s authorities concerned

‘We don't want to continue to be the subject of our colonial masters. The ANC government must also put the UK on the red list because it has been red from colonial times. They put you on the red list, you put them on the red list. They want visas from you, you want visas from them. We are equals. This thing that we are treated as a colonial subject is wrong and we must not allow it.’

– Opposition politician Julius Malema on reports that travellers from SA and those who have travelled through the country are still required to undergo quarantine at their own cost before they're allowed entry to the UK