10 000 Arrested in Zimbabwe for Failure to Wear Face Masks

Over the past week, 10 000 people in Zimbabwe have been arrested for not wearing face masks in public. Meanwhile, another 16 000 were also arrested, for having flouted lockdown restrictions.

The BBC reports that most of the offenders were ordered to pay an admission of guilt fine.

A hard lockdown, aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus in the country, came into effect on January 5, after cases in Zimbabwe doubled last month following festive season gatherings and traffic from neighboring South Africa. South Africa is currently experiencing a harsh second wave of the virus.

At 38, the highest number of daily deaths from the virus was recorded on Wednesday, with more than 9000 people infected. In total, there have been more than 34 000 Covid-19 cases recorded and almost 600 deaths since March 2020, when the first virus case was detected in Zimbabwe.

According to the BBC, health services are under threat of being overwhelmed, and health care workers face a shortage of personal protective equipment.

Umm Muhammed Umar

Alternative Mining Indaba 2026

Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za 19 February 2026 1-minute read The Alternative Mining Indaba which concluded in Cape Town brought together an array of people under the theme: Alternative Stories of Mining, united in solidarity with the mining communities...

SANDF deployment to Cape Flats, parts of Gauteng sparks debate over long-term solutions

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 4-minute read 16 February 2026 President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to deploy the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to combat gang violence on the Cape Flats and in parts of Gauteng has been met with mixed reactions,...

ASRI Report: Key SONA 2026 Takeaways on Water, Crime and District Six

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 4-minute read 13 February 2026 President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) has placed renewed attention on some of South Africa’s most urgent crises — from water insecurity and violent crime, to the fragile...

SONA 2026: Calls for Action on Frontline Public Services

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 11 February 2026 As South Africa prepares for the 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA), renewed calls are being made for the government to prioritise the rebuilding of frontline public services, which analysts...

ActionSA’s Proposal For Immigrants

Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za 17 February 2026 2-minute read On the revised ‘White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection’ published last year, Actions SA has proposed for only 10 thousand applications for asylum seekers to be considered...

What DA Premier Expects From SONA

Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za 12 February 2026 2-minute read With 345 murders in the Western Cape this January, DA Premier Allen Winde states that his expectations from SONA this year are levelled towards crime. The party has been calling for a long time...