The ban will be in place until at least February, the country's presidency said in a statement on Wednesday. "No request for outbound travel by ministers, deputy ministers and other political office bearers will be considered until after the end of February," the statement said.

Cuba has announced that it's expanding its programme of sending doctors to Algeria.

The country will receive in return new crude oil shipments which will compensate for the reduction of subsidised oil supplies from Venezuela.

Pressure is piling on President Jacob Zuma as opposition parties approach Parliament, with the Democratic Alliance seeking to postpone the State of the Nation Address and the Economic Freedom Fighters calling for a motion of no confidence in his leadership to be debated on the day that he is meant to deliver his speech.

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has named High Court Judge Priscilla Chigumba as head of the election agency, according to an official letter, ahead of a vote this year whose credibility will be key in rebuilding the nation’s foreign relations, according to Reuters. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has not had a permanent chair since Rita Makarau resigned in December.

Police in South Africa's drought-hit city of Cape Town have made an arrest after a fight broke out at a natural spring where residents were collecting water, news agency AFP reports.

City authorities say tension has been building at a spring in Newlands, south-east of the city centre.

Capetonians will be expected to abide by a 50 litre-a-day from tomorrow to avert the so-called Day Zero which would see taps shut off in residential areas.

Kenya's Raila Odinga, the main opposition candidate in the disputed election leader, has declared himself the "people's president" at a controversial "swearing-in" ceremony in the capital.

Thousands of his supporters attended the event, despite a government warning that it amounted to treason.

The authorities shut down TV stations to prevent live coverage of the event.