Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene in the dispute between Ethiopia and Egypt about the building of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

The 2019 Nobel Peace recipient said at a press conference at the end of his three-day official visit to South Africa on Sunday that Ethiopia believed in a win-win approach to resolve this issue.

“I made this request to President Ramaphosa as he is a good friend of both Ethiopia and Egypt, and as an incoming chair of the African Union [for 2020] he can make this discussion with both parties to resolve the issue peacefully,” he said.

Abiy stressed that peace was necessary for economic development.

Ramaphosa, who extended a warm welcome to Abiy and who invited him to attend the ANC’s 108th birthday celebrations in Kimberley on Saturday, said he was willing to help craft an agreement.

“I had a discussion with [Egyptian] President [Abdel Fattah] el-Sisi and he said they are willing to have discussions with Ethiopia, and the same has been pronounced by Prime Minister Abiy, and I believe a solution is possible,” he said. 

Efforts in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa this week to resolve the long-running dispute between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan over the giant hydropower dam on the Nile, resulted in a deadlock. But a deadline of Wednesday (January 15) has been agreed with Washington, which has acted as a mediator in the dispute. 

Disagreement about the filling and the operation of the $4 billion dam has sparked a diplomatic crisis between Egypt and Ethiopia, as Cairo fears that the dam would deprive its more than 100 million population of the Nile waters, on which they are dependent.

Ramaphosa and Abiy also spoke about the AU’s 2020 theme of silencing the guns.

South Africa’s chairing of the AU coincides with its third non-permanent two-year membership of the United Nations Security Council.

Ramaphosa said a peaceful and stable environment was important for development and he congratulated Abiy on the peace he brokered between his country and neighbouring Eritrea after his appointment in 2018.

A diplomat told News24 that escalating troubles in the continent meant the deadline of silencing the guns in Africa in 2020 would not be met, but would have to be deferred by a decade.

Abiy, in turn, invited South African businesses to invest in his country, which has in recent years had an economic growth rate of more than 7%.

Just like Ethiopians had come to South Africa and invest here, Abiy said South Africans should “come and invest in Ethiopia, and come and make it their home as well”. 

He said his administration wanted to open his country – which was previously closed to foreign investors – for business.

“We look to the private sector to come and help create prosperity for the mutual benefit for both sides.”

He referred specifically to telecoms, energy and logistics as industries where South Africans have expertise.

In response to a question about whether Ethiopia was ready, from a logistics and peace and security view, to hold elections, Abiy admitted there were problems, but said: “we need to go to elections to confront [those] challenges”.

Abiy was also asked to comment on United States President Donald Trump’s remarks that he should have shared the Nobel Prize with Abiy because he helped create peace in the region.

Abiy said he wasn’t aware of the criteria the Nobel Committee used to select recipients for the prize.

“I’m not working for the prize,” he said, but added, “if President Trump [has complaints] it must go to Oslo and not Ethiopia”.

Abiy later rushed to Johannesburg where he addressed a crowd of a few hundred Ethiopian expatriates in the Wanderers Stadium and urged them to work for peace in their home country in the same way Nelson Mandela worked for peace in South Africa.

Police are searching for two people who shot and killed a patient at a Durban hospital, as the health department re-evaluates its security measures.

The armed men entered the Clairwood Hospital in Mobeni around 18:30 on Friday, said police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala.

“[They] fatally shot a 47-year-old patient. He sustained a gunshot wound to the head.”

According to KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, the “execution-style fatal shooting” happened in the male surgical ward.

The patient, a foreign national, was being treated for previous gunshot wounds, she said in a statement.

The patient had been transferred from King Edward VIII Hospital to Clairwood on December 23 for wound care and rehabilitation.

“It is alleged that… two unknown armed men stormed past hospital security guards, and proceeded to locate the man in his bed, and shot him in the head at point blank range, in full view of other patients and hospital staff. The suspects also forced their way out of the hospital by pointing guns at the hospital security guards,” said Simelane-Zulu.

It is alleged that after the shooting, the suspects walked back to their vehicle and drove off. When they got to the main hospital gate, which had been closed by hospital security guards, they threatened to shoot the guards and forced the gate open before fleeing.

“Although it is not always possible to predict an incident of this nature, which appears well-planned, the fact that these perpetrators were able to escape without getting apprehended by security or law enforcement does call into question our preparedness as a department to react effectively to such acts,” said Simelane-Zulu.

“It means that our system is not as effective as we would have liked to think. Notwithstanding the fact that these people were armed, and that they also threatened our security guards, we should have had a system in place that ought to have made it difficult for them to get away.

She said they would urgently have to re-look at their security protocols and make improvements as far as possible, within their limited financial means.

No arrests have been made as yet, and police are investigating a case of murder.

“We had no idea that the child could not walk,” the owner of a Mitchells Plain superette who refused access to disabled Connor Haskin in April last year has told the Equality Court.

Shop owner Salauddin Khan is accused of denying Connor and his mother Liezel access to his store. Connor has Down Syndrome and some developmental delays associated with West Syndrome. He requires constant care and uses a wheelchair, GroundUp reported.

Khan said in court papers in a later visit to the Haskin house he “noticed the child [Connor] being able to walk”. He included in his papers photographs of Connor taken from Haskin’s social media account showing him standing with his knees bent.

But Liezel Haskin has hit back in court papers filed on December 20.

She denies claims that staff were not aware of Connor’s disability, saying she was a regular customer and had previously been to the store with Connor and his wheelchair. She explained that she was a single parent and could not leave Connor without proper care.

Dismissing Khan’s claim that Connor could walk, she said: “Connor’s disabilities are not only obvious for any person to see, but we are not shy or embarrassed to speak about it, and have talked about his challenges with staff in the shop. Connor’s disabilities are therefore well known to the staff,” she said.

A few days after the incident, Khan and two other staff members made an unannounced visit to Haskin’s home. Khan apologised and left a slab of chocolate for Connor before taking a photo with him.

During the last hearing on December 11, Magistrate Rene Hindley ordered Khan to file a responding affidavit. Hindley also reprimanded him for “wasting the court’s time” and failing to see the “seriousness” of the complaint against him after he failed to pitch up for previous court dates.

In papers filed on December 17, Khan questioned why he was being held to account for the incident, saying he was not in the store at the time and had been notified some time later by employee Tareq Ahmed.

“Ahmed advised that he never denied access to the premises but merely informed Haskin that the pram was not allowed in the aisles. This rule applied to all customers and he pointed to the notice on the door. He was unaware that Connor was disabled and said the pram he was in had no indication that he was a disabled child. He assumed Connor could walk with his mother in the shop,” he said.

Chocolate brought as peace offering

Khan explained that his staff were told to no longer allow prams and wheelchairs in the store due to the high rate of shoplifting incidents.

“The store was also undergoing a few minor renovations due to being vandalised… The spacing between the aisles does not allow for prams or wheelchairs,” he said.

Khan said the employees in the shop on the day told him Haskin had not given them a chance to explain and described her as being “in a frantic irrational state of mind”.

He said he had gone to Haskin’s house on the advice of Shahiem van Nelson of the South African Human Rights Commission. “We were happy to apologise for any conduct the store unintentionally did or omitted to… We were under the impression that the matter was resolved,” he said.

During the visit, Khan said he “asked if I could hold [Connor] to ascertain his weight and suggested that [Haskin] could hold the minor in her arm as this seemed probable”.

On why he gave Haskin a chocolate, Khan said: “I gave the chocolate as a peace offering, there was no intention of bribing Haskin. We would not have taken a picture with the minor child if this was the case.”

“Should the honourable court find the conduct to be discriminatory, this may affect other grocery stores with the same or similar policies where they would have to renovate to accommodate people in wheelchairs,” he said.

In her submission, Haskin included testimonials from Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, physiotherapists and medical records of Connor’s conditions. She also gave the court an assessment done by Shonaquip, which designs equipment for people with disabilities, in March 2017.

“According to their assessment, Connor has Down Syndrome; is non-verbal and communicates with sounds and gestures; is dependent on me for all activities of daily living, such as feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming and mobility; presents with poor muscle tone and low strength of both his lower limbs which has contributed to delayed physical milestones such as rolling, sitting, crawling and walking; is able to sit independently, carry out minimal bum shuffle movements, and is able to stand with maximum support for one minute before losing his balance,” she said. Based on this assessment, Connor was given a customised wheelchair.

The matter returns to court on Tuesday.