President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his sadness at the passing in South Africa of His Excellency Former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu of the Republic of Zambia.
Aged 68, President Lungu passed away on Thursday, 5 June 2025, in a Pretoria hospital where he had been receiving treatment for a number of weeks.
On behalf of the government and people of South Africa, President Ramaphosa offers his condolences to President Lungu’s family and to the nation and government of the Republic of Zambia led by His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema.
President Ramaphosa said: “As regional compatriots, South Africans are standing by the people of Zambia in this difficult moment.
“We have had the duty and privilege in recent weeks to care for a leader from our region whom we embraced as a brother and friend.
“We therefore share the grief and loss experienced at this time by the Lungu family, as well as the Zambian nation.
May his soul rest in peace.”
Africa Fact: The Ethiopian script of the 4th century AD influenced the writing script of Armenia. A Russian historian noted that: “Soon after its creation, the Ethiopic vocalised script began to influence the scripts of Armenia and Georgia. D. A. Olderogge suggested that Mesrop Mashtotz used the vocalised Ethiopic script when he invented the Armenian alphabet.”
Africa Fact: “In the first half of the first millennium CE,” says a modern scholar, Ethiopia “was ranked as one of the world’s greatest empires”. A Persian cleric of the third century AD identified it as the third most important state in the world after Persia and Rome.
Guillotine Trigger
Bonus: Southern USA: You have two cows. Their milkshake brings all the bulls to the yard, and they\’re like, it\’s better than yours. Damn right, it\’s better than yours; they can teach you, though there is a charge; but if you upvote, then you won\’t be charged!
Gullyway
Oke / Ou – guy [oak] / [oh] South Africa’s most common word for a man or guy and is similar in meaning to ‘china’, ‘bru’ or ‘boet’.