Though the ruling African National Congress party (ANC) has won the South African elections, it has done so with a dwindling support of the popular vote.

While a new black middle class has emerged, while the politically connected got rich, some even becoming billionaires, the vast majority of South Africans remain poor.

In Johannesburg, Obama gave what some commentators consider his most important speech since he vacated the Oval Office.

The “struggle era” in South Africa is ending.

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference welcomed the resignation as “long overdue.”

There have been warning signs for decades; now South Africa’s second-biggest city is racing to prevent a drought from throttling the economy and causing social unrest.

Although Mr. Ramaphosa is a relatively acceptable leader of the A.N.C. in the eyes of some opposition parties, his economic stance will put him in tension with the populist left Economic Freedom Fighters and many trade unions.

The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference issued a statement urging calm, restraint and patience during what they called “most delicate times.”

A judge has overturned a finding of suicide and ruled that Ahmed Timol was murdered by South Africa’s Security Police 45 years ago.

Two elections this month in eastern and central Africa—in Kenya and Rwanda—have brought out tensions and contradictions in the continent’s democratic process.