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AFPCopyright: AFP

A report of an investigation into the November plane crash in Tanzania says pilots failed to heed warnings from an automatic alarm system.

Nineteen people were killed in the 6 November crash into Lake Victoria, as the plane attempted to land in the lakeside town of Bukoba.

An initial report from the transport ministry painted a damning picture of the emergency services' preparedness to deal with the disaster prompting anger over the response.

President Samia Suluhu promised a formal investigation into the matter as the government distanced itself from the preliminary report.

On Thursday, a second preliminary report said a warning system that three alerts about "the excessively high descent rate" was "not followed by corrective action by the flight crew".

The report also noted that the weather condition was bad amid poor visibility, which "may have contributed to the failure to react to terrain warnings during the final approach".

Fishermen were first at the site of the crash, and spearheaded rescue efforts.

There had been 43 people on board and 24 survived. The two pilots were among the dead.

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South African opposition minority party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has said Russian President Vladimir Putin is welcome to visit Pretoria despite an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against him.

The ICC, which South Africa is a signatory to, has accused Mr Putin of war crimes, which include the kidnapping of Ukrainian children in Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Putin is scheduled to travel to South Africa for the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in August.

EFF leader Julius Malema on Thursday said no one was going to arrest Mr Putin while in South Africa, a country where Russia "played a huge role to support the struggle for freedom".

Mr Malema said that the South African government should not give in to pressure from the ICC, which he accused of "hypocrisy".

"Putin is welcomed here. No one is going to arrest Putin. If need be, we will go and fetch Putin from the airport to his meetings. He will address, finish all his meetings, and we will take him back to the airport," Mr Malema said.

"We know our friends. We know the people who liberated us. We know the people who supported us,” he added.

South Africa has close diplomatic relations with Moscow in spite of Western condemnations. Last month, its navy held joint exercises with Russian forces off the coast of South Africa. It has also abstained during UN votes condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In 2015, the South African government was criticised for letting then Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir leave the country despite an ICC arrest warrant.

AFPCopyright: AFP

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, has appointed a former militia leader, once convicted of war crimes, as his new defence minister.

Jean Pierre Bemba, a former Congolese vice-president, was cleared on appeal by the International Criminal Court in 2018.

He was convicted of failing to prevent his militia from committing crimes.

His appointment comes as the Congolese army battles the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in the east of the country.

Mr Tshisekedi also appointed his former chief of staff, Vital Kamerhe, as minister of economy. Mr Kamerhe was convicted of embezzlement but freed on appeal last year.

The changes comes as the country is due to go to the polls in December in which Mr Tshisekedi is expected to run for re-election.