August, 29 2016.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines:

Gupta family 'like rats abandoning sinking ship' says DA

Zim police violated peoples' rights, says rights commission

And, SAA asks lenders for $1bn

The Gupta family were like "rats abandoning a sinking ship in South Africa", the Democratic Alliance’s David Maynier said on Sunday.

His comment came after news broke on Saturday that the controversial family had decided to sell all their shares in South Africa.

The family said exiting their shareholdings in their South African businesses would benefit existing employees and lead to further growth.
 

Maynier said it was dishonest for the Gupta family to suggest their decision was taken to advance the interests of the country.

They were the subject of multiple investigations, he said, which included alleged corruption and money laundering.

The state-funded Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission has said that police violated the rights of Zimbabweans during recent protests in an unprecedented slap on the wrist for President Robert Mugabe's government.

The commission, which was set up under a new constitution adopted at a 2013 referendum, expressed concern about the force's use of teargas and encouraged members of the public who felt they'd been on the receiving end of police brutality during protests to lodge an official complaint with the commission.

This came two days after violent scenes rocked the centre of Harare as police fought running battles with opposition supporters who'd tried to push ahead with a court-sanctioned march for electoral reforms. Social unrest is intensifying with near-daily protests in Zimbabwe where cash shortages and a lack of jobs are making life tough for many.

South Africa's cash-strapped national carrier plans to raise R16-billion from banks and other financial institutions, a newspaper notice showed, days after saying it could pay its debts.

State-owned South African Airlines is seeking secured and unsecured funding with a 3 to 15 year duration and wants to start drawing down the amount within two weeks of signing the loan agreement, it said in the notice published in the Sunday Times newspaper.

The airline has failed to submit financial statements for the past two years, with results for 2015/16 held back by Treasury's refusal to grant the loss-making carrier R5-billion in additional guarantees.

The opposition Democratic Alliance on Friday called for a parliamentary meeting to work out how to prevent the airline from missing payments to creditors, but SAA has said it was able to pay its debts.

Also making headlines:

Sanco calls for alliance leaders to 'sober up' and confront voter discontent
Japan pledges $30bn for Africa over next three years
And, SA to cease membership of SADC Troika on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today