April 13, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines :

Helen Zille, the leader of South Africa's main opposition party, to stand down.

Nigerians vote for power state governors in the final stage of elections.

And, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe says attempts to destroy the country's history would lead to polarisation in society.

The leader of South Africa's main opposition party, Helen Zille, said on Sunday she was standing down at the end of May. This could possibly open the way for a black candidate to broaden the Democratic Alliance's (or DA's) electoral appeal.

Zille has spent the last eight years heading the liberal democratic DA which won over 22% of the vote in elections last May. That was its best ever result, as the ruling African National Congress's share slipped to 62% from over 65%.

Some critics have accused the DA of being "lily white" and not fully committed to transforming South Africa's racial inequalities. That image was emphasised when it failed to persuade prominent black activist Mamphela Ramphele to lead its election campaign as party president.

The DA would choose new leaders at an electoral conference on May 9.  

Zille said she will not be involved in the succession race at all.

Meanwhile, DA’s Parliamentary Leader, Mmusi Maimane declined to confirm whether he would run for the post.

The final stage of Nigeria's election began on Saturday with voting for powerful state governors, two weeks after a presidential vote paved the way for the country's first democratic transfer of the top job.

The 36 governors are among the most influential politicians in Nigeria, with budgets larger than those of small nations.

With so much at stake, candidates in past governorship elections have often played dirty. Ballot box snatching and shootings have marred the process in several states and at least nine people have been killed.

Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress beat President Goodluck Jonathan of the People's Democratic Party last month with 15.4-million votes to 13.3-million.

African National Congress (or ANC) secretary general Gwede Mantashe says the country's history could not be destroyed and attempts to do so would polarise society.

Mantashe said the hammer approach was opportunistic, anarchistic and dangerous. He was referring to the call to have all apartheid and colonial-era statues destroyed.
Controversy surrounding statues has swept the country over the past week, resulting in many statues being defaced.

The issues started when a protester threw faeces at the statue of Cecil John Rhodes at the University of Cape Town.

Students protested to have the statue removed. The UCT council subsequently decided to remove the statue and it was taken down last Thursday.

Also making headlines:

Transport Minister Dipuo Peters says government intends to find a solution to the Harrismith Hub and N3 De Beers Pass developments.

The Democratic Alliance has extended the nomination deadline for top leadership positions by four days amid the surprise decision by national leader Helen Zille to step down in May.

Kenya has given the United Nations three months to remove a camp housing more than half a million Somali refugees, as part of a get-tough response to the killing of 148 people by Somali gunmen at a Kenyan university.

A bomb exploded at the gate of the Moroccan embassy in the Libyan capital early on Monday, causing some damage but hurting nobody, only hours after gunmen attacked South Korea's mission in Tripoli.

And, a Kenyan student died and more than 100 others were injured after an electricity transformer explosion before dawn on Sunday triggered fears that their campus was being attacked.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.