August 12, 2016.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Samantha Herbst.

Making headlines:
Candidates grilled as Public Protector interviews run into early morning
KZN ANC Youth League disbands 'dysfunctional' regions
And, Eskom strike averted

The late night, early Friday morning interviews did little to faze the last candidates who were in the hot seat for the post of Public Protector.

The 14 candidates were stripped bare as their secrets, criminal records and personal behaviour were laid out for all to judge during the interview process, which went on for 20 hours.

Nothing was too big or too small for the committee’s notice, including cellphone theft accusations, drunken driving charges and questions about security clearance.

Candidates had to defend their past professional decisions, their mistakes and not declaring some of the glaring findings by Corruption Watch.

Tempers flared, candidates got flustered as MPs dug into every corner of their lives in search of the perfect candidate to replace Thuli Madonsela, whose term ends in October.

The African National Congress Youth League has disbanded its regional executive committees in the Abaqulusi and Musa Dladla regions in KwaZulu-Natal, it said on Thursday.

Provincial secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo briefed media on the league’s provincial executive committee meeting, held in Ulundi on Friday.

He admitted there had been infighting in the regions.

The deadlock in the Eskom wage negotiations has been broken following a 14-hour marathon wage negotiation process, averting a potentially costly strike for the already ailing South African economy.

Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said in a Facebook post on Friday that both NUM and Solidarity had signed a wage increase of between 8.5% and 10%, with the lowest paid workers getting a 10% pay rise for the year.

This comes after a 14-hour marathon wage negotiation process that was brokered by the CCMA until the early hours of this morning

In the second year, all workers will receive a pay rise of 8%, he wrote.

He said Numsa has not signed the deal yet, but has, in principle, accepted the settlement offer.
The National Union of Mineworkers is also in the process of mobilising all its members to return to work, Phasiwe wrote.

This follows as Eskom on Tuesday obtained a court interdict against striking NUM members. NUM national spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu, told Fin24 the union was not aware of the interdict when it called a national strike, following its national shop steward council meeting on Tuesday.

Also making headlines:
We need to relook at the PR system says Mantashe

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today