August 20, 2014.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:

A new report offers a nuanced view of Africa’s rising middle class.

Human Settlements unlocks R1.5-million worth of housing opportunities.

And, China presses South Sudan over renewed violence.
 

A new report by leading South African banking group Standard Bank confirms that the middle class has expanded materially in 11 key sub-Saharan African countries over the past 14 years to around 15-million households, from less than 5-million in 2000.

However, it also cautions that by far the majority – over 85% in fact – of the 110-million households across the surveyed countries remain firmly within the low-income band, making them vulnerable to economic shocks.

Using South Africa’s Living Standard Measure methodology, Standard Bank’s ‘Understanding Africa’s middle class’ report covers the emergence of the middle class in Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Standard Bank political economist Simon Freemantle said the performance remained broadly supportive of the ‘Africa Rising’ narrative – despite the bank’s middle-class estimate being considerably lower than the 350-million people reported by the African Development Bank in 2011.
 

The “100 days” target of creating 1.5-million housing opportunities is set to build houses for the poor and open the housing market for those who cannot access home loans.

Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu announced this on Tuesday, when she briefed members of the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements about plans to achieve the 100 days target she announced during her Budget Vote Speech.

She also announced that her department had signed a service level agreement with the State Information Technology Agency to create a credible waiting and beneficiary list database.

Sisulu said her department had been in meetings with the Chamber of Mines, South African Local Government Association, Banking Association and South African Women in Construction and other stakeholders to speed up the 100 days target.
 

China's foreign minister pressed his South Sudan counterpart over renewed violence in the oil-rich state, demanding an immediate ceasefire and political dialogue in the country that is heavily reliant on Chinese investment.

This comes after government troops clashed with South Sudan rebels last week near the capital of Unity State, days after a UN Security Council delegation warned of sanctions if either side violated a ceasefire signed in May.

"An immediate ceasefire is a precondition for a return to peace and stability in South Sudan," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told South Sudan Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin during a meeting in Beijing on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said.

China hopes that both sides in the conflict can push for an inclusive political process and reach a solution as soon as possible that all sides can accept, Wang said.
 

Also making headlines;

Transport Minister Dipuo Peters says Metropolitan municipalities have consistently under-spent their public transport infrastructure grants nearly every year since 2010.
 

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela says it is now up to Parliament to weigh President Jacob Zuma's response to the findings on public spending on his private Nkandla home.

And, the National Assembly has resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to consider President Jacob Zuma's response to the Nkandla controversy amid protest from the opposition Democratic Alliance that its mandate is too narrow.

Also on polity;

Don’t miss Polity’s video interview with award winning investigative journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika on his memoir  “Nothing Left to Steal”, which details government corruption and his efforts to expose it.
 

Don’t forget to follow @PolityZA on twitter.
 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.