February 18, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Pimani Baloyi.
Making headlines:

President Jacob Zuma gets a lot of criticism during the State of the Nation debate.

At least three explosions strike a military checkpoint in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Biu.

And, Eskom says the chance of power cuts being implemented on Wednesday is low to medium.

In a robust debate that largely stayed within parliamentary rules, Economic Freedom Fighters (or EFF) leader Julius Malema told President Jacob Zuma he would be made to answer on March 11 about misspending on his Nkandla home.

Malema was speaking in the debate on Zuma's State of the Nation address.

Zuma is due to appear before the National Assembly for the first time since August when the EFF memorably heckled him concerning his response to the Public Protector’s finding that he should personally pay for nonsecurity-related upgrades to his private residence.

Further, Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane told Zuma that he was the main cause of South Africa's problems in that democratic institutions were undermined to protect a single man from criminal prosecution.

Maimane went as far as to say that the coutesy term "honourable" used to refer to MPs out of respect for Parliament no longer applied to Zuma personally.

At least three explosions struck a military checkpoint in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Biu on Tuesday, witnesses and a security source said.

A witness said there were children around the checkpoint when the blasts went off and everyone had been told to go home due to apprehension about the blasts.

Biu has been repeatedly attacked by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram and the use of multiple bombs planned to go off in quick succession is a trademark tactic of the jihadists.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of people marched through Niger's capital Niamey on Tuesday to support their military following a series of Boko Haram attacks along the country’s border with Nigeria.

Eskom said the chances of power cuts on Wednesday were low to medium.

The electricity supplier said this load-shedding prognosis escalated to medium to high during the evening, which would depend on the performance of the generating plant. 

On Tuesday, Energy Department acting director-general Dr Wolsey Barnard said it would take 20 to 30 months before Eskom had caught up with maintenance and was back on the right track.

This was the first step in addressing energy needs in the country and would ensure a "safe" gap between supply and demand.

Also making headlines:
Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said South African monetary policy is still accommodative, although it is constrained by the fact that inflation has remained close to or above the target band.

South African power utility Eskom may seek a bank loan to secure diesel supplies needed to operate some of its turbines.

The HIV/Aids epidemic in Africa would explode again unless parents and teachers started talking to teenagers about sex, experts warned.

And, a war plane carried out air strikes on a western Libyan town under control of the county’s internationally recognized government on Tuesday, in what officials charged was an attack by a rival group controlling Tripoli.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today