February 26, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene's 2015/16 budget strikes a balance between spending, tax, and cutting waste.

Togo's President Faure Gnassingbé accepts his party's nomination as a candidate for the elections in April.

And, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s budget speech gets mixed reactions from opposition parties.

Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene's 2015/16 budget struck a balance between spending, tax, and cutting waste, an economist said on Wednesday.

Economist at Wits University's school of economic business sciences, Kenneth Creamer, said Nene appeared to have struck the right balance in trying to control government spending, reduce wastage and moderately increase taxation for those who can afford it best.

Creamer said such interventions were necessary to help to stabilise South Africa's finances and avoid deepening debt. He added that the Minister’s projection of 2% for economic growth for 2015 was a very poor number as the economy would continue to splutter along in a low employment trap.

He noted, however, that it was encouraging to hear details about the 170-million school workbooks that would be delivered to over 23 500 public schools over the next three years.

Togo's President Faure Gnassingbé has accepted his party's nomination as a candidate for elections in April and will seek a third term in power.

However, the opposition has repeatedly organised protests across the capital calling for Gnassingbé to stand aside at the end of his second term.

Gnassingbé was installed as president of the small West African country with army support when his father, who had been in power for 38 years, died in 2005. He later stepped down under regional pressure, but won an election months later and was re-elected for a second term in 2010.

Unlike some of its neighbours, Togo does not have constitutional term limits, after having abolished them in 2002.

Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene should have looked at cutting corruption instead of raising personal income tax, opposition parties said in Parliament on Wednesday in reaction to the Budget speech.

Speaking shortly after Nene delivered his first main budget, for 2015/16, African Christian Democratic Party MP Steve Swart said the tax increase was unfortunate.

He said to address the fiscal consolidation path, Nene should rather have looked at corruption, which was estimated to reach R30-billion per year.

Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder said government was failing to balance its books, noting that, for the first time in 20 years, personal income tax was increased by one percentage point.

Meanwhile, African National Congress secretary general Gwede Mantashe was more upbeat, saying the budget spoke to the ruling party's objectives.

Also making headlines:

Power utility Eskom would implement stage two load shedding from 10am on Thursday.

State Security Minister David Mahlobo said an investigation into the leaking of classified security documents by broadcaster Al Jazeera was under way.

Egypt’s military has killed dozens of suspected Islamist militants in an operation in Sinai, alongside a  reported kidnapping of a businessman in the region.

And, the World Food Programme has ended a suspension of food aid deliveries by humanitarian groups with food aid again flowing to thousands of refugees on the border between Niger and Nigeria. 

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.