January 14, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:

Eskom signs up 11 buy-back deals to provide a demand cushion for its summer maintenance programme.

The UN says more than 30 000 people have fled Sudan’s Dafur as a result of fighting.

And, the Central African Republic dissolves its government after a peace deal.

State-owned electricity utility Eskom has concluded 11 power buy-back deals with ferrochrome and alloy producers for the period December 1, 2012, through to March 31, 2013. This is in an effort to create a demand-side cushion for its summer maintenance programme.

Spokesperson Hilary Joffe told Engineering News Online that the deals have been concluded only with companies that have confirmed that customer commitments will be met and that all jobs will be retained.

She said that the latest round of buy-backs is deemed necessary because some maintenance was foregone in August and September. This was owing to the loss of 900 MW of imports from Cahora Bassa and a “volatile generation performance” during the period. She added that it’s important to bring the maintenance up to date, otherwise the performance of the plant will continue to deteriorate, creating a downward spiral.

The buy-backs will be funded through an existing allocation for demand management programmes and “should have no impact on the tariff”. Eskom’s budget allocation for all demand response and buy-back programmes stands at just over R2.5-billion for 2012/13.

The United Nations said that more than 30 000 people have fled during two weeks of fighting in Sudan's Darfur region. The fights are some of the worst clashes between government troops, rebels and rival tribes reported there for months.

In a report, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that around 30 000 people fled their homes in Golo and Guldo towns to escape two weeks of fighting that began on December 24 in Darfur's Jebel Marra area, which is prized for its fertile land.

Some 2 800 people fled to a camp in Nertiti in central Darfur, which is already home to 42 000 displaced people.

The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur said that the fighting has resulted in a number of casualties, looting, burning of nearby villages, and the displacement of thousands of civilians forced to flee towards Kabkabiya, Saraf Omra and Al Sereif towns.

Central African Republic President Francois Bozize dismissed his prime minister and dissolved the cabinet on Saturday. This cleared the way for the nomination of a national unity government in line with a peace accord signed with rebels.

The government and the Seleka rebels, agreed to the creation of the transitional government at the end of talks in Gabon's capital Libreville on Friday. Under the peace agreement, the new government will be headed by a member of the political opposition and would usher the country to a parliamentary election within 12 months to replace the current National Assembly.

In exchange, the rebels have agreed to a ceasefire. This would defuse the biggest threat to Bozize's decade in charge of the mineral-rich former French colony and allow him to complete his current term in office, which ends in 2016.

However, the rebels said they could take up arms again if the government failed to meet a list of their conditions in the accord, including the release of political prisoners and the withdrawal of most of the foreign forces employed to reinforce the army.

Also making headlines:

France’s early strike shakes up Mali’s rebel intervention plan.

And, Kinshasa and Kampala back a UN plan to employ surveillance drones in eastern Congo.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.