January 18, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai agree on a new Constitution.

Anglo American Platinum says labour law and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s regulations narrowed its consultation with government.

And, the Central African Republic names a new Prime Minister in adherence with a peace deal.

Zimbabwean leaders Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai said on Thursday they had resolved disputes over a proposed new constitution and would soon call a referendum on the charter. This is a key step ahead of elections, which are due this year.

Mugabe said a draft would be produced to be put up for a referendum. He also said that both party leaders would stipulate a road map stating when a referendum would be carried-out. This move would then dictate when the elections would take place.

The veteran ruler refused to go into details of how the constitutional disputes had been resolved. However, Tsvangirai confirmed the deal, saying the end of the deadlock on the constitution was "a defining moment."

Mugabe and ZANU-PF are facing a stiff challenge from the MDC, which promises to breathe fresh life into an economy that shrank by an estimated 40% from 2000 to 2010 owing largely to Mugabe's seizure of white-owned commercial farms.

Labour law and the regulations of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (or JSE) prevented Anglo American Platinum (or Amplats) from making full disclosure to government of the details of its now-controversial platinum review plan ahead of the formal public announcement.

Amplats CEO Chris Griffith said that the company did consult with the Department of Labour, the Department of Mineral Resources and National Treasury ahead of this week’s far-reaching announcement to close two mines, mothball four shafts, fix and sell Union mine and eliminate a potential 14 000 jobs. However, it did so within the confines of its obligations under Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act and the JSE’s rules of disclosure.

Following criticism from Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu for lack of proper consultation, Griffith made the point that Amplats had been discussing its operational and oversupply problems publicly for months, in addition to being involved in the government, business and labour initiative, Migdett, as well as the platinum task team that was set up to deal with the industry’s difficulties.

Central African Republic President Francois Bozize named a new prime minister from the ranks of the opposition on Thursday, in line with a peace accord signed with rebels last week.

Under the deal, Bozize agreed to appoint a new prime minister chosen by the rebels and political opposition.

A lawyer and leader of the Republican Convention for Social Progress, Nicolas Tiangaye, was nominated by the Seleka rebel movement following peace talks in Gabon's capital Libreville.

Tiangaye will now pick ministers for a national unity government to usher the country to a parliamentary election within 12 months to replace the current National Assembly dominated by Bozize's allies.

Also making headlines:

West African regional forces arrive in Mali to aid the French mission.

Algeria ends its desert siege, but dozens of people are killed.

The World Health Organisation says measles deaths have fallen but the vaccine gaps threaten its progress.

And, South Sudan and Sudan start withdrawing troops from the border to create a buffer zone.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.