July 9, 2012

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Gia Costella.

Making headlines:

Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said at the opening of the Equal Education national summit in Tembisa on Sunday that apartheid wouldn’t end and black people wouldn’t experience real freedom until free and high quality education became a reality.

He said education was certainly not free and equal for all, as South Africa had huge inequalities in its education provision.

Vavi said that, after 18 years of democracy, the country’s education system still reproduced both racial and class inequalities over and over again, saying the struggle for the transformation of education and training was far from over.

He said similar inequalities were seen in health care, public transport, housing and all basic services.

Nine months after Muammar Gaddafi's death at the hands of rebels, Libya has defied fears it would descend into violence by pulling off a largely peaceful election this past weekend. This was the country’s first national and free vote in 60 years.

Libyans hailed Saturday's poll as a chance to draw a line under Gaddafi's dictatorship and forge a brighter future for their North African country.

While two deaths were reported as anti-election protesters sought to disrupt the vote, the mood was jubilant. Revellers in Tripoli let off firecrackers and locals in the eastern city of Benghazi sent up rocket-propelled grenades.

Even in Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, which saw some of the worst fighting in last year's uprising to end his 42-year rule, there was relief that the vote had gone smoothly.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe returned from another trip to Singapore for medical checks on Saturday, state media reported.

Mugabe flew to Singapore last Monday for what his aides said was a routine medical check-up, reviving speculation about the health of the 88-year-old leader who has denied reports he has cancer.

State television described Mugabe as "fit and strong" and showed him being received at Harare's international airport by senior government and security officials.

Mugabe has travelled to Singapore eight times in the past year to seek medical attention, according to local media reports.

Also making headlines:

Syria's conflict spills further into Lebanon, killing five civilians.

Rebels in the DRC have called for negotiations with the government in Kinshasa to end violence in the east of the country.

And, Sudanese protesters are teargassed while a politician is arrested at the weekend.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.