June 11, 2012

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Reggie Sikhakhane.

Making headlines:

President Jacob Zuma said at the weekend that the African National Congress must approach its national conference with the serious manner it approached its founding conference in 1912. He was speaking at the national policy conference of the National Education, Health and Allied workers Union in Boksburg.

He added that the ruling party needed to approach its national conference, scheduled to take place at the end of the year in Mangaung, with a view to finding solutions for the nation.

The ANC will hold its policy conference in Midrand, at the end of June this year.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seventeen people, including 10 women, died overnight by shelling in the southern Syrian town of Deraa, where the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted 15 months ago.

The group, which monitors violence in Syria through a network of sources inside the country, reported fighting in the town between the army and rebels after the shelling.

Twenty-five soldiers were also killed recently, in the provinces of Idlib, Damascus, Deir al-Zor, Homs and Deraa.

South Africa and Turkey have signed an agreement on the establishment of the South Africa-Turkey Binational Commission. This will elevate relations between the two countries to a higher strategic level.

This follows a two-day working visit by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to Turkey. The purpose of the visit was to further strengthen bilateral political and economic relations between the two countries. 



The South Africa-Turkey Binational Commission will enhance cooperation between the two countries in the fields of politics, economics, trade, defence, security, agriculture, minerals, energy, education, tourism, sport and environment.

Also making headlines:

Lesotho opposition leader Thomas Thabane was sworn in on Friday as the mountain kingdom's new prime minister after he ousted the man who held the job for 14 years by cobbling together a narrow coalition government.

And, suspended police commissioner Bheki Cele will leave his position if President Jacob Zuma asks him to, his spokesperson Vuyo Mkhize says.

That’s a round up of news making headlines today.