May 16, 2014
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg I'm Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:
 

Businesswoman and struggle veteran Mamphela Ramphele takes time out from Agang SA.

Algeria's president Abdelaziz Bouteflika offers reforms to a sceptical opposition.

And, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela says the Nkandla review is premature.

Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele will take a break from politics, she said in an open letter on the party's website on Thursday.

"I have always said that I was the bridge and would make sure that the reins are handed over at an appropriate time to a new generation of leaders," she said. She added that in the next short while she would take time to reflect on the Agang SA journey and would then return to contribute to building Agang SA and a winning South Africa.

Ramphele admitted that her party's performance in the general elections last week was "disappointing", but said it had been wonderful to see so many South Africans vote and uphold political freedom.

Agang secured 52 350 votes, or 0.28%, in the national election. She would remain available to provide advice to the party's parliamentary pair, national youth forum co-ordinator Nyameka Mgozulu and chairperson Mike Tshishonga.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was newly re-elected despite suffering a stroke last year, has proposed a raft of reforms including setting a two-term presidential limit and delegating more authority to the prime minister, a government source said on Thursday.

Bouteflika, 77, won last month's election to secure his fourth five-year term, despite his opponents' arguments that his fragile health undermined his ability to govern.

His frailty has raised questions about who might succeed him in Algeria, a major gas supplier to Europe and a key ally in Washington's fight against Islamist militancy in the Maghreb region of North Africa.

Analysts said the proposed reforms may be aimed at easing worries over a potential transition should Bouteflika become unable to finish his new term. A previous two-term limit was removed to allow him to run for a third term five years ago, when he won a landslide victory.

 

The Public Protector has described as premature a plan by the security cluster of ministers to approach a high court for a judicial review of her Nkandla report.

"The architecture of our constitutional democracy as we understand it requires that the matter be debated in Parliament first," Thuli Madonsela said in a statement on Thursday. She noted, however, that she could not imagine any court finding in the ministers' favour.

Earlier, acting government spokesperson Phumla Williams said the ministers were not taking the Public Protector to court. They wanted her report to undergo a judicial review, possibly in the High Court in Pretoria.

The cluster believed Madonsela's report, titled "Secure in Comfort" and released in March, lacked clarity in some areas, and that her findings were "irrational, contradictory and informed by material errors of law".

Also making headlines:
 

Wind energy is gathering momentum in South Africa, with the Hopefield farm in the Western Cape becoming fully operational.

The US criticizes Nigeria over its response to the kidnapping of over 200 Chibok girls by Boko Haram.

And, the Department of Science and Technology welcomes the inauguration of the R1.5-billion Droogfontein solar photovoltaic plant near Kimberley.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today