May 19, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

Politician Thulas Nxesi  says the ANC is facing a looming political disaster.

Egypt’s death sentences worry the US, the UN and Turkey. 

And, trade union Solidarity’s labour index points to falling job security in South Africa.

Public Works Minister and African National Congress NEC member Thulas Nxesi has warned of a looming political disaster facing the ruling party if it does not revisit the operating strategy it once employed when waging war against apartheid.

Nxesi said the unseating of ANC-affiliated student organisation, the South African Students Congress (or Sasco) in various campuses around the country, was an indication of what was to come.

He expressed concern that institutions of higher learning, which championed the struggle against apartheid, were now under the control of opposition parties.

Nxesi told a Walter Sisulu Memorial Lecture in Polokwane on Monday that it was embarrassing to have the University of Limpopo under the Economic Freedom Fighters and to have Fort Hare University taken over by the Democratic Alliance Student Organisation.

He said the ANC must know that when young people lose their appetite for Sasco politics, it is a recipe for disaster in the upcoming local government elections.

The US and United Nations expressed deep concern about the death sentences handed down in Egypt for President Mohamed Mursi and other Islamists, while Turkey warned of Middle East turmoil if they are carried out. 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would closely monitor the appeals process for the death sentences and urged actions that would promote the rule of law. 

The US State Department said Egypt's practice of mass trials and sentences was unjust and were often used against members of the opposition or non-violent activists.

An Egyptian court on Sunday sought the death penalty for Mursi and 106 supporters of his Muslim Brotherhood, in connection with a mass jail-break in 2011. A final ruling is expected on June 2.

Meanwhile, in Ankara, Turkey's presidential spokesperson warned that the Middle East would be thrown into turmoil if Egypt carried out its death sentences.

The Solidarity-ETM Analytics Labour Market Index fell to 43.5 in the first quarter of this year from an upwardly revised figure of 44.6 in the fourth quarter of 2014, pointing to an environment of continued falling job security in South Africa.

The labour union and investment services group noted that the first-quarter reading represented a deterioration in job security that was more pronounced than that of the prior quarter, but somewhat better than the multiyear low of 40.9 achieved by the index in the second quarter of 2014.

At present, the index reflected conditions where there was on aggregate, slow or no real wage growth and where some sectors continued to see retrenchments.

Solidarity added that it remained “questionable” whether South Africa’s economy could continue to recover, given a weak export environment, an “ailing” national energy utility and a volatile rand.

Also making headlines:

The Eskom board and CEO Tshediso Matona have agreed to part ways.

The European Union has agreed on a naval mission to target gangs smuggling migrants from Libya.

And, the World Bank said around one in seven people across the globe still live without electricity, despite some progress in expanding access, and nearly three-billion cook using polluting fuels.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter [@PolityZA]

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.