May 21, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines: 

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe says President Jacob Zuma doesn't have to explain his relationship with the Gupta family.

US President Barack Obama is expected to travel to Africa in late June.

And, the United Nations says Libya’s war weapons may be killing central Africa’s elephants.

African National Congress secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Monday that President Jacob Zuma doesn’t have to explain his ties to the Gupta family.

He said the National Executive Committee welcomed the report of the directors-general appointed to probe the unauthorised landing of a private jet chartered by the Guptas at Waterkloof Air Force Base, and that it will help the parliamentary debate on Wednesday.

However, Corruption Watch director David Lewis said the landing showed a serious administrative breakdown at the highest level, and that the findings admit to an extraordinary litany of fraudulent misrepresentation on the part of people acting on behalf of the Gupta family and employed in senior positions in the public service, the defence force and the police.

Mantashe said the ANC is confident that the relevant ministers will take the process to its logical conclusion so that this incident does not repeat itself, adding that the situation had not divided the party, but rather united it.

The White House said on Monday that President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will travel to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania in late June and early July to reinforce US ties with countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

It said the trip would underscore the president's commitment to broadening and deepening cooperation between the US and the people of sub-Saharan Africa to advance regional and global peace and prosperity.

Obama traveled to Ghana during his first term, while the first lady traveled to South Africa and Botswana independently.

The president's trip would extend from June 26 to July 3, where he will meet with leaders from government, business and civil society.

The United Nations said on Monday that armed groups in central Africa are using powerful weapons to kill elephants for their ivory. Some of the weapons may be left over from the civil war in Libya.

In a report to the UN Security Council, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said elephant poaching was a growing security concern, particularly in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad and Gabon. He said the illegal trade in ivory could an important source of funding for armed groups, including warlord fugitive Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army.

The report was also concerned that poachers are using more and more sophisticated and powerful weapons, some of which, it is believed, might be originating from the fallout in Libya.

Ban said that in Minkebe Park in northeastern Gabon, more than 11 000 elephants had been slaughtered between 2004 and 2013, while in Chad in March, poachers killed 86 elephants – including 33 pregnant females – within a week. In Cameroon's Bouba Ndjida National Park, more than 300 elephants were killed during the last two months of last year.

Also making headlines:

Mining major Anglo American is expected to build a R5-million solar photovoltaic system at the Kriel colliery, in Mpumalanga.

Eskom says the cost of generating electricity at its Sere wind farm will compare “favourably” with those achieved by private wind developers.

And, South Sudan’s army retakes a town from rebels in the east.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.