November 13, 2012.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.

Making headlines:

The Supreme Court of Appeal questions the Dalai Lama’s visa timeframe.

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma rebuts a corruption charge ahead of elections.

And, Belgium suspends new military aid to Rwanda over the threat from Congo rebels.

The Supreme Court of Appeal (or SCA) on Monday found it difficult to accept that a visa application for an international figure could take several months to be processed.

The SCA was hearing an appeal application by the political parties IFP and Cope on whether it was unconstitutional and unlawful for home affairs to turn down a visa for the Dalai Lama last year.

Judge Malcolm Wallis said that the only reasonable conclusion could be that they didn’t want to do anything. He also questioned if the ruling was considered against the background of international importance and the sensitivity of the case.

The Department of Home Affairs' lawyer Marumo Moerane, in response said the department didn’t deliberately obstruct the visa application, and that if the Dalai Lama had not withdrawn his application it might have been approved. The case continues.

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma has denied accusations that he is soft on corruption, in a last-minute defence before the November 17 elections in which he is seeking a second term.

Koroma will face top opposition rival and former junta leader Julius Maada Bio in polls widely seen as a test of the resource-rich West African state's recovery a decade after a civil war.

Koroma, a former insurance broker in power since 2007, is favoured to win but has drawn fire from rivals claiming he has done little to root out graft. An Anti-Corruption Commission has failed to send a single person to jail under his rule.

Brussels has joined a line of donors, including the European Union and Washington, to press Rwanda over its alleged support of the M23 uprising. The uprising has raised fears of fresh turmoil on the region. However, Rwanda denies the accusation.

The Belgian government said that to continue to inspire Rwanda to become a part of the solution and not the problem, it has decided to plan no new activities in its military partnership with Rwanda.

A Rwandan foreign ministry spokesperson said, however, that Kigali had not received any official communication about Brussels' decision.

Also making headlines:

Israel’s army hits back at the Syrian artillery that fired on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Consulting Engineers South Africa voices its support for the user-pays principle proposed for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.

And, Adcorp’s Employment Index reveals that informal jobs increase employment.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.