November 18, 2014.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

South Africa plans to spend $2.2-billion over two years to buy HIV/Aids drugs for public hospitals.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan will ask the national assembly to extend a state of emergency in three North Eastern states hit by an Islamist insurgency.

And, the Economic Freedom Fighters expressed disappointment at the collapse of its Northern Cape conference into chaos and violence at the weekend.

South Africa plans to spend $2.2-billion over two years to buy HIV/Aids drugs for public hospitals, as a study shows the prevalence of the virus is rising.

Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said that the government aims to buy three quarters of the drugs from local manufacturers.
  
He said government is on the cusp of a very important tender worth R24-billion by the Department of Health that is for the procurement of anti-retrovirals for 2015.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan will ask the national assembly to extend a state of emergency in three North Eastern states hit by an Islamist insurgency when it expires this week.

Jonathan ordered troops into Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in May last year.
Several hundred people have died in a five-year-old insurgency in the region by the Islamist group Boko Haram, and the emergency laws were extended in November and again in May this year.

Mohammed Adoke, the attorney general and Minister of Justice, told journalists in Abuja that Nigeria has just reviewed the issue of the state of emergency and the government will be requesting the National Assembly to extend the state of emergency.

Boko Haram has defied the emergency to continue its attacks, and this week alone it is suspected to have carried out suicide bombings at two schools, a market and a petrol station. President Jonathan, who is seeking re-election in February, has vowed to defeat the militants.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (or EFF) expressed disappointment at the collapse of its Northern Cape conference into chaos and violence at the weekend. The party’s spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlonzi said in a statement that the party’s war council had received reports on the violence and disruption of the meeting and damage to property and would be taking the necessary steps to ensure that remedial action is undertaken. He said that those responsible for violence against members and damage to property would be dealt with harshly.

Earlier, Northern Cape police said ten cases had been opened with the police in Kimberley following the chaotic conference. Colonel Priscilla Naidu said one case was opened on Saturday and the others were opened on Sunday. She said a member from the party alleged that he was assaulted by another member while at the conference when chaos erupted and fights broke out between members of the party. Police responded to restore calm.

Naidu said the cases include assault, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, malicious damage to property, and discharging a firearm in a municipal area. She added that no arrests had been made and all cases were under investigation.

Also making headlines:

Power utility Eskom said there were no scheduled power blackouts planned on Tuesday, despite increased demand for electricity owing to wet and cold weather.

South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, said it had asked law-enforcement authorities to charge a government minister and police with assault after several of its parliamentary deputies were injured during a brawl last Thursday.

And, Somalia's prime minister told cabinet ministers to resign if they were unhappy, intensifying a dispute that has stymied efforts to rebuild the country after decades of war.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.