November 5, 2012.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.

Making headlines:

Democratic Alliance Leader Helen Zille says the battle for spoils is tearing the ANC apart.

Sudan criticises the US’s decision to renew sanctions on the country.

And, South Africa’s strike-hit mining industry is warned of more job losses.

Political opposition leader Helen Zille said in an interview this weekend that South Africa's ruling party would fracture before the decade is out. She also said that the ruling party would be pulled apart by the tension between big business and labour that was laid bare by three months of mining unrest.

Zille said that the unprecedented mining turmoil, including the police killing of 34 strikers at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine in August, had exposed unsustainable contradictions in Nelson Mandela's 100-year-old ANC. She added that this was a "catalytic event" that had exposed the frailties of the formal three-way alliance between the ANC, unions and the Communist Party.

Zille also attacked the veteran liberation movement that has ruled South Africa since the end of apartheid as "essentially a patronage-driven party". She said that those at the centre were keeping power by controlling access to lucrative government contracts.

According to the US State Department, President Barack Obama renewed US sanctions on Sudan on Friday. He acknowledged that Khartoum had resolved disputes with South Sudan, but also warned that Darfur and other conflicts still impeded normal ties.

The order maintains several sets of US sanctions imposed since 1997 that restrict US trade and investment with Sudan and block the assets of the Sudanese government and certain officials.

Khartoum has reacted by accusing the US of "double standards". It also criticised the sanctions decision, which it said was aimed at hampering development in the country and pressuring Sudan to make concessions to American interests in the region.

However, the US State Department said that addressing these concerns is necessary for a peaceful Sudan and would enable the US and Sudan to move towards a normalised relationship.

South Africa’s largest platinum mining companies have warned of potential job losses. This follows the sacking of 400 workers at a chrome mine. At least one mining contractor has confirmed that it would retrench 860 workers.

The warning of potential job losses in a country with a 25.5% unemployment rate comes as the latest Statistics South Africa Quarterly Labour Force Survey revealed a loss of 8 000 jobs in the mining industry during the three months ended September.

Considering that many of the mining companies hit by industrial action only started dismissals in the past month, it is likely that the full impact of the dismissals related to the wildcat strikes would only be seen in the fourth-quarter report. The potential for more job losses also arises from possible downsizing at several platinum operations.

Also making headlines:

South Sudan expels a United Nations human rights officer.

The International Criminal Court has ruled that former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is well enough to stand trial.

And, Somalia has elected a new Cabinet that balances old guards with newcomers.

 That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.