October 1, 2012
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:

Political analysts say the ANC audit must not raise suspicion.

The European Court of Auditors’ report reveals that the EU falls short on Africa water projects.

And, Sudan and South Sudan’s peace agreement includes a banking and monetary accord.

Political analysts say that the African National Congress (or ANC) needs to make sure its auditing processes for its national elections doesn’t raise suspicion among its members.

Political author William Gumede said that the ANC leadership must make sure there is not a whiff of suspicion around the way the branches have been audited and the way decisions were made, as this will undermine the ANC electoral process in December.

Political analyst Steven Friedman added that there needed to be an auditing process that the ANC members were comfortable with. He also said that it has to be ensured that the process is credible.

ANC spokesperson Keith Khoza said that the nomination process was endorsed by the national executive committee on Friday and has been officially opened.

The European Union's audit watchdog said in a report that more than half of the European Union's projects to provide safe drinking water in sub-Saharan Africa failed to deliver.

The report by the European Court of Auditors examined 23 projects co-funded by the EU in six African countries between 2001 and 2010. The report found that the projects, at a total cost of €400-million, often lacked sufficient supervision and that checks were not always carried out to ensure that water was fit for human consumption.

The auditors said that while equipment was usually installed properly, local communities didn’t receive enough support to manage the projects long term. It was also found that fewer than half of the projects examined delivered results meeting the beneficiaries' needs.

Sudan and South Sudan have agreed to cooperate on banking and monetary policy, which could help boost trade after decades of civil war.

The two countries, which came close to war in April, have agreed to improve border security and foster trade. This will restart crucial oil exports from the South through northern pipelines.

The border had been closed since South Sudan's messy secession in July 2011, and there has been almost no bilateral trade between the two neighbours.

According to an agreement published by the African Union the two countries now plan to set up a joint central bank committee to allow bank transfers and foster trade between them.

Also making headlines:

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale says change is crucial in the ANC.

President Jacob Zuma says housing contracts valued at R4-billion are being probed by the Special Investigation Unit.

And, Libyans hand over their weapons in an arms collection drive.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.