October 20, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

Oscar Pistorius freed on parole after a year behind bars for killing his girlfriend.

Egypt entered it’s second day of "election without voters". 

And, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene is confident that  a R64 billion wage bill cost will be contained. 

Oscar Pistorius, South Africa's double-amputee "Blade Runner", was released on parole late on Monday evening.

This is just short of a year into his five-year sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013.

The disgraced Paralympic gold medallist must serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest but still faces an appeal on November 3 by prosecutors who argue that he should have been convicted of murder and not culpable homicide.

Pistorious, who had been expected to leave prison on Tuesday, would be confined to his uncle Arnold's home in a wealthy suburb of the capital, Pretoria.

Family spokesperson Anneliese Burgess is expected to release a statement on Pistorius’s release today.

Egyptians appeared to be shunning the ballot box for a second day on Monday in what one news agency dubbed "an election without voters".

This was highlighting the growing disillusionment since the army seized power in 2013 and promised to restore democracy.

Voting got off to a slow start, a day after polling stations pointed to a turnout of around 10% in sharp contrast to the long lines and enthusiasm in the 2012 election.

Younger Egyptians who made up the majority of the population were virtually absent, with many people dismissing it as a sham or expressing doubt that new lawmakers would change anything.

In 2013, then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi overthrew Egypt's first freely-elected president, the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi, and promised a "roadmap to democracy".

In an apparent attempt to encourage voting, public sector workers received a half day holiday on Monday.

Treasury is certain that the wage agreements that will cost South Africa R63.9-billion over three years can be accommodated within the current expenditure limits.

In a written response to Parliament on Monday, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said “contingency reserves would play a role in accommodating higher compensation budgets this year, and so would resources available due to projected underspending”.

Some reprioritisation from other budget lines would also be required, he explained.

Nene was responding to a question by Democratic Alliance MP David Maynier two days before his mini budget speech in Parliament.

Maynier had challenged Nene to not deliver a business-as-usual budget speech, but warned that Nene would battle to narrow the budget deficit, stabilise public debt and rebuild fiscal space.

A pay deal for public servants had increased the government's wage bill from R412.7-billion to R466.8-billion over three years, challenging Treasury's ability to stop state spending.

Also making headlines:

Political parties and unions have voiced support for protesting university students at some of the country’s institutions.

The US vowed to press ahead with a review that could cut South Africa's access to trade benefits after the country missed a key deadline for resuming US poultry imports.

Academic activities at the Witwatersrand University would remain suspended today following protests against the proposed tuition fee hike.

And, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said rising food insecurity in Southern Africa was a concern.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today