October 30, 2014
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini
Making headlines: 

Zambia's Guy Scott became Africa's first white head of State in 20 years. 

State-owned power utility Eskom on Wednesday warned of possible rotational loadshedding.

And, Reports that Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa's family appointed private investigators to help solve his murder put pressure on police, the Institute for Security Studies said on Wednesday.

Zambia's Guy Scott became Africa's first white head of State in 20 years on Wednesday following the death of President Michael Sata who died on Tuesday in a London hospital at the age of 77.

Scott is a Cambridge-educated economist born to Scottish parents and was Sata's vice president.  The seventy-year old takes over as interim leader until an election in three months making him the first white African leader since South Africa's FW de Klerk who lost to Nelson Mandela in the 1994 election that ended apartheid. 

He said elections for the office of president would take place within 90 days adding that in the interim he is acting president. Scott will not run for president because of citizen restrictions, said analysts.

Sata who was nicknamed "King Cobra" because of his venomous tongue, was receiving medical treatment for an undisclosed illness. He had been president of Zambia, Africa's second-largest copper producer, since 2011.

State-owned power utility Eskom on Wednesday warned of possible rotational loadshedding as “technical problems” further strained an already tight national grid. The utility had called on industrial customers as well as consumers to cut their electricity consumption by 10% and said it expected the constraints to last throughout the week.

The utility’s spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said this was attributed to undisclosed technical problems experienced at some of the utility’s power stations and the loss of additional generating units. He said it was a combination of technical issues at the group's coal-fired power stations to which there was no common thread.

Etzinger also pointed out that the ageing power stations were generally less reliable than the utility would like, adding that Eskom was doing everything it could to ensure the continued supply of electricity. Meanwhile, newly appointed CEO Tshediso Matona said their technical teams are hard at work to bring back units at their generating plants.

Etzinger mentioned that supply would remain tight until the weekend when demand eased and some of the technical issues were expected to be resolved. However, he warned that the system would remain fragile throughout November.

Reports that Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa's family appointed private investigators to help solve his murder put pressure on police, the Institute for Security Studies (or ISS) said on Wednesday. Johan Burger of the ISS crime and justice department said the fact that private investigators were appointed may keep police on their toes.

Meyiwa was shot dead in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni  while visiting his girlfriend, singer and actress Kelly Khumalo, on Sunday night. The attackers apparently demanded cellphones and money.

Burger said in cases where there was national and international media interest, police are more likely to put together special investigative teams; however, he went on to say a family might choose to appoint private investigators due to a lack of confidence in the ability of police to effectively and efficiently investigate.

Also making headlines:

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's office confirmed on Wednesday that he will seek a second term in office in elections set for February.

South Africa's central bank defended its inflation targeting policy on Thursday, saying it had helped reduce price pressures and contributed to more favourable economic growth.

And, a Moroccan national, accused of plotting to attack Harvard University and a federal building with bombs attached to a drone, was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday by a federal judge in Connecticut.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.