October 4, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:
 

Home Affairs director general Mkuseli Apleni says Home Affairs will clamp down on graft.

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton says it’s crucial for all parties to join the Egyptian political process.

And, while progress has been made on broad-based black economic-empowerment, the amended Act promises to fast-track change in South Africa.

Home Affairs director general Mkuseli Apleni said on Thursday that numerous mechanisms had been adopted to curb the fraudulent issuing of documents by dishonest home affairs officials.

He said the department had installed biometric fingerprint readers for staff to access its systems. These are able to uniquely identify officials and what they are doing.

Apleni said the security of the South African passport had not been brought into question with the link to Kenyan terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite, who reportedly acquired a South African passport in 2011.

He said the circumstances surrounding the fraudulent acquisition of the South African passport by Lewthwaite, who has been dubbed the "White Widow" by the British media, were being investigated.

 

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said on Thursday it was important for all sides to take part in a political process in Egypt.

Ashton has been in Cairo this week to encourage reconciliation between the Muslim Brotherhood and the interim government, which was installed after the army removed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on July 3 following mass protests against his rule.

There was, however, no sign of an immediate breakthrough in the deadlocked political crisis between the now outlawed Brotherhood and the army-backed government, which has refused to negotiate with them.

While much progress has been made in rolling out the broad-based black economic-empowerment (or BBBEE) legislation first implemented ten years ago, many areas of growth haven’t materialised and the new amendments are expected to close those gaps.

Speaking at the start of the inaugural two-day BBBEE Summit, in Midrand, on Thursday, President Jacob Zuma said the amended policy, which was expected to be promulgated in mid-2014, aimed to fast-track and better guide South Africa in its transformation ambitions, while plotting the better alignment of the regulations with equal-opportunity growth in South Africa.

The first BBBEE Summit aimed to assess the progress made in implementing the BBBEE Act of 2003 and provide a platform to discuss the incoming amendments.
 

Also making headlines:
 

Guinea's opposition parties have pulled their delegates out of the national electoral commission after rejecting some provisional results from Sunday's parliamentary election.
 

The US has moved to block US military aid to Rwanda because of its support for the M23 Congolese rebel group believed to use child soldiers.

And, opposition parties call on President Jacob Zuma to answer for 'Guptagate.'
 

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.