September 1, 2014.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Samantha Moolman.
Making headlines:

Lesotho's deputy premier takes charge after the country’s Prime Minister flees a 'coup'.

Ebola outbreak reaches Senegal, while riots break out in Guinea.

And, President Jacob Zuma tasks South African ambassadors with ‘vigorous’ trade promotion abroad.

Foreign Ministers of the Southern African Development Community (or SADC) states are meeting in Pretoria this morning to discuss the reported “coup” in Lesotho.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation said President Jacob Zuma called the meeting in his capacity as the chair of the SADC organ on politics and defence. The meeting will be attended by Zimbabwe and Namibia.

However, the department couldn’t confirm the reported meeting between Zuma and Lesotho’s Prime Minister Thomas Thabane and other members of the kingdom’s coalition.

The SADC meeting comes after tensions erupted in the small neighbouring country. On Saturday, the Lesotho Defence Force took over radio and TV stations, resulting in a total broadcasting black out. The army had also taken over several police stations, including the police headquarters.

The incidents have also forced Thabane and one of the leaders in the coalition government to go into hiding.

The West African state of Senegal became the fifth country to be hit by the world's worst Ebola outbreak on Friday, while riots broke out in neighbouring Guinea's remote southeast where infection rates are rising fast.

In the latest sign that the outbreak of the virus, which has already killed at least 1 550 people, is spinning out of control, the World Health Organisation said that Ebola cases rose last week at the fastest pace since the epidemic began in West Africa in March.

The epidemic has defied efforts by governments to control it, prompting the leading charity fighting the outbreak, Doctors Without Borders, to call for the UN Security Council to take charge of efforts to stop it.

Including the fatalities, more than 3 000 have been infected since the virus was detected in the remote jungles of southeastern Guinea in March and quickly spread across the border to Liberia and Sierra Leone. It has also touched Nigeria, where six people have died.

Reiterating that the economy would remain the country’s apex priority over the next five years, President Jacob Zuma at the weekend urged South African ambassadors and high commissioners stationed abroad to prepare themselves for “vigorous” marketing and trade promotion. He appealed to missions to “gear themselves” towards supporting the economic cluster and opening up opportunities for foreign trade engagements.

Noting that South Africa’s fiscal position remained “sound”, despite low levels of investment, Zuma appealed to diplomats to promote the National Development Plan Vision for 2030, stating that the Department of Trade and Industry had, among its goals for this year, the creation of 15 government-to government trade platforms.

He said government had established an inter-Ministerial committee on information and publicity, led by Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe, to position the country abroad while communicating more effectively domestically.

Also making headlines:

The experimental Ebola drug ZMapp cures 100% of lab monkeys.

An Egyptian court sentenced Mohamed Badie, general guide of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, and seven others to life in prison on Saturday for inciting violence during protests last year.

And, Islamists attack intelligence site in Somalia, leaving 11 dead.

Also on Polity:

The Institute for Security Studies has published its latest Peace and Security Council Report, which outlines the role the Peace and Security Council plays in supporting talks on the situation in Mali.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines.