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September 18, 2012
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Gia Costella.
Making headlines:

South Africa's top unions group fears for its future.

United Nations peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous says Congo rebels have set up a de facto administration.

And, Lonmin’s platinum miners accept a pay rise to end their 6-week strike.

A top South African labour leader has urged a fresh start for the country's biggest unions, saying change was needed in the wake of recent violence and the challenge posed by the rise of the militant AMCU union.

General secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Zwelinzima Vavi told the group's national congress that a shift in mindset was necessary to recognise that the labour movement needed to renew itself and re-establish its very purpose of existence.

Vavi also said that if leadership lost touch with members' concerns, there was the danger of established unions getting outflanked by the new independent unions that are emerging as a result of dissatisfaction from the shop floor.

United Nations peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous says that Congolese rebels have set up a de facto administration in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ladsous briefed the 15-member Security Council following his recent visit to DRC and Rwanda. He said that the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of Congo had to be respected and that there needeed to be some confidence rebuilt between the two main neighbors.

The Security Council urged a political solution to the crisis rather than applying sanctions.

A high-level meeting on the DRC is due to be held next week during the UN General Assembly in New York.

Striking platinum miners at Lonmin's Marikana mine in South Africa have accepted a hefty pay rise offer. This ends six weeks of violent labour unrest that killed 45 people and rattled Africa's largest economy.

The strikers cheered when they were told that management was offering a 22% pay increase and said they would return to work on Thursday.

At least one analyst has expressed concern over the Marikana wage increase, saying that this could trigger a rash of pay demands across a mining sector already being squeezed by low metals prices and rising labour and electricity costs.

Lonmin confirmed that the deal had been signed in Rustenburg on Tuesday night. The agreement includes a signing bonus of R2 000 and an average rise in wages of between 11% and 22% for all employees falling within the Category 3 to 8 bargaining units. The agreement will be effective from October 1, 2012.

Also making headlines:

The Full report from the government’s ‘Investigation of Hydraulic Fracturing in the Karoo Basin of South Africa’ has been published.

Sudan and South Sudan leaders will wrap up talks to end hostilities at a summit in Ethiopia.

And, the US has offered condolences to the families of the South Africans who were killed in an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.