For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: Mokonyane says Madikizela-Mandela was more than Nelson Mandela's wife, Malema says patriarchy robbed Winnie of the opportunity to be the first woman president And, Energy minister to sign renewable energy deal with independent power producers

 

Mokonyane says Madikizela-Mandela was more than Nelson Mandela's wife

Communications Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has labelled accounts by some media houses of the life and times of struggle hero Winnie Madikizela-Mandela as "devoid of truth and a clear example of a lack of journalistic research".

In a statement released a day after Madikizela-Mandela's death, Mokonyane said she had noted reports from a local broadcaster and some international news agencies which continued to use an apartheid era narrative to cast aspersions on Madikizela-Mandela's character.

Mokonyane also condemned what she called a grossly gendered narrative that casts aside Madikizela-Mandela's status as a freedom fighter, and instead makes her role as the wife of Nelson Mandela her most important contribution.

 

Malema says patriarchy robbed Winnie of the opportunity to be the first woman president

EFF leader Julius Malema said yesterday that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela could have been the country's first female president, but added that she was rejected because of patriarchy within the ANC.

Speaking at the stalwart's family home Malema said Madikizela-Mandela was a stone that was rejected by the builder and added that she was the president that South Africa never had.

He lambasted the media for what he said was an attempt to "assassinate her character".

He told EFF supporters, who had accompanied him to the Madikizela-Mandela home and had camped outside the gates, that those in the pockets of white minority control had joined a white minority to destroy her, even when she wanted to liberate them.

Energy minister to sign renewable energy deal with independent power producers

Energy minister Jeff Radebe was today due to sign renewable energy agreements with independent power producers on behalf of State-owed power utility Eskom, his department said.

The department of energy said the 27 projects, located in mainly rural parts of South Africa, would amount to R55.92-billion in new direct investment in the energy sector and create much needed jobs.

The agreements will be signed after the high court threw out a bid by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and Transform RSA to block the deal, which they said would lead to at least 30 000 job losses in Mpumalanga province, home to five Eskom coal fired power stations.

Numsa said it does not oppose renewable energy or an energy mix, but wanted a sector which was controlled and owned by workers and the community.

 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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