December 5, 2014.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

Disparate groups have paid tribute to former president Nelson Mandela a year after his death.

Ninety-year-old Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe purged deputy Joice Mujuru seen just months ago as his most likely successor.

And, Professor Barney Pityana says the replacement of the African National Congress by a new ruling party should be seen as democracy in practice.

Disparate groups have paid tribute to former president Nelson Mandela a year after his death, agreeing that his contribution to securing constitutional democracy in South Africa should never be forgotten.

Congress of South African Trade Unions spokesperson Patrick Craven said this was a day to reflect on the momentous life of Mandela who served South Africa, and all humanity, in a way that no one individual has ever done or is ever likely to in the foreseeable future.

Craven said Mandela left it up to present and future generations to continue that struggle to see the promises of the Freedom Charter brought to life.

Former president FW de Klerk, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela in 1993 for his role in ending apartheid, said Madiba's life represented the struggle for freedom and non-racial democracy for the majority of South Africans.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said in a statement that Mandela taught the world to never give up hope.

Mandela died aged 95 on December 5 last year.

Ninety-year-old Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe purged the deputy who was seen just months ago as his most likely successor, denouncing her before party loyalists as leader of a "treacherous cabal" bent on removing him from power.

In a thunderous speech to 12 000 cadres of his ZANU-PF party, Mugabe threatened to turn the law on Vice President Joice Mujuru, whose status as presumed successor for Africa's oldest head of state has evaporated in the past three months since she became the target of attacks in state media.

His comments appeared to end the future in the ruling party of Mujuru, seen by some in the Zimbabwean business community as a common-sense leader who could have helped restore relations with the West that fell apart during the latter half of Mugabe's 34 years in power.

Mujuru was not present at the meeting, a ruling party congress that is meant to anoint its leadership for the next five years.

 

Professor Barney Pityana said at a "State of Democracy” debate on Thursday that the replacement of the African National Congress (or ANC) by a new ruling party would just be democracy in practice.

Pityana was speaking at Constitutional Hill where he said that the regime change should not be seen as a bad thing, and the South African Communist Party (or SACP) and ANC should be reminded that South Africa is a democracy.

The professor said he was convinced that political parties don't change because it is “nice” to change but rather they change if they perceive a serious threat to their electorate. He went on to say the fact that the ruling party recognises the likelihood of a political threat is good for South Africa and for our democracy.

President Jacob Zuma has previously admitted at an ANC Youth League National Congress event that the party was in trouble. 

Also making headlines:

Former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli is due back in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on Friday.

Government troops and South Sudanese rebels have been fighting for more than a week in a remote northern region of the country in the worst clashes since the rainy season receded in recent weeks.

And, a Kenyan warplane crashed in southern Somalia on Thursday, with the Kenyan military saying the crash was due to technical problems while Somali rebels said they had shot it down with a missile.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.