February 19, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

Eskom says emergency repairs to the Majuba power station have added around 1 800 megawatts to the grid.

Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane launches the Electoral Observation Mission in Lesotho.

And, South Africa's parliamentary Speaker Baleka Mbete apologises for calling Julius Malema a "cockroach".

 

State-run electricity utility Eskom said emergency repairs to the Majuba power station in South Africa have added around 1 800 megawatts to the grid. This reduced the need for controlled power outages.

Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said the company was using mobile feeders as temporary conveyer belts to deliver the coal to the units at Majuba.

A silo at Majuba collapsed last year, triggering a wave of rolling blackouts that disrupted business and annoyed the man on the street in Africa's most advanced economy.

 

 

International Relations and Cooperation Minister, as well as head of the Southern African Development Community (or SADC) Electoral Observation Mission, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, has launched the SADC Electoral Observation Mission (or SEOM) to the national assembly elections in Lesotho.

Kingdom people will go to the polls on 28 February following an attempted military coup that took place in the remote and mountainous nation of Lesotho last year forcing Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to seek refuge in South Africa.

Nkoana-Mashabane said elections provided a platform for genuine and true participation of the people in the political and governance process, through electing leaders of their choice.

 

South Africa's parliamentary Speaker Baleka Mbete said she was sorry for calling firebrand opposition lawmaker Julius Malema a "cockroach" in the aftermath of a chaotic State of the Nation address last week.

Mbete received criticism from the Democratic Alliance and political analysts, who said her comments proved that she was unfit to lead parliament. Political analysts warned her position was under threat

Members of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters repeatedly interrupted Zuma's speech at the opening of parliament last Thursday to challenge him about graft allegations.

Two days later, Mbete told an African National Congress rally that Malema was a "cockroach" and that Zuma's speech was a "beautiful opportunity" to "deal with those irritants".

 

Also making headlines:

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has announced that the turbine at Medupi Unit 6 was "running at the optimum speed of 3 000 revolutions per minute", which represented a "critical milestone" in the commissioning of the unit.

World Energy Council Africa vice-chairperson Bonang Mohale said Africa had the potential to be one of the biggest providers of energy in the world, but was still seen as a “good for nothing” continent, particularly with regard to US investment.

Around 30 civilians were killed when an unidentified airplane dropped a bomb on a Nigerian border village on Wednesday.

And, Libya and Egypt asked the UN Security Council to lift an arms embargo on Libya, impose a naval blockade on areas not under government control and help build the country's army to tackle Islamic State and other militants.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.