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

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says Eskom is racing to recruit as many skilled people as possible.

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa exacerbates violence against women.

And, Eskom says there’s a medium chance of power cuts expected on Thursday.

 

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said power utility Eskom was trying to recruit as many skilled people as possible, regardless of their skin colour.

He said he was not aware of the so-called "backroom", race-based retrenchments taking place at the parastal, though there had been voluntary retrenchments.

He added that these retrenchments had since been stopped, however, because the utility wanted to retain as many skilled people as it could.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Eskom was planning to reduce the number of white engineers and artisans it employed to comply with new government requirements.

Eskom has since denied it has a policy of retrenching employees based on race.

 

Political ministers from Guinea and Liberia said the Ebola epidemic in West Africa was exacerbating violence against women and rolled back access to reproductive healthcare in the region.

Guinea’s minister of social action, women and children Sanaba Kaba said data indicated a 4.5% increase in cases of gender-based violence since before the epidemic, including twice as many rapes.

Liberia and Sierra Leone also saw more cases of gender-based violence as a result of the outbreak.

The death toll from West Africa's Ebola outbreak has passed 10 000, according to the latest tally released by the World Health Organisation.

 

Power utility Eskom said there was a medium chance of power cuts on Thursday.

The power utility said there was a medium probability of load shedding during the day, with a high probability of load shedding for this evening.

Citizens are urged to use electricity efficiently and sparingly.

 

Also making headlines:

Real estate investors and developers continue to see Africa as a significant opportunity, despite the “unique” risks paired with the development of the continent.

The East London industrial development zone will develop a wind farm that will generate in excess of three-million kilowatt-hours a year of electricity.

Mali's government said it would not participate in further talks with rebels seeking autonomy for northern Mali, leaving the future of a UN-brokered peace process in question.

Gunmen in military uniforms stormed Tunisia's national museum, killing 17 foreign tourists and two Tunisians on Wednesday in one of the worst militant attacks in a country that has largely escaped the region's "Arab Spring" turmoil.

And, Niger faces a large cereal deficit and will struggle to feed its people as well as the thousands of Boko Haram refugees that have spilled over its border. 

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.