November 13, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Dylan Stewart.

Making headlines:
The ANC is disappointed with the Rustenburg by-election results,
The Burundi crisis could spread
And, Ramaphosa says government respects the public protector

 

The ANC said it was disappointed in the results of the Rustenburg ward 17 by-election after the DA retained the ward.

The DA claimed a 86.5% majority win, the ANC 8% and the Vryheidsfront Plus 5.34%.

ANC North West provincial secretary Dakota Legoete said the outcome showed that ward 17 in Rustenburg was white-dominated and that blacks residing there were only a few labourers.

Meanwhile, DA Rustenburg constituency leader Herman Groenewald said the results were a clear sign that the DA continued to grow in key battleground municipalities and wards ahead of the 2016 elections.

 

The UN, AU and the EU warned on Thursday that political division in Burundi threatened to create a deep and violent regional crisis.

They spoke of the "urgency" of a meeting between President Burundi Pierre Nkurunziza's government and the opposition, either in Addis Ababa, or in the Ugandan capital Kampala, where Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni would chair talks.

At least 240 people have been killed and tens of thousands have fled since Nkurunziza decided in April to run for a third term, which he won in a disputed election in July.

Nkurunziza's bid for a new term - which many of his critics say is unconstitutional - plunged the country into crisis, including violent clashes between protesters and security forces in Bujumbura and a series of targeted killings.

 

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that government respected the office of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela and that she was not being singled out.

Asked by DA MP Phumzile van Damme about what was seen as unfair treatment of the public protector and her repeated cries for more funding, Ramaphosa said government was committed to the office of the public protector.

Media reports revealed that the public protector was closing some regional offices due to lack of funds.

The first office that would be shut permanently was the Siyabuswa regional office in Mpumalanga.

 

Also making headlines:
Obama calls Zuma to discuss meat and the Middle East
Nehawu won't budge over protests
And, Ramaphhosa says he can't speak on Marikana

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today