For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines: Zandile Gumede promises to respect step aside rule if elected, Oscar Mabuyane suspends Eastern Cape education department head and, Zelensky warns North Africa will face hunger if war persists

Zandile Gumede promises to respect step aside rule if elected

Corruption-accused former ANC eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede has said she will not fight the ANC’s step-aside rule if she is elected ANC regional chairperson at the upcoming conference. 

The much anticipated ANC eThekwini regional conference starts on Friday, where Gumede is competing against speaker Thabani Nyawose for the top position. 

Gumede faces corruption charges relating to an irregular R320-million municipal waste tender awarded in 2017. She has pleaded not guilty.

Gumede said she believed ANC branch delegates would elect her despite the charges she faces, because she says they know she is innocent. 

Oscar Mabuyane suspends Eastern Cape education department head

Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane suspended provincial education department head Naledi Mbude and has instructed her to leave behind all government equipment, and documents in her possession.

He has also barred her from entering any departmental buildings. 

This comes amid heavy criticism over the scandal-plagued department's return of an unspent R205-million infrastructure grant to the National Treasury, even though public schools are under-resourced.

Several schools opened without textbooks this year.

Eastern Cape legislature member and deputy chairperson of the party in the province, Yusuf Cassim, said the suspension of Mbude comes after she revealed several concerns about the department at a portfolio committee meeting on Monday. 

Zelensky warns North Africa will face hunger if war persists

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has told Ireland’s Parliament that more countries will face hunger, especially the North African regions, as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues.  

Zelensky was addressing a special sitting in Ireland attended by Ukrainian refugees seeking refuge in the country.

He pleaded with the Irish government to show more leadership in the anti-war coalition and to convince EU partners to introduce more rigid sanctions against Russia in an effort to stop its advance.

Recent reports state that the US and EU are preparing for new sanctions, including a ban on Russian coal, over the killings in Northern Ukraine, which Zelensky has described as genocide.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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