April 2, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:

Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir orders the release of all political prisoners.

South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela is visited by family after his weekend improvement.

And, the Central African Republic's opposition says it will boycott the new government.

Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir ordered the release of all political prisoners on Monday. The move was cautiously welcomed by the opposition in the tightly-controlled African country. However, Bashir didn’t say when and how many prisoners would be released.

Rights groups have accused the government of holding an unspecified number of dissidents since the security services cracked down hard on small protests against austerity measures unveiled by Bashir last year. In February, a UN human rights expert said Sudan was holding opposition figures and other detainees without trial and denying them urgent medical care.

Bashir said he would also renew a commitment to create a climate to hold a national dialogue with the other political forces. Bashir's comments come after Vice President Ali Osman Taha last week invited rebel groups to help prepare a new constitution following the secession of the south in July 2011.

Kamal Omar, spokesperson for the National Consensus Forces grouping of the main opposition parties, said Bashir's comments were a step in the right direction. However, he also said a climate that would allow political dialogue, freedom of expression and press freedom was needed.

South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela who is being treated in hospital for pneumonia, was visited by members of his family on Monday. The visit comes after doctors reported an improvement in his condition over the weekend.

In their previous bulletin late on Sunday, the medical team treating Mandela said he had a "restful day" and had shown further improvement after a procedure to drain excess fluid from around his lungs. Doctors had already said he was breathing without difficulty.

Mandela's latest treatment is his third visit to hospital in four months, generating worldwide concern over the health of the revered statesman and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who became South Africa's first black president in 1994.

Central African Republic's opposition said it wouldn’t participate in a caretaker government nominated by the country's self-proclaimed president, claiming it has been stacked with rebel sympathisers.

The move will complicate a planned transition back to civilian rule in the resource-rich former French colony after fighters from the Seleka rebel coalition stormed the capital on March 24 and ousted President Francois Bozize.

A spokesperson for the country's nine main opposition parties Edouard Koyambounou, said the opposition is suspending its participation in the new government, because it can’t accept the fact that 16 posts have been handed over to Seleka allies disguised as civil society activists.

Chad will host a regional summit on the situation in Central African Republic on April 3. South African President Jacob Zuma is expected to attend. Koyambounou said the opposition was not planning to attend the N'Djamena summit.

Also making headlines: 

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has awarded a R485-million digital radio system contract to information and communications technology giant Huawei.
 

Mali troops hunt for Islamist rebels following clashes in Timbuktu.
 

Peace and calm have been restored in presidential candidate Raila Odinga’s western Kenyan stronghold.
 

And, a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling moves ArcelorMittal South Africa and Kumba Iron Ore’s dispute a step closer to resolution.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.