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

Making headlines: Mantashe doubles down on characterisation of Electricity Minister as ‘project manager’, Multiparty coalition awaiting DA’s new mayoral candidate and, Cape Town mayor slams docking of warship in harbour

Mantashe doubles down on characterisation of Electricity Minister as ‘project manager’

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has doubled down on his characterisation of the proposed Minister of Electricity as that of a project manager but has denied that such a portrayal reduces the authority of the appointee.

In a speech made in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address, Mantashe argued that a project management approach emphasised “urgency of execution and delivery”.

Nevertheless, the proposed appointment has been heavily criticised, including by business, which has argued that it could blur lines of responsibility and could result in turf wars.

There have also been media reports that Mantashe himself had been blindsided by the President’s announcement; a point that Economic Freedom Fighter’s leader Julius Malema sought to exploit by suggesting that Ramaphosa had ignored a resolution of his own party, which said that Eskom should be placed under the Energy Minister.

The leader of the official opposition John Steenhuisen described the move as adding yet another Ministry to a “bloated Cabinet”, rather than “removing the incompetent Ministers of Energy and Public Enterprises who block reform”.

Multiparty coalition awaiting DA’s new mayoral candidate

The signed coalition agreement by the Coalition Oversight Group of the governing multiparty coalition in the City of Tshwane requires that the Democratic Alliance, as the party proposing a new candidate for mayor, consult the multiparty coalition once it has undergone its internal processes to select a new mayoral candidate.

Mayor Randall Williams resigned from his position on Monday and said his decision was in the interest of the continued stability of the coalition in the city, which he said was one of his core goals.

The multiparty coalition acknowledged his resignation as an important step in stabilising and ensuring the future of the coalition.

The coalition includes the DA, ActionSA, the Freedom Front Plus, the Inkatha Freedom Party, the African Christian Democratic Party and the Congress of the People.

Cape Town mayor slams docking of warship in harbour

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has strongly condemned the docking of a Russian battleship in the city's harbour.

On Monday, the Russian government's Twitter page posted a picture of the "Admiral Gorshkov" battleship's arrival in Cape Town.

Replying to a tweet on the Russian government page, Hill-Lewis did not mince his words about South Africa hosting the ship.

The Mayor said the ship was not welcome in the Mother City and said Cape Town will not be complicit in Russia's evil war.

And the controversy deepens as the government prepares to host the People's Liberation Army Navy from China and the Russian Federal Navy during a multilateral maritime exercise scheduled to take place from 17 to 27 February.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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