For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: Acting President Paul Mashatile declares special official funeral for Essop Pahad; Official blames illegal mining for gas leak that killed 17; And, Eskom’s approved plan to bypass pollution rules hit by appeal

Acting President Paul Mashatile declares special official funeral for Essop Pahad;

Paul Mashatile, in his capacity as the country's acting president, will deliver the eulogy at the special funeral for former Minister in the Presidency, Essop Pahad.

Mashatile is acting president while President Cyril Ramaphosa is on a working trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Pahad served as Minister in the Presidency from 1999 to 2008 and was known as former president Thabo Mbeki's right-hand man.

He died in his sleep this morning at the age of 84, his family confirmed. 

Pahad was buried at the Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg this afternoon in a special official funeral.

Official blames illegal mining for gas leak that killed 17

The death toll from an overnight gas cylinder leak in a South African shantytown rose to 17 today, as one local official blamed the accident on an illegal mining operation that went wrong.

Gauteng Province Premier Panyaza Lesufi said investigations were under way to determine how the leak happened and what type of gas was involved.

This morning he visited the site of the disaster near Boksburg, east of Johannesburg. In December, a gas tanker explosion in the same township killed dozens and destroyed houses and vehicles.

Bodies of the victims of Wednesday's leak were scattered over the area, Lesufi said, with the youngest a one-year-old child.

A spokesperson for the Disaster and Emergency Management Services in Ekurhuleni municipality, where the disaster occurred, linked it to illegal mining.

And, Eskom’s approved plan to bypass pollution rules hit by appeal

Environmental activists have appealed against a South African government decision to allow Eskom to bypass equipment used to reduce sulphur dioxide pollution while it repairs one of its biggest coal-fired power plants.

The appeal has been filed to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment by groundWork and the Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action, according to court documents distributed by the Centre for Environmental Rights, the lawyers representing the groups.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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