November 12, 2014.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Zandile Mavuso.
Making headlines:

The Congress of South Africa Trade Unions will lose more than R1-million a month in affiliation fees after its central executive committee expelled the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa. 

Zambia is urged to hold a stable vote as it buries its ex-leader Michael Sata.   

And, South Africa has taken bold steps to fight climate change.

The Congress of South Africa Trade Unions will lose more than R1-million a month in affiliation fees after its central executive committee decided to expel the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa. 

Numsa treasurer Mphumzi Maqungo said that in order to be a member in good standing in Cosatu, the union was to pay an affillaition fee. Numsa's estimate of R1-million a month was based on a R2.92 affiliation fee from each of its estimated 350 000 members.

This meant Cosatu could lose more than R12-million a year without Numsa.

Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said the issue of finances was "a matter that Cosatu was still looking at".

Numsa has been at loggerheads with Cosatu since the trade union federation's general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi was suspended last year for having an affair with a junior employee.

The African Union called on Tuesday for a stable electoral transition in Zambia as the country buried late president Michael Sata.

Sata, who died in a London hospital from an undisclosed illness two weeks ago at the age of 77, was interred at Embassy Park, Zambia's presidential burial site, as an artillery unit fired a 21-gun salute and Zambian air force jets flew overhead.

Vice-President Guy Scott became the continent's first white leader since the 1994 end of South African apartheid when he was named interim president. Zambia is expected to hold elections by January.

Questions about Zambia's stability arose when Scott fired a presidential front-runner, Edgar Lungu, as secretary-general of the ruling party on November 3, without explaining why. Scott reinstated him on November 4 after the move triggered unrest.

The central committee of the ruling Patriotic Front party will meet on Thursday to discuss the selection of its presidential candidate.

Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa announced at the 2014 National Climate Change Dialogue that South Africa had taken bold steps to fight climate change. She said that three years ago renewable energy projects were small and lacking investment, but today there was rapid uptake of large-scale renewable energy technologies through the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (or REIPPP).

To date, 3 933 MW have already been procured under the REIPPP, which aimed to contribute to the country’s energy supply.

She said South Africa was greening its cities with a wide range of actions, including reducing energy load in buildings, creating a recycling economy, and restoring wetlands that protect precious water resources. Through the government’s national Green Fund, the department has adopted an innovative approach to catalysing investment in green programmes

Presenting key milestones of South Africa's journey and responses towards a lower carbon and climate-resilient economy, Minister Molewa said South Africa had a National Climate Change Response Policy that charts the course for actions that are both developmental and transformational.

Also making headlines:

Pan-African Capital Holdings CE Dr Iraj Abedian says a platinum exchange could benefit the South African economy and advance its beneficiation objectives.

A UN envoy held talks for the first time with the head of a self-declared Libyan parliament, which rejects the internationally recognised authorities, as part of efforts to find a solution to the country's deepening conflict.

Mali records its second death due to the Ebola virus.

And, Nigeria's envoy to Washington criticized US support in the battle against Boko Haram militants as insufficient, including failure to share enough intelligence and sell needed weaponry to fight the Islamist group.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.