June 24, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:

South Africa's first new political party in five years, Agang SA, invokes the spirit of Nelson Mandela.

A popular backlash grows against Brazilian protests after violence.

And, Deputy International Relations Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim hopes Zimbabwe’s top court will allow the election date to be pushed back.

 

A leading apartheid-era activist launched South Africa's first new political party in five years on Saturday and said the ruling African National Congress was destroying the continent's biggest economy. However, despite widening schisms in the ANC and allegations of graft and poor leadership, the party remains an unrivalled political machine commanding a nearly two-thirds majority in parliament.

Nevertheless, 'Agang' party leader Mamphela Ramphele said her party would contest the 2014 election.  An anti-apartheid campaigner and partner of Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko, Ramphele said millions were still living like forgotten citizens and that the country had not come far enough, fast enough. Agang is a Sesotho word meaning let us build.

Ramphele referred to the optimism that prevailed at South Africa's first all-race elections in 1994. She remembered the outpouring of hope and joy at the release of Nelson Mandela, fist raised in defiance.

"Our country has reached a crossroads and I for one do not want to think about where we will be in five years time unless we change course," she said in her launch speech in Pretoria.

 

A popular backlash against Brazil's nationwide protests took hold on Friday after widespread rioting overnight. The leftist group at the movement's core said it was done organizing marches for now because of growing discord and violence.

President Dilma Rousseff met with top aides on Friday morning to figure out how to respond after more than one-million Brazilians in over 100 cities took to the streets.

The protests blossomed over the past week, catching Rousseff and other politicians off guard as Brazilians vented anger over issues from corruption and poor public transport to billions of dollars being spent to host the soccer World Cup next year.

The marches have contributed to a selloff in Brazilian financial markets and have deeply embarrassed the country as it hosts the Confederations Cup, a warm-up tournament for the World Cup taking place in several cities hit by the protests. TV images have shown terrified fans and tourists running past clashes between police and demonstrators to get to stadiums.

 

Deputy International Relations Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim said the South African government hopes the top court in Zimbabwe will allow the crucial Zimbabwe election date to be pushed back from July 31.

He said, in line with resolutions of a Southern African Development Community summit held in Maputo, immediate steps had to be taken to create conducive conditions for credible elections.

Ebrahim said without undermining the Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court decision, any reasonable court would see that there are certain constitutional and logistical problems that will arise if elections were held on July 31.  He said he was informed of previous instances in Zimbabwe where extensions were granted for local government elections.

 

Also making headlines:

South Africans appear resigned to the inevitability of one day saying goodbye to former president Nelson Mandela

South Africa’s Department of Energy makes fresh call for potential developers of baseload and cogeneration electricity facilities to register their projects by July 12.

And, the total outstanding debt owed to Eskom by municipalities in the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Mpumalanga and the North West amounts to R1.1-billion.

 

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.