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

Making headlines: Mantashe says mining companies can generate own power without licenses, Ramaphosa says empowering women is not a favour and, Casac wants deadline for Zondo Commission

Mantashe says mining companies can generate own power without licenses

Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe told delegates at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town today that government had conceded that it must allow mining companies to produce energy for their own use.

Mantashe also invited investors to either partner with government or invest on their own in the creation of an alternative power generation entity to Eskom.

Mining companies, by producing their own energy, would be easing pressure on ailing power utility Eskom, which announced today that power outages would continue until 6am on Thursday.

Ramaphosa says empowering women is not a favour

President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed that South Africa, in its capacity as chair of the African Union, plans to improve women’s representation in economic and political decision-making processes in Africa.

Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly newsletter to the country that he will be travelling to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia at the end of the week for the African Union summit, at which South Africa will assume chairship for the next year.

He said empowering women was not a favour or a voluntarily adopted option but stated that it was a basic principle cherished by any society founded on human rights.

Casac wants deadline for Zondo Commission

The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution wants the judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of State capture, led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, to firm up its plans and give clarity on where it stands.

The council says the commission is eating up millions of rands and the South African taxpayer isn’t getting much in return for it.

Zondo recently applied for a 10-month extension of his commission’s lifespan, which is supposed to cease to exist at the end of February.

The council said it does not oppose Zondo’s application for an extension but wants the Gauteng High Court to order the commission to provide it with a clear roadmap on how it plans to conclude its work.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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