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

Making headlines: Frustrated Ramaphosa threatens to leave AU session early; Unemployment rate remains at 29.1%; And, No load-shedding reprieve for Tuesday afternoon

Frustrated Ramaphosa threatens to leave AU session early

President Cyril Ramaphosa has had a rough start to his first chairing of the African Union, threatening to leave an ordinary session before it concluded in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Ramaphosa was so fed up with diplomats and heads of State taking issue with the translation of adoptions that he threatened to leave the summit early to prepare for his State of the Nation Address, which he will deliver on Thursday before a joint sitting of Parliament.

The two-day gathering, which was meant to end at 21:30 was called off at 03:00.

Ramaphosa was unable to make his closing address or brief the media.

Unemployment rate remains at 29.1%

South Africa’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 29.1% in the quarter ended December 31.

Statistics South Africa statistician-general Risenga Maluleke said the number of employed persons had increased by 45 000 to 16.4-million. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 8 000 to 6.7-million in the fourth quarter, resulting in an increase of 38 000 persons in the labour force.

Maluleke explained that the expanded unemployment rate was 38.7%, or 10.4-million people, in the fourth quarter, which included discouraged work-seekers and those with other reasons for not searching for work.

And, No load-shedding reprieve for Tuesday afternoon

Eskom will continue to implement stage 1 rotational load-shedding until 6 am on Wednesday due to a shortage of capacity and the need to replenish its emergency reserves.

This means power cuts will not be suspended between 4 pm and 6 pm on Tuesday during peak traffic. 

It said it would provide an update on Tuesday evening about its prognosis for Wednesday. 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

Don’t forget to download the Polity apps for Iphone and android devices