February 19, 2025.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines:

South African budget postponed over lack of agreement, Parliament says

ANC reconfigures Gauteng, KZN PECs

And, Egypt says Gaza should be rebuilt without displacing Palestinians

South African budget postponed over lack of agreement, Parliament says

South Africa's national budget, which was meant to be tabled today, has been postponed until further notice because of a lack of agreement, the speaker of the National Assembly said.

Speaker Thoko Didiza told lawmakers that budget proceedings had never been postponed like this in the three decades since the end of apartheid.

This year the African National Congress will need the support of other parties to pass the budget, as it lost its parliamentary majority in an election last year.

Its main partner in the coalition government that emerged last year, the Democratic Alliance, has called a press conference, where it says it will give its position on the budget process.

ANC reconfigures Gauteng, KZN PECs

The African National Congress has reconfigured its Provincial Executive Committees in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, incorporating experienced leaders and veterans as part of plans to reinforce stability and renewal.

The party explained that the leadership in these provinces would focus on inspiring hope, addressing electoral setbacks, and driving transformation and development in line with the ANC’s renewal agenda.

Following the electoral losses suffered by the ANC in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal during last year’s general elections, the party called for leadership in those provinces to be reconstituted, in terms of the framework of its constitution.

ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the intervention, aligned with the party’s constitution, was part of a broader strategy to rebuild the movement and prepare for the 2026 Local Government Elections.

The ANC held engagements with the PECs of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday to communicate the decision of the party’s National Executive Committee.

Egypt says Gaza should be rebuilt without displacing Palestinians

Egypt's president called on the international community to adopt a plan to rebuild war-torn Gaza without displacing Palestinians, after a proposal by US President Donald Trump angered Arabs with his own vision for the enclave.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told a press conference with Spain's prime minister in Madrid that the international community must adopt a plan to reconstruct the Gaza strip without displacing Palestinians.

Trump has proposed a plan to redevelop the tiny enclave into an international beach resort after resettling its Palestinian inhabitants. He called on Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians.

Egypt and Jordan, along with other Arab states, rejected the plan and said they will work on an alternative to counter Trump's proposal, but there are no signs they are making serious progress.

Sisi added that the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency, which provides aid, health and education services to millions in the Palestinian territories and neighbouring Arab countries of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, was indispensable for Palestinians.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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