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

Making headlines: South Africa adds 800 MW capacity unit to national grid; Ramaphosa says false narrative on S Africa's human rights culture must be challenged; And, Kenya has applied for new IMF lending programme, finance minister says

South Africa adds 800 MW capacity unit to national grid

South Africa’s state electricity utility added an 800 MW unit at the Kusile Power Station to the national grid, amid ongoing efforts to boost generation and bring an end to scheduled outages.

The addition of Kusile’s Unit 6 brings Eskom closer to its objective of adding 2 500 MW of new capacity by the end of March.

The unit will undergo testing and optimisation over the next six months, after which it will be officially added to Eskom’s generation fleet. Once all units are fully operational, Kusile will contribute a total of 4 800 MW to the national grid, making it South Africa’s largest infrastructure project, Eskom said.

Ramaphosa says false narrative on S Africa's human rights culture must be challenged

President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africans should challenge what he termed “the completely false narrative” that South Africa is a place in which people of a certain race or culture are being targeted for persecution.

Last week South Africa observed Human Rights Day, which honours the 69 unarmed protestors who were killed by the apartheid police in Sharpeville on March 21, 1960.

Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that South Africans should reject the politics of divisiveness that is emerging in many parts of the world.

Last month, US President Donald Trump accused South Africa of "confiscating land" and "treating some classes of people very badly".

This after Ramaphosa signed into law the controversial Expropriation Bill, which was met with criticism from some opposition parties and civil society, which led to Trump terminating all United States Agency for International Development aid to South Africa.

Ramaphosa said citizens should not allow events in other countries to divide citizens or turn them against each other, explaining that since the end of apartheid South Africa had been recognised globally for upholding human rights.

He said South Africans should be proud of the fact that the majority of South Africans continue to believe in democracy, human rights and the rule of law as universal values,” he said.

And, Kenya has applied for new IMF lending programme, finance minister says

Kenya has applied for a new lending programme from the International Monetary Fund to factor in unused money from the current programme, which both sides walked away from last week, Finance Minister John Mbadi said.

The East African nation and the IMF agreed last week to scupper the ninth and final review of the current programme, which was set to expire next month. Mbadi said the decision to do so was down to time limitations.

Mbadi said there was roughly $800-million left on the table.

President William Ruto's government has struggled to get its finances back on track after a borrowing spree led to a surge in debt-servicing costs.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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