Thursday, May 7, 2009
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.
Making headlines:
At the first sitting of South Africa's fourth Parliament yesterday, African National Congress Members of Parliament sang and danced in the aisles of the National Assembly to celebrate the confirmation of party leader Jacob Zuma as President of South Africa.
Zuma won the National Assembly poll by 277 votes to 47 votes for Mvume Dandala, the Presidential candidate for the Congress of the People. The Democratic Alliance abstained from the vote.
Cope MPs were heckled and jeered each time they were mentioned in the Assembly, and the party's deputy president Mbhazima Shilowa was shouted down as he announced the nomination of Dandala as their candidate to stand against Zuma.
Chief Justice Pius Langa, presiding over the swearing in of the 400 MPs, commented on the language and behaviour used.

In African news, ratings firm Standard & Poor's stated yesterday that the credit ratings of African nations are becoming more susceptible to downward revision as the global financial crisis further takes its toll on world trade.
Konrad Reuss, MD of S&P's for South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, emphasised the importance of government policy for South Africa's rating under new President Jacob Zuma. This, as fears remain that the new President may steer economic policy to the left owing to the ruling party's strong ties with its labour union and communist allies.
Reuss said that the initial effects of the global crisis, such as falling stock indexes, capital outflows and exchange rate pressures, were relatively manageable for the region.
However, as the subprime mortgage crisis evolves into an almost unprecedented global recession, its second-round economic effects, such as lower capital inflows, slumping commodity prices and the drying up of world trade, are increasingly being felt in sub-Saharan Africa.
This means that Africa is becoming more susceptible to downward revisions of their sovereign credit ratings.

In South African economic news, the South African Reserve Bank reported in its latest Financial Stability Review that the country's banks have been largely protected against the direct effects of the global financial crisis.
One of the reasons for this is that domestic banks have not invested as heavily in high-risk securities or complex instruments. They have also maintained a mostly traditional and relatively conservative banking model and kept relatively high lending standards. South African banks also have low levels of foreign funding and limited activity outside the African continent.
The Reserve Bank emphasised that South African banks have primarily felt the impact of the global financial crisis indirectly, through higher funding costs and increased impairments, owing to retrenchments and the negative impact of lower real economic activity on corporate borrowers.
The magnitude of this indirect impact is reflected in part in the sharp decline in the share prices of banks. However, South Africa's banks remain well capitalised and profitable.

Also making headlines:
The Western Cape's new Premier, Helen Zille, says that the Democratic Alliance will "rule for all" in the province.
President-elect Jacob Zuma will have three first ladies at his side for his inauguration on Saturday.
The International Monetary Fund has decided to partially lift the suspension of aid to Zimbabwe by providing technical assistance in targeted areas.
And, the Sudanese government says that it is willing to admit new non-governmental organisations into its Darfur region after banning 13 aid organisations last month.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.