Tuesday, December 1, 2009
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.
Making headlines:
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) launched a "war" yesterday against antileft elements of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), saying that South Africa could face another divisive leadership struggle.
In a 19-page summary of a policy meeting last week, Cosatu said that it was the victim of a smear campaign by senior ANC members opposed to its inclusion, along with the South African Communist Party, in a three-way ANC-led alliance 15 years after the end of apartheid. The roots of the alliance lie in the common struggle against the white-minority rule that ended in 1994, and Cosatu said that it would fight to preserve that union.
Cosatu said that it would lobby the ANC from the grass roots up to negate the impact of what it said was a minority clique demonising the left in the media as a "new bogeyman". Cosatu secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi told a news conference that the labour federation would be equal to the challenge.

Freer trade can help create jobs and support economic growth, and tariff-cutting accords should not be scaled back on account of the global downturn, said officials at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial conference in Geneva yesterday.
WTO DG Pascal Lamy said that the completion of the long-running Doha Round would strengthen the global trading system that had helped countries come through the crisis. But trade liberalisation had to be backed by domestic policies to absorb the shocks of increased competition.
Political leaders have called for an accord in 2010, but a deal has not yet been completed. Lamy told the opening session of the conference that the moment of truth is fast approaching when it will have to be decided whether the 2010 target can be met. Political leaders are practically unanimous that they want to meet the deadline, but reaffirmation is not enough, he said. The world needs action to close the remaining gaps in trade negotiations.

Equatorial African countries will likely argue at this month's Copenhagen climate change summit that the developed world should pay them to preserve their vast forests to help the fight against climate change. The position of this group underscores the rifts between industrialised nations responsible for the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions and the developing world seeking compensation to keep development in check.
Cochair of the Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF) and former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin says that African countries in the Congo basin are not part of the problem, but they are part of the solution by preserving the rainforest which acts as a defence against global warming. According to the CBFF, the forests have been storing an estimated 500-million tons of carbon dioxide a year, offsetting about 1,7% of global emissions of the gas widely blamed for global warming.
Last month, the group representing the Central African States warned that it would not endorse any agreement on climate change if the international community does not provide adequate compensation for preserving the forests, which comes at a cost to its people who rely on the forests for their livelihoods.

Also making headlines:
Former Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says that poorly built reconstruction and development programme houses are not her fault.
Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina rejects renewed talks on Cabinet positions in the shaky power-sharing government.
The Democratic Alliance says that the African National Congress Youth League chairperson's hate speech defence is poor.
And, a study shows that the response of Southern African countries to Zimbabwean migration is inadequate.
That's a roundup of news making headlines today.