Tuesday, May 11, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Mary-Anne O'Donnell.

Making headlines:

On Tuesday, South Africa Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said that the country's high unemployment rate showed that more urgent work needed to be done to restructure the economy. Data released last week showed that unemployment in Africa's largest economy rose to 25,2% in the first quarter. This was as the country emerged from its first recession in nearly 20 years.Gordhan said in his budget vote to Parliament that the employment statistics were a sobering reminder that more must be done to restructure South Africa's economy and create jobs, particularly for young people.Gordhan said that government was also seeking to clamp down on tax evasion to try and boost revenue that was under pressure.

France's ambassador to the Congo said that the United Nations (UN) will pull 2 000 peacekeepers out of the Congo by the end of June. However, it proposes that the remaining 20 000 leave only when security improves. Congo wants the UN to begin winding down the force known as MONUC by June 30, when the vast Central African state will mark the fiftieth anniversary of independence from Belgium, aiming to show the world that it is putting its painful past behind it. But UN officials have warned that a hasty pullout could undermine humanitarian efforts and lead to an escalation of rebel violence against civilians.French envoy Pierre Jacquemot said that the UN was likely to propose that those security risks and benchmarks for further withdrawal be assessed by a joint UN Congo commission. The full proposal will be delivered to President Joseph Kabila's goverment by a French-led delegation of the UN Security Council during a visit on May 15, pending approval of all the members of the delegation.

Thousands of South African transport workers went on strike on Monday at logistics group Transnet, threatening to cripple rail, fuel pipelines and port operations in Africa's biggest economy. The strike is the latest in a series of public protests ahead of next month's Fifa World Cup. It could affect coal and iron-ore exports, fuel distribution and shipping. State power utility Eskom said that the strike, which began after failed wage talks, would have no impact on the transport of coal used to power its plants, as only small amounts of coal were carried by rail, with the rest supplied by conveyor belts directly from mines. Transnet does not run passenger train services.

Also making headlines

The International Monetary Fund will disburse a $171-million loan tranche to Angola.
Sudan's Justice Minister asks Interpol to arrest the leader of Darfur's most powerful rebel group.
A manufacturing lobby teams up with labour to call for a weaker rand.
And, the European Union gives Rwanda a €73,8-million grant for rural development, road building and governance programmes.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.