Wednesday, May 12, 210

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon de Ryhove.

Making headlines:

South Africa's outspoken African National Congress (ANC) youth leader Julius Malema made a public apology and was forced to pay a fine over charges of bringing the ruling party into disrepute, the ANC said on Tuesday. Malema had defied calls from South African President Jacob Zuma to cease making inflammatory, and racially tinged comments. The ANC said in a statement after a disciplinary hearing that three of the four charges against Malema, who spooked investors by demanding that the mines be nationalised, were dropped after he accepted a plea bargain and another charge of criticising Zuma's decision to rebuke him. "The national disciplinary committee ruled ... Julius Malema shall make a public apology to the president of the ANC, the ANC and the public in general," the ANC said in a statement.
He would also pay a fine of R10 000 to a youth development project and attend anger management classes. He would be suspended from the ANC if found guilty again within two years.

Conservative leader David Cameron took over as British Prime Minister on Tuesday after securing a power-sharing agreement between his centre-right party and the smaller Liberal Democrats party. The Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg, who was thrust into the position of kingmaker after last Thursday's inconclusive election, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister hours later. Gordon Brown had resigned as Prime Minister earlier after his centre-left Labour Party's own attempt to clinch a deal with the Liberal Democrats failed. Labour had been in office for 13 years, first under Tony Blair and then Brown. The Conservatives won most seats in a Parliamentary election last week but fell short of a majority. Labour came second and the Liberal Democrats a distant third. Giving his first speech as Prime Minister, Cameron, 43, said that he aimed to form Britain's first coalition government since 1945. It faces the immediate challenge of a huge budget deficit which financial markets are anxious to see tackled.

South Africa will have a single election for all spheres of government by 2014, the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka, said on Tuesday.
"In South Africa, we are constantly busy with elections and there is no time to deliver service," he said at the South African Local Government Association's (Salga) national members assembly. Shiceka reminded delegates that the term for municipal councillors would be three years after the 2011 municipal elections. Hundreds of municipal executive mayors, mayors and councillors were attending Salga's national members assembly, which was the highest decision-making body for Salga between national conferences. Shiceka said that all mayor and municipal managers would meet President Jacob Zuma within the next two months to sign performance agreement contracts.

Also making headlines:

The World Bank says that it will focus more on tackling high fertility rates and maternal deaths in poor countries. The National Planning Commission should not pander to government or be afraid to challenge it, says President Jacob Zuma. Officials from the European Union and Libya say they are on track to sign their first cooperation pact this year; and Somali pirates have hijacked a Bulgarian-flagged ship in the Gulf of Aden as it headed to India.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.