Monday, November 1, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Brad Dubbelman.

Making headlines:

President Jacob Zuma announced a Cabinet reshuffle on Sunday, which saw ten Ministers being replaced. "We had to change the way that government works in order to improve service delivery," he said.
Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda was replaced by Roy Padayachie, Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge was replaced by Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde, Women, Children and People with Disabilities Minister Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya was replaced by Lulu Xingwana, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana was replaced by Mildren Oliphent, Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica was replaced by Edna Molewa, Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi was replaced by Ayanda Dlodlo, Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan was replaced by Malusi Gigaba, Sports and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile was replaced by Fikile Mbalula, Arts and Culture Minister Lulu Xingwana was replaced by Paul Mashatile, and Social Development Minister Edna Molewa was replaced by Bathabile Dlamini.
The ruling African National Congress said that the changes to the Cabinet were crucial to ensure effective service delivery, while the opposition Democratic Alliance said that the reshuffle is a positive indication of a "renewed focus on accountability."

A disputed outcome in a referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan could reignite one of Africa's longest and bloodiest wars, the not-for-profit Rift Valley Institute warned last week.
The vote, scheduled for January, is the endgame of a 2005 peace deal ending more than two decades of civil war between northern and southern Sudan, and most experts predict that the southern Sudanese will vote to create an independent State. But the credibility of the ballot is under threat from logistical problems and from deliberate stalling on the part of northern politicians hostile to the prospect of southern independence.
The report, entitled ‘Race Against Time', says that "a disputed result would hold serious risks in terms of a potential return to north-south military confrontation." Time pressure makes it "increasingly unlikely that the (referendum) will be conducted without procedural deficiencies". Lack of clarity in the voting process or the disenfranchisement of large numbers of voters could lead to questions about the result's validity.
The northern ruling National Congress Party has said that it would accept the referendum result, but always adds the caveat "if it is a free and fair process".

The contentious Protection of Information Bill is heading for a redraft to narrow its scope, but the new version will not see the light this year, Members of Parliament said on Friday.
Parliament's ad hoc committee processing the bill, agreed to take as a starting point for a new draft, proposals by State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele to remove two highly contested clauses. Committee chairperson Cecil Burgess says that the Minister does not have the power to amend the bill, but suggests that some of his concessions are used as a starting point for a new draft.
Cwele last month responded to a national outcry over the draft act by saying that he favoured dropping the nebulous notion of "national interest" as cause for classification, as well as a clause allowing for the classification of commercial information.

Also making headlines:

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi says that unless Europe wants to be confronted with 30-million emigrating Africans, it must act to stop climate change from depleting Lake Chad, on which they depend.
A consortium of South Korean companies is to seek a $1-billion minerals-for-infrastructure deal in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kenya blocks attempts by aid agencies to move thousands of Somalis fleeing fighting to refugee camps, saying that camps in Kenya are already too congested.
And, millions of Ivorians went to the polls on Sunday for their first chance in a decade to choose a President, and observers said that the long-delayed vote was peaceful.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.