Wednesday, November 25, 2009
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Brad Dubbelman.
Making headlines:
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) announced yesterday that the country's economy had exited recession, growing by 0,9% in the third quarter on a seasonally adjusted and annualised basis. Analysts said that the better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) figure meant that the country's monetary loosening cycle was over. The third quarter growth came after three consecutive quarters of decline and from a revised decline of 2,8% in the second quarter, better than the 3% first estimate.
Head of economic analysis and research at Stats SA Joe De Beer said that the short-term indicators seem to indicate that the economy is picking up but long-term indicators say that the economy is still weak.
Stats SA included figures for drugs and prostitution in its economic growth calculation for the first time, but analysts said that the estimated $465-million for illegal activities last year was too low. Illegal and underground activities are said to make up only 0,2% of the economy. Economist at research group Efficient Freddie Mitchell said that this estimate is too conservative.

The SABC will receive a bailout of over R1-billion, said Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda yesterday. The "financial injection" by government is hoped to help the SABC meet its urgent needs, such as payment of outstanding debts.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan approved the cash-strapped public broadcaster's application for a government guarantee of R1,473-billion. According to the Treasury, a "draw-down" of R1-billion would be made available immediately. The remaining R473-million would be subject to the broadcaster presenting a plan with clear revenue targets and cost cutting measures, to enable effective oversight and monitoring.

Judgment in the hate speech case against African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema was reserved in the Equality Court yesterday. Magistrate Colleen Collis said she would indicate at a later stage the date on which judgment would be handed down.
Malema was taken to court by the Sonke Gender Justice Network over his comments that President Jacob Zuma's rape accuser had "a nice time".
Malema's lawyer Tumi Mokwena said in his closing argument that the Equality Act sought to protect real rape victims. He said that Malema's comments were merely a restatement of the rape trial judgment and therefore judgment in the Equality case should be made in favour of freedom of expression. But, Sonke's lawyer Chris Todd pointed out that the section of the Constitution quoted by Mokwena also included prohibitions in terms of a person's conduct, which the defence did not mention in court.

Also making headlines:
The United Nations endorses the Côte d'Ivoire's provisional voter list as elections are delayed once again.
The African Development Bank gives its first grant to Somalia after nearly 20 years.
The United Nations Children's Fund says that Zimbabwe's child mortality rate is up by 20%.
And, according to a new United Nations report, over 33-million people are infected with HIV/Aids virus.
That's a roundup of news making headlines today.