Tuesday, April 28, 2009
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.
Making headlines:
The release of the final election results at the weekend showed that the African National Congress came within an inch of receiving a two-thirds majority in the national elections.
The party received 65,90% of the total valid votes cast. It received the support of 11 650 748 voters of the 17 919 966 people that voted.
The Democratic Alliance remained firmly in its place as the official opposition party, receiving 16,66% of votes cast.
Newcomer the Congress of the People received 7,42% of the vote.
The final voter turnout was recorded as 77,3% of the 23 181 997 South Africans who registered to cast their ballots.
Reacting to the final results, United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa, whose party received only 0,85% of the vote, said that his party was concerned about the "looming spectre of a near two-third [ANC] majority", as one party dominance is not healthy for democracy in the long run.

In world news, aid and finance Ministers have warned that global poverty will rise sharply as more nations fall victim to the financial crisis, unless donor countries step up funding for the developing world.
Ministers from the 185 member countries of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund said yesterday that the crisis should not be allowed to set back progress made in recent years, under targets set by the United Nations to halve poverty by 2015.
The World Bank estimated that developing nations faced a financing gap of between $270-billion and $700-billion, and it called on donor nations not to forget promises made in 2005 to increase aid to the world's poorest.
The World Bank said that economic growth in low- and middle-income countries will slow sharply this year to 2,1% from 5,8% as a deep recession in the advanced economies hits exports. This sharp slowdown is likely to seriously set back progress on poverty reduction.
A recent World Bank analysis also suggests that the current crisis will result in 53-million more people living in extreme poverty in 2009.

Back home, after the release of South Africa's final election results, attention has been turned to the composition of President-to-be Jacob Zuma's Cabinet.
The media has tipped respected Finance Minister Trevor Manuel to head a powerful new government oversight body. The fate of Manuel is key for markets, because of his record on keeping spending in check and maintaining financial stability.
Manuel is likely to head a new national planning commission that will monitor government performance.
African National Congress spokesperson Brian Sokutu said that any discussions on Cabinet posts are still only at the informal level. The new Cabinet will be made clear only after Zuma's inauguration on May 9.

Also making headlines:
The Mandela Foundation calls for global celebration of a ‘Mandela Day'.
The United Nations says that violence in Darfur now only counts as a 'low-intensity conflict'.
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says that there is no going back on the country's unity government despite difficulties in implementing its power-sharing agreement.
And, chaos reigned at a Freedom Day celebration in Durban yesterday.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.