Friday December 10, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Brad Dubbelman

Making headlines:

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) said on Thursday that business confidence ticked up 3% in 2010, but a lot still needed to be done to significantly improve on current levels.
Sacci economist Richard Downing said at a media briefing that South Africa still had a “battle on its hands” if it wanted to improve business confidence. The chamber's economic forecast survey for 2011, showed that only 14% of business expected economic growth to improve in the new year, while 39% thought that it would be worse. Some of the significant challenges included the growing lack of skilled labour, increasing pressure on business owing to the country's high unemployment numbers, public sector capacity and service delivery.

The US is ready to impose sanctions on incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and his family if he fails to accept defeat in the Côte d’Ivoire Presidential election, a senior US official said on Thursday. Johnnie Carson, the State Department's assistant secretary for African Affairs, said in a conference call with African journalists that the US is willing to take further steps and declare sanctions against President Gbagbo, his family, his wife and those that are supporting his illegal position. Carson did not give further details on the sanctions or whether the US would also impose travel bans. The Côte d’Ivoire electoral commission had given victory to challenger Alassane Ouattara by nearly ten points in the November 28 Presidential elections. But the country's Constitutional Council, headed by a Gbagbo ally, overturned that result, charging fraud in some areas, and declared Gbagbo the winner.

Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Thursday that he would commission a specialist team to deal with concerns around the cost overruns and time delays of State-owned logistics group Transnet’s new multi product pipeline. Transnet indicated this week that the cost of the pipeline would be more than double from about R9,5-billion to R23,4-billion after the company revised the schedule and scope of the project. The pipeline is meant to replace the old multi product line from Durban to Johannesburg, built in 1965, which carries mainly petrol and diesel and which is nearing the end of its life.

Making headlines:

The December 31 deadline for Zimbabwean nationals to regularise their stay in South Africa, will in all likelihood not be extended, Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane said on Thursday.
The African Union said on Thursday that it had suspended the Côte d’Ivoire’s membership until Presidential poll challenger Alassane Ouattara takes over from Laurent Gbagbo.
A number of Centres of Competence are to be set up under the aegis of the new South African National Space Agency.
And, Egyptian opposition activist Mohamed ElBaradei urged supporters to boycott next year's Presidential election after what he called a "farcical" Parliamentary vote this month that quashed hopes for reform.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.