December 4, 2014
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini
Making headlines:

Gauteng Premier David Makhura has declared an “open door policy” to businesses wishing to engage with the provincial Cabinet.

The World Bank said it would speed up delivery of hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance to fight Ebola in West Africa.

And, power utility Eskom says South Africans could have their power cut if more pressure is put on the grid this week.  

In a move to entice the private sector to buy into the province’s overarching ten-pillar Transformation, Modernisation and Reindustrialisation (or TMR) strategy, Gauteng Premier David Makhura has declared an “open door policy” to businesses wishing to engage with the provincial Cabinet.

The former African National Congress provincial secretary told a breakfast briefing with business on Wednesday that the province was “ready to pull out all the stops” to ensure backing for its five-year plan, adding that the Gauteng political leadership wanted to “see things from [the business person’s] perspective”.

Makhura said that buy-in from the private sector is crucial to realising the plan and driving a transformation agenda, as there is an intricate link between government’s ability to fulfil its mandate and its ability to attract investment into the Gauteng city-region (or GCR).

He went on to say that the province’s goals were not attainable without a compact from the various role-players. He said the dialogue was important in light of private sector apprehension that government’s approach was inconsistent.

Makhura said the intention is to unlock the capacity of the State to be responsive to private sector concerns, particularly in terms of unnecessary bureaucracy and administration.

The province’s five-year TMR strategy would centre on the economic development of the GCR, which Makhura explained comprised the City of Johannesburg; the Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality; the City of Tshwane; the West Rand district; and the Sedibeng district municipality.

The World Bank said on Wednesday it would speed up delivery of hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance to fight Ebola in West Africa, as Sierra Leone appealed for help in plugging gaps in its response.

On a visit to Sierra Leone, where the epidemic is spreading fastest, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the lender would accelerate disbursement of $162-million in emergency support to ensure the money was delivered in two years instead of three.

To help kick-start Sierra Leone's economy, Kim said the bank would make available an additional $170-million over the next two years, mostly to strengthen infrastructure and agriculture.

Kim was speaking in Freetown during a tour of the countries Ebola has affected in the region.

The worst known outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever on record has killed more than 6 070 people from 17 145 cases, the World Health Organisation said.

Despite Britain deploying hundreds of troops to its former colony, Sierra Leone is lagging behind Guinea and Liberia in its Ebola response, reporting 537 new cases in the week to November 30.

South Africans could have their power cut if more pressure is put on Eskom's grid this week, the power utility said on Wednesday.

Power utility spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said they are using their emergency reserves extensively so far this week.

He said the power utility expects these reserves to be depleted before the end of the week, which would mean additional pressure on the grid with the increased likelihood of load shedding.

On Monday Etzinger had said that there were no scheduled power cuts for the week even though the system was tight.

Last month, a coal storage silo at the Majuba power station in Mpumalanga collapsed, resulting in widespread power cuts. The silo held more than 10 000 t of coal and the collapse affected coal supplies to all six units at the power station.

Maintenance at the hydroelectric Cahora Bassa facility in Mozambique had also affected power supply.

Also making headlines:

While South Africa improved its spending on research and development (or R&D) during 2012/13 and halted the “worrying” contractions experienced in 2009/10 and 2010/11, the nation had failed to achieve its years-long target of spending 1% of gross domestic product on R&D.

Kenyan trade unions have urged non-Muslim public sector workers, including teachers and doctors, to leave the country's lawless northern region, site of two deadly attacks by militants in the past two weeks, because of the security risks.

And, some five-million children are out of school in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone because of the deadly Ebola outbreak, according to a report by the Global Business Coalition for Education.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today