Wednesday January 26, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Henry Lazenby

Making headlines:

The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) said that the High Court in Johannesburg has ordered that the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (Icasa) relaunch a probe into alleged political interference at the SABC in 2006. Judge JJ Claassen found that "the decision of the Complaints and Compliance Committee (CCC) of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) on June 18, 2009, dismissing the applicant's complaints against the SABC, is reviewed."
He was handing down judgment in the matter relating to the SABC's alleged blacklisting of political commentators in February 2007.
Icasa was also ordered to pay the FXI costs, including that of two counsels.

A delegation from the West African regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), will meet US President Barack Obama and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week to discuss the crisis in the Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria's Foreign Minister said. Odein Ajumogobia said that: "The delegation is led by President Koroma of Sierra Leone and comprises the president of the Ecowas Commission, James Victor Gbeho, myself and our ambassador in Washington." Nigeria's State news agency said that the delegation would meet Obama in Washington on Wednesday, before heading to the UN in New York to meet Ban and Security Council members on Thursday.
International efforts to end a political standoff in the country, which is the world's top cocoa producer, have so far failed.

The Public Works Department has announced that it would roll out three new projects, which would assist its job creation drive across the country’s provinces. Speaking after a meeting between the Minister and Public Works MECs from all nine provinces, known as MinMEC, newly appointed Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde said that R210-million had been budgeted for these specific programmes. She noted that in light of the heavy rains and flooding across the country, the department deemed it fit to approve the construction of about 30 new low-cost bridges and to start with a bigger project focusing on filling the potholes on the country’s roads.

Also making headlines:
A prohibition on judges belonging to political parties was among the sections of the proposed Judicial Code of Conduct, which the National Association for Democratic Lawyers flagged as an important issue in its submission on the code.
Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has pledged support for a new southern state in his first public address since the south of the country voted overwhelmingly to split from the north.
And, President Jacob Zuma will use the World Economic Forum meeting, which gets under way in Switzerland this week, to set the scene for South Africa’s hosting of the 17th United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change in December.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.