Tuesday, January 6, 2009
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shona Kohler.
Making headlines:
Leading up to a cut in the petrol price tomorrow, South Africa's Department of Minerals and Energy explained that the actual petrol price at the pump will differ from the change in the base price announced last week. The decrease will be between 131c/l and 175c/l.
The reason for the discrepancy between actual and base prices, is that there have been significant changes to zone differentials in all areas. Zone differentials signify the per litre costs of moving fuels from coastal ports or refinery locations to inland distribution centres.
The South African Petroleum Industry Association explained that the pump price is compiled from a number of factors. These include the basic fuel price, government taxes and levies, the wholesale margin, the service differential, zone differentials, the wholesale price and dealer margins.

In African news, Sudan's government has accused Darfur rebels of planning attacks if President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is indicted for war crimes. Sudan has been trying to prevent a possible International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Bashir, after he was accused of genocide in Darfur.
The country's Foreign Ministry undersecretary Mutrif Siddiq, said that a criminal court indictment of the country's President will have a negative impact. He explained that the rebels will feel that they are fighting a legitimate cause against a criminal government with a criminal president.
Arab and African countries want any indictment for Bashir put on hold, believing it would damage hopes of peace in Sudan. However, Western States with permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council have the power to veto any postponement.

In international news, the current head of the World Trade Organisation, Pascal Lamy, is the only candidate to be the next director-general, since no one has emerged to challenge him for the job. WTO members must now decide whether Lamy's re appointment is automatic or if the organisation should still go through the motions of a formal selection process.
This marks the first time in the WTO's 14-year history that there has been no contested candidacy. Commentators say that this indicates WTO members' confidence in Lamy's continued leadership or, at worst, the perceived lack of viable alternatives.
There are also concerns about changing the leadership of the organisation that referees world trade, given the uncertain economic environment and the tenuous future of the Doha round of trade talks.

Also making headlines:
The Inkatha Freedom Party calls for South Africa's Parliament to debate the situation in Gaza.
The African Christian Democratic Party leader condemns Zimbabwe's human rights violations.
And, Angola shuts off its border with Congo to avoid the spread of the Ebola virus.
That's a roundup of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories, visit polity.org.za.