June 28, 2012

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Reggie Sikhakhane

Making headlines:

A top African National Congress (or ANC) economic official says South Africa's ruling party is looking to make coal a strategic resource, bolster the capacity of a state mining firm and hold off on imposing export taxes on minerals.

Enoch Godongwana, the ANC official charged with shepherding the party's policies on transforming the mining sector, says that delegates are keen to protect plentiful coal reserves used to produce almost all of the country's power.

The ANC, which has ruled since apartheid ended in 1994, is debating ways at a policy conference this week to have the mining sector in the resource-rich country pay a greater share to alleviate poverty, income disparity and chronic unemployment.

Meanwhile, ANC national spokesperson Jackson Mthembu says the rejection of the so-called second transition proposal will not reflect badly on President Jacob Zuma.

Mthembu says several media reports suggested that the rejection of the proposal is “an indication of a rejection of the president before Mangaung", referring to the ANC 's elective conference to be held in Mangaung, in the Free State, in December.

He asserts that the second transition proposal is not Zuma's proposal, but is an ANC discussion document.

Islamist President-elect Mohamed Mursi has begun talks with groups who are nervous about where he will take Egypt, after the generals who have ruled since Hosni Mubarak's fall make way for the republic's first civilian leader.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged Mursi to bring diverse groups into his government, mentioning Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, secular-minded Egyptians and young people.

Speaking at a news conference in Helsinki, Clinton stressed the importance of developing democratic institutions, including countervailing forces such as an independent judiciary and a free press.

Also making headlines:

The public service ministry reveals that parties involved in public sector pay talks are still "consulting".

And, the Nigerian army says it has killed 17 suspected Islamist militants in gun battles in the northern city of Kano, but that the militants had shot dead one policeman.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.