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Daily Podcast – November 21, 2014

Daily Podcast – November 21, 2014

21st November 2014

By: Sane Dhlamini
Creamer Media Senior Contributing Editor and Researcher

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November 21, 2014.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

State-owned power utility Eskom could face the collapse of another silo if urgent action isn’t taken, claims Solidarity.

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Liberia will see its economy shrink 0.4% this year due to Ebola.

And, the Gauteng provincial government narrows its focus to the acceleration of strategic economic infrastructure developments.

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Nearly a month after the catastrophic failure of the 10 000 ton central coal-storage silo at its Majuba power plant, State-owned power utility Eskom could face the collapse of another silo if urgent action isn’t taken, claims trade union Solidarity.

The Mpumalanga-based Majuba power station’s silo 30 had a visible 2 metre long crack, warned Solidarity head of energy industry Deon Reyneke in a statement. However, earlier reports had indicated that neither of the other two silos on site would be employed until Eskom was satisfied that they were structurally sound.

Eskom had not responded to a request for comment on the condition of silo 30 at the time of publication; however, the group had warned that it could implement load shedding as it faced more energy constraints owing to undisclosed technical challenges.

Solidarity held firm in its position that Eskom was aware of the silo's structural faults, with senior-level employees having knowledge of the deterioration since before the collapse of silo 20 on November 1, citing an unidentified Eskom official as its source.

Liberia, the West African nation hardest hit by Ebola, will see its economy shrink by 0.4% this year, and 2015 could be even worse.

Liberia had projected growth of 5.9% this year before Ebola struck the country, crippling agriculture and its fast-growing mining sector in particular. The disease has killed over 2 800 people in the country,

Finance Minister Amara Konneh said that the impressive real GDP growth rate that Liberia sustained over the last few years, which was approaching 9 percent just one year ago, has now dipped into negative territory, signifying the shrinking of its economy.


He noted, however, that despite early fears of an exponential boom in Ebola cases, new infections were declining.

Konneh said Liberia’s economy would likely be slow to recover, with economic activities expected to further deteriorate in the remaining months of 2014 and to likely even worsen in 2015. He also said the growth rate for next year was still subject to revision.

The Gauteng provincial government has narrowed its focus to the acceleration of strategic economic infrastructure developments aimed at catching up to the mass in-migration that is placing the province’s social services under strain.

The province on Thursday committed R240-billion over the next three years to develop social and economic infrastructure, including quality public transport, the reengineering of South Africa’s most populous province’s spatial framework in new human settlements, mainstreaming township economies and providing quality healthcare and education.

Finance MEC Barbara Creecy said during the tabling of the province’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (or MTBPS) that by increasing the number of people who received quality social services, the provincial government could “lift hundreds of thousands” of Gauteng residents out of poverty.

Gauteng, which was already home to 12.91-million people and boasted 24% of South Africa’s population, held the nation’s fastest population growth, which would be about 2.6% in 2015.

Gauteng remains the economic hub and nerve centre of commercial activity in South Africa, contributing about 35.7% of the GDP in South Africa and about 10% to the GDP of Africa. The provincial economy will grow by 1.7% this year, above the national average, and [is] projected to reach 4.3% by 2017.

Creecy stated that infrastructure was important for both service delivery and job creation, adding that the province will spend more than R32-billion on public infrastructure over the medium term.

 

Also making headlines:

The Competition Commission would refer a case against Isipani Construction to the Competition Tribunal for its alleged involvement in collusive tendering for the building of the 2010 FIFA World Cup stadia.

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba says he is happy with the progress that the department has made in processing Zimbabwean Special Dispensation Permits across the country.

And, Mali began a third round of peace negotiations on Thursday aimed at ending decades of uprisings in the north, with the government calling for the swift conclusion of a deal.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter [@PolityZA].

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.

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