November 28, 2014
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini
Making headlines:

Eskom’s weekend load-shedding pattern is set to continue.

South Africa’s Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene says the private sector is the key to rolling-out of Africa’s 51 priority infrastructure projects.

And, the African National Congress has welcomed the suspension of Economic Freedom Fighters MPs from Parliament without salary

Electricity utility Eskom has indicated that there is a "high risk" of load shedding over the weekend. This entrenched a pattern of rotational power cuts that first emerged after a coal silo collapsed at the Majuba power station at the beginning of November.

Weekends were being purposely targeted so as to limit the impact on the economy. Weekends had previously generally been free of load shedding, owing to the fact that demand declines as the working week ends.

In a statement, the State-owned group indicated that a portion of the capacity normally imported from Cahora Bassa would be unavailable on Sunday as the plant underwent planned maintenance.

The weekend will also be utilised to build up water reserves for the pumped storage schemes, which use water to generate electricity. The utility says it needs to conserve diesel supplies to support the week ahead. The capacity available to meet demand for electricity will be reduced as a result, thereby increasing the need for rotational load shedding.

South Africa’s Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene has emphasised the role of the private sector in delivering the 51 Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (or Pida) projects, collectively valued at $68-billion, being prioritised for implementation by 2020.

Speaking at the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa’s (or ICA’s) yearly conference, being held in Cape Town, Nene said it “cannot be business as usual” if implementation was to be fast-tracked.

He said integration and development of the African continent would not succeed if the contribution of the private sector and the citizenry was ignored. 

Encouraging greater private sector investment was emerging as a key theme for Nene, who had consistently warned that government could no longer delay efforts to rein in debt and expenditure and that economic growth and development would, thus, depend more heavily on private investment.

Nene told the ICA that African governments had limited resources and there was “ample space” for the private sector to participate in the implementation of projects.

The continent’s infrastructure backlog was holding back growth, development and intra-regional trade, with Africa, on average, investing only 4% of its GDP in infrastructure. China, by comparison, invested 14% of GDP.

The African National Congress (or ANC) has welcomed the suspension of Economic Freedom Fighters (or EFF) MPs from Parliament without salary.

Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said in a statement that the office of the ANC chief whip Stone Sizani welcomed the adoption of the report and the recommendations of the powers and privileges committee that conducted a hearing into allegations of misconduct by 20 EFF Members of Parliament.

They were found guilty of contempt of Parliament for their participation in the highly disruptive and disorderly conduct on August 21, 2014 after they heckled President Jacob Zuma during question time. 

Mothapo said their conduct obstructed the House from performing its scheduled business by conducting oversight over the executive through questions to the president.

Also making headlines:

Plunging world oil prices have dealt a blow to Africa far greater – in purely economic terms – than Ebola, setting back investment in exploration and plans to industrialise.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura will receive a report from the e-toll review advisory panel on Sunday.

The World Trade Organisation on Thursday adopted the Bali trade reform package, putting the organisation’s negotiations back on track.

Negotiations between the Malian government and mostly Tuareg rebel groups  broke up on Thursday without an agreement on northern Mali.

And, the World Health Organisation says the death toll in the world's worst Ebola epidemic has risen to 5 689 out of 15 935 cases reported in eight countries.

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

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.