October 05 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

The National Union of Mineworkers begins strike in coal sector.

Cash-strapped Zimbabwe 'will not sack civil servants'.

And, Democratic Alliance 'demotes' its Shadow minister of Police Dianne Kohler Barnard.

Several thousand workers affiliated to the National Union of Mineworkers (or NUM) began striking in the coal sector on Sunday evening, the union said.

Talks over wage increases with employers collapsed last week and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration issued a non-resolution certificate, NUM said in a statement.

The union wanted an increase of 14% for artisans, miners, and officials while  employers - Anglo Coal, Glencore, Exxaro, Kangra, Koornfontein, and Msobo - were offering increases of between 5% and 8.5%.

NUM said 30 000 of its members would join the strike.

According to the Chamber of  Mines, the sector directly employed 90 000 people and coal accounted for 94% of South Africa’s energy production.

Despite pressure from the International Monetary Fund (or IMF), cash-strapped Zimbabwe will not sack any of its civil servants, a report quotes the finance minister as saying.

Patrick Chinamasa told the state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper that audits would be carried out to weed out "ghost workers" – civil servants who are either dead or not working in that particular post anymore.

Zimbabwe's bloated civil service wage bill eats up an unsustainable 83% of national revenue.

Officials, including Chinamasa, hoped that the success of that initiative would eventually lead to Zimbabwe being allowed access to IMF funding again.

The Democratic Alliance (or DA) shadow minister of police, Diane Kohler Barnard, has been removed from her position, the official opposition party announced on Saturday. 

Kohler Barnard had been moved to shadow deputy minister of public works.

A social media storm erupted last week after it had emerged that the member of Parliament had, about two weeks ago, shared a Facebook post by journalist Paul Kirk.

Kirk declared in the post: “Please come back PW Botha - you were far more honest than any of these [African National Congress] rogues, and you provided a far better service to the public...".

Speaking to an online news agency, acting spokesperson for DA leader Mmusi Maimane, Graham Charters, said while the move was part of the party's “strategic alignment” for the upcoming elections, the announcement came early.

Kohler Barnard would be replaced by Zakhele Mbhele as the party’s shadow minister of police while Marius Redelinghuys would take up a position as his deputy.

Other big changes included Gavin Davis as the party’s new shadow minister of basic education and Phumzile van Damme taking over the communications portfolio.

Also making headlines:

The Eco Mobility festival kicks off in Sandton today.

Renowned French economist Thomas Piketty blames apartheid for South Africa’s high inequality.

A damning report puts the South African Revenue Service spy unit in the spotlight again.

And, tensions flare between Guinea-Bissau president Jose Maria Vaz and new premier Carlos Correia suggesting a months-old political crisis in the coup-prone West African state was not over.


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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today