October 10, 2012
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Nomvelo Buthelezi.
Making headlines:

The Competition Appeal Court orders Wal-Mart to its double South African local suppliers fund to $23-million.

Opposition parties welcome the Constitutional Court ruling on regulating the introduction of bills in Parliament's National Assembly.

And, Sudan arrests suspects in the Darfur peacekeeper attack.

A South African court on Tuesday ordered the local unit of Wal-Mart to double a planned fund for small suppliers to $23-million. This ends more than a year of legal wrangling over its entry into Africa.

The Competition Appeal Court ruled that Massmart Holdings, which is 51% owned by the world's biggest retailer, must spend up to R200-million on developing local suppliers over the next five years. Massmart is 51% owned by Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer.

Wal-Mart last year promised to spend R100-million on developing small suppliers as a condition of its $2.4-billion deal to buy control of Massmart.

Allowing for inflation and an extension of the period by two further years, 200-million rand appears to be a figure that is sufficient to meet the objectives of the fund, the court said in its ruling.

Opposition parties have welcomed a Constitutional Court judgment that rules that the regulation of the introduction of bills in Parliament's National Assembly is unconstitutional.

Examples are the proposal to prevent the government from doing business with companies owned or managed by public office bearers or political parties, and the proposal to better regulate the allocation of national lottery money.

In his judgment, Constitutional Court Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng, said that the rules that stated that permission was needed were inconsistent with the Constitution and were therefore invalid.

IFP MP  Mario Oriani-Ambrosini said the judgment opened the door for laws to be drafted and introduced in Parliament by MPs who were not Cabinet members or deputy ministers. He also said that the judgment was a "game changer" and that it removes what was one of the major shames in the South African democracy.

Sudanese state media said on Tuesday that authorities have arrested suspects in an attack that killed four United Nations peacekeepers last week in the strife-torn western Darfur region.

United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (or UNAMID) is the world's largest peacekeeping mission. It was deployed by the UN and the African Union in the arid western territory following fierce fighting in 2003 which forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Sudanese government radio said that the suspects involved in the killing of UN soldiers have been detained.

According to the force, a total of 42 peacekeepers have been killed since UNAMID was set up.

Also making headlines:

French President Francois Hollande criticises Congo's democratic record ahead of a summit for French-speaking nations.

A United Nations expert panel says Ivory Coast exiles have set up strategic command in Ghana.

And, distribution maintenance backlogs threaten South Africa’s power supply.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.