October 31, 2014
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini
Making headlines:

Two South African National Defence Force soldiers deployed as part of a United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan have been wounded in an ambush near their base.

Following violent protests, Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré said on Thursday he would head a transitional government until after elections.

And, Statistics South Africa would, in future, focus more strongly on the trends of long-term unemployment in its quarterly labour force surveys.

Two South African National Defence Force (or SANDF) soldiers deployed as part of a United Nations (or UN) and African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan have been wounded in an ambush near their base, the SANDF said on Thursday.

The injured soldiers were airlifted by helicopter to hospital in El Fashir shortly after the ambush. Captain Jaco Theunissen said they are in a critical but stable condition in the UN hospital.

The ambush took place at approximately 12.35 pm on Wednesday when a section of 4 SA Infantry Battalion, who had to fetch water from a nearby waterhole in Kutum, came under fire from a suspected rebel group. Lieutenant-Colonel Andries Matlaila praised the swift reaction and high standard of vigilance of the SANDF saying that the situation could have been worse. 

Matlaila said the training his troops received in South Africa prior to the deployment, coupled with the equipment they used, played a pivotal role in repelling the attack. He said the rebel group, whose intentions were unknown, were forced to withdraw.

The incident comes at a time when the Sudanese people are preparing for their national elections scheduled for April or May next year, which the SANDF, as part of the peacekeeping force, is deployed to support.

Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré  said in a television broadcast on Thursday that he would stay in power at the head of a transitional government until after elections, rejecting opposition calls for him to step down immediately following a day of violent protests.

The head of the armed forces General Honore Traore had earlier dissolved Parliament and announced talks with all political parties to create an interim government to take the West African country to democratic elections within a year.

The move came after at least three protesters were shot dead and scores wounded in clashes with security forces as demonstrators attacked the homes of senior members of the ruling party and symbols of Compaoré's long rule. Hundreds of people had earlier stormed parliament, looting the building and setting it on fire, while others ransacked State television, forcing it off the air.

Protests also gripped Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina's second-largest city, and other towns across the gold and cotton-producing country.

Compaore, who seized power in a military coup in 1987, said he had dissolved his government and was lifting martial law that was announced earlier in the day. He also scrapped plans for an unpopular constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to seek re-election next year - a prospect that had sparked Thursday's protests.

A delegation from the African Union, the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States was due in Burkina Faso on Friday to hold talks with all parties involved.

Statistics South Africa (or Stats SA) would, in future, focus more strongly on the trends of long-term unemployment in its quarterly labour force surveys, statistician-general Pali Lehohla said on Thursday.

Releasing the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the three months ended September 30, Lehohla noted that long-term unemployment was a significant problem in South Africa, with more than 1.4-million of the country’s 5.1-million unemployed persons having been unemployed for a period exceeding five years.

He stated that people who were unemployed for an extended period of time were more vulnerable and were at risk of losing the skills they once had, which would make them even less employable and put them on a downward path ending in poverty. He said government policy had to focus on a “rescue plan” for long-term unemployed persons, which would help them re-enter the labour market.

Responding to questions from Engineering News Online, he said that, while Stats SA was not responsible for creating the desired policy environment, the organisation did provide the relevant government bodies with “sharper pencils” in the form of detailed and accurate information about the long-term unemployed.

He went on to say that factors such as people’s education levels, previous work experience, gender and race could all be quantified by Stats SA and would assist in determining an appropriate response to the challenge.

Also making headlines:

The International Monetary Fund foresees large financing needs next year in the three West African countries hardest hit by the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

A call by Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane in the National Assembly on Thursday for a special debate on the president failing to appear to answer a full session of oral questions has been dismissed by the ruling party as posturing.

And, trafficking of Kenyan children from impoverished villages to towns and cities for domestic labour, sex work and to beg is on the rise, experts said, with most victims being adolescent girls.

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

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.