September 4, 2012
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:

Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel outlines South Africa’s public-public partnership vision.

A former rebel group declares war against Burundi’s government.

And, poor nations seek to cut Clean Development Mechanism credits access at UN climate talks.

Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel says a new form of ‘public–public partnership’ (or ‘PPP’) is in the process of being forged around South Africa’s multibillion-rand infrastructure programme.

Patel said that South Africa had made a conscious decision to use the infrastructure programmes of State-owned entities such as Eskom and Transnet to stimulate the reindustrialisation of the South African economy.

In some instances, industrialisation will be unlocked by the presence of adequate infrastructure. However, the immediate PPP focus will be to use the building process itself to spur industries that can supply inputs and components to the build programme.

High-level engagements are already under way between the CEOs of organisations such as the Industrial Development Corporation, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Eskom and Transnet to identify the opportunities for increased localisation.

A former Burundian Hutu rebel group declared war against the country's government on Monday, while its leader called on the president to step down. This raised fears of a renewed outbreak of violence in the poor country.

The Forces for National Liberation (or FNL) group had laid down its weapons and joined the government in 2009 after almost two decades of civil war that killed 300 000 people.

The group says that hundreds of its fighters and members have been killed by security forces in the central African country, since an election in 2010. It also says FNL party members are tired of killings, persecution and torture orchestrated against them by the CNDD-FDD ruling party.

FNL leader Agathon Rwasa, whom Burundian authorities believe is hiding along with fellow combatants in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, called on President Pierre Nkurunziza to step down.

More than 130 of the world's poorest nations have sought to pressure richer countries to agree on new legally-binding goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions by threatening to deny them access to cheap UN carbon credits. This has the potential of making it more expensive for them to meet domestic emission goals.

The offsets, of which 995-million have been issued, have made it cheaper for governments and companies in industrialised nations to meet emissions targets. This is through paying for low-cost emission reductions in the developing world instead of making more expensive cuts at home.

However, the group of 77 countries and China told delegates at UN talks in Thailand this week that access to credits under the Clean Development Mechanism should be limited to nations that agree to cap emissions under the Kyoto Protocol starting next year.

Developing countries plan to amend the Kyoto Protocol to implement the ban at UN climate talks in Doha starting in November.

Also making headlines:

Patrice Motsepe says a line has to be drawn on unreasonable union demands.

Sudan and South Sudan resume border talks to restart oil exports.

And, Lonmin warns that indefinite strikes at Marikana threaten the jobs of more than 40 000 workers.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.