SOUTH AFRICA

PRETORIA – The Public Service Commission (PSC) says government departments are competing with each for the employment of persons with disabilities. The PSC recommends that, in order for government departments to meet their two per cent disability equity target, they must offer bursaries, internships and learnership programmes for the disabled.  A PSC assessment on disability equity in the public service indicates that 40 percent of government departments do not have approved employment equity plans in place even though that is one of the basic requirements of the Employment Equity Act. The PSC says government departments must budget additional money, apart from the person's salary, to accommodate the disabled person’s needs.


PIETERMARITZBURG - Judge Chris Nicholson grants African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma's application to have corruption charges dismissed and orders the state to pay the ANC leader's legal costs. Judge Nicholson says there has been political interference in Zuma's case, an allegation made by Zuma’s supporters, who say Zuma is the victim of a political witch-hunt by his rival South African President Thabo Mbeki. Zuma's advocate, Kemp J. Kemp, says the defence has always been confident of success. However, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) can ask the judge for leave to appeal against the decision. NPA spokesman Tladi Tladi says the judgment will be studied to see if there are grounds for an appeal.




AFRICA & WORLD

LONDON – Unicef indicates that more than nine-million children died globally before their fifth birthday in 2007, down slightly from 2006. However, a huge gap remains between rich and poor countries, especially in Africa. Improvements in Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and in parts of Asia are responsible for the overall decline, but deaths remain high in sub-Saharan Africa where one in seven children dies before age five. HIV/Aids is still a major killer of children in sub-Saharan Africa, though countries such as Eritrea, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger and Ethiopia have made significant progress in cutting mortality rates, Unicef says.

NEW YORK – United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon denies that his first year in office has been a failure and says recent criticisms he made of the UN bureaucracy's resistance to change are being misconstrued. Ban says he wants to see a "re-energised" and "recharged" UN where people are more willing to change jobs, and he hopes to promote this through re-training and career development. Despite his inability to reform the UN’s bureaucracy in this first year in office, Ban believes progress has been made in the area of management reform. The criticism, that the UN is bloated, inefficient and wasteful, concerns Ban, especially when this comes from the US congress, which must authorise Washington's substantial UN dues.

CARACAS/WASHINGTON - The United States escalates a major diplomatic crisis with Venezuela, imposing sanctions on aides to President Hugo Chavez in retaliation for his expulsion of the US ambassador. The crisis and Chavez's threat to cut off oil shipments to the United States plunge relations between the superpower and one of its top energy suppliers to their lowest point in years. Chavez says the expulsion of the US ambassador is in support of his leftist South American ally President Evo Morales of Bolivia, where violent anti-government protests have been responsible for eight deaths. Bolivia accuses Washington of supporting the opposition. Chavez says that he will not restore relations with the US at least until US President George W. Bush leaves the White House in January.