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Polity
Article by: Amy Witherden
Published: 01 Sep 2010
Daily podcast - September 1, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010


From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Mary-Anne O'Donnell.


Making headlines:


Public service trade unions are expected to accept or reject government's latest wage offer today, two weeks into a nationwide strike. Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi reportedly told Business Day that the government would have to borrow the money to pay for the increase, which will add an extra R7-billion to the current R297-billion public service wage bill.
Government's latest offer was tabled at talks with unions, represented by the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the Independent Labour Caucus, at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council during overnight talks on Monday.
Baloyi's spokesperson, Dumisani Nkwamba, said that a follow-up meeting will be held at the bargaining council on Wednesday "for consideration of the offer".


The World Bank has reaffirmed its commitment to "scaling up" its support for hydropower infrastructure in developing countries, which it describes as the largest source of renewable and low-carbon energy.
This policy aspiration, contained in a newly published report entitled ‘Sustaining Water for all in a Changing Climate', points out that only 23% of the hydropower potential in developing countries is currently being exploited. Countries in the Africa region are storing only about 4% of annual renewable flows, compared with 70% to 90% in many developed countries. The untapped potential in developing countries amounts to more than 1 300 GW of unutilised hydropower, the report avers, noting that hydropower currently accounts for 20% of the world's electricity supply and 88% of the supply from renewable resources.
Author Nancy Vandycke argues that leveraging the power of water to support the transformation of the energy sector will also help to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. World Bank Group sustainable development vice-president Inger Andersen also reaffirmed the bank's commitment to upgrading, or building, hydraulic infrastructure, which would have "enormous" benefits for poor citizens in developing countries.

 

Rwanda is considering pulling its troops out of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions, starting with Darfur, after a leaked draft UN report said that Rwandan troops may have committed genocide in the Congo.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo says that government has instructed its peacekeeping force commander to "make contingency plans for immediate withdrawal as we wait to see how the UN treats this report."
The draft UN High Commission for Human Rights report details some 600 serious crimes committed by various forces from a number of nations in the Congo during the 1990s. However, experts say that Rwanda came off worst owing to the genocide charge. Rwanda has rejected the allegations in the leaked report as "malicious" and "ridiculous". "The UN can't have it both ways," Mushikiwabo says. "You can't have a force serving as peacekeepers [that] is the same force you are accusing of genocide."


Also making headlines:


Former South African President FW de Klerk labels the education sector as "one of the biggest failures of the new South Africa".
The National Treasury reports that South African municipalities underspent their capital budgets by R8,5-billion, or 17,1%, in the 12 months to June 30, 2010.
The South African National Editors Forum launches the Coalition for Free Speech, championing a collective drive by media, big business and civil society to amplify the importance of free speech as a pillar of democracy and not just a matter concerning the media.
And, a US military official says that paying ransom for hostages held by Al-Qaeda and releasing jailed militants to win freedom for hostages held by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, only encourages more kidnappings and hands the militant network a global propaganda boost.


That's a roundup of news making headlines today.