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Polity
Article by: Amy Witherden Published: 11 Sep 2009
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| Daily podcast - September 11, 2009 | |
| Friday, September 11, 2009 From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden. Making headlines: South Africa's wage settlements, that are mostly above the projected rate of inflation and in excess of productivity gains, are undermining the fight against inflation, says Central Bank Governor Tito Mboweni. Such raises in wages lead to labour cost increases way above those of trade competitors and, therefore, a loss of competitiveness. Labour unions across industry sectors have gone on strikes demanding double-digit wage hikes this year. Most settlements have been above the inflation rate, which stood at 6,7% year-on-year in July. Since December, the Central Bank has cut the repo rate by 500 basis points to 7%, aimed at taming inflation. Mboweni reiterates that "price stability is a necessary condition for a solid foundation for sustainable growth and prosperity." The South African government is to establish a reconfigured inter-Ministerial committee to formulate a national programme for climate change, as well as the country's formal negotiation stance ahead of global climate negotiations in December. However, Cabinet stated yesterday that the South African government is not ready to agree to any targets at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen, that would undermine South Africa's growth trajectory. South Africa also intends interacting with other developing nations ahead of the Copenhagen conference, to ensure that the final mandate incorporated a so-called "development agenda" for economic growth and alleviating poverty. The World Wide Fund for Nature's climate change programme manager, Richard Worthington, says that while South Africa's rejection of emissions caps is justifiable and logical, especially given its power stresses, the country continues to fail to recognise the compatibility between the country's sustainable development objectives and the pursuit of climate-change mitigation and adaptation strategies. South African President Jacob Zuma says that lifting sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) on Zimbabwe, would help speed up that country's economic recovery and aid in the progress of implementation of the power-sharing agreement. He adds that the Southern African Development Community would try to convince the EU to lift sanctions. However, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt says that the EU fact-finding mission heading to Zimbabwe at the weekend, will be about "listening", and not in preparation to lift the restrictions of the EU. Also making headlines: The African National Congress Youth League backs soldiers fighting for a wage increase. The African Union considers sanctions against Madagascar. South Africa extends its timeframe for a renewable energy policy review to February And, the International Monetary Fund says that South Africa's rand currency is overvalued by between 6% and 16%. That's a roundup of news making headlines today. |
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