June 11, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:
 

Zimbabwe starts registering new voters as presidential and parliamentary elections draw near.

The International Monetary Fund's executive board approves a $15-million loan for Mali.

And, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa calls on all municipalities to submit tariff increase applications.

 

Zimbabwe began registering new voters on Monday in a push to meet a Constitutional Court order to hold elections by July 31, even though one of the two main parties wants a delay to allow for reform of the media and security forces.

President Robert Mugabe has said he would comply with the court order to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections. This has angered the Movement for Democratic Change (or MDC) of his chief rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

To help ensure a fair vote, the MDC wants to first open up broadcast media to all parties and to agree on a code to stop army and police meddling in politics.

However, the court ruling leaves little time for such reforms and the state media, which is still firmly in the camp of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, has stepped up attacks on Tsvangirai and the MDC in the last month. Senior police and army officers have openly campaigned for Mugabe and labelled Tsvangirai a Western puppet.

 

The International Monetary Fund's  executive board said on Monday that it had approved $15.1-million for Mali, to support its economic programme and help the strife-torn West African nation re-engage with other donors.

The money comes under the IMF's Rapid Credit Facility, which helps countries with an urgent balance of payments crisis, and would send a signal to other donors that Mali's economy is on the right path.

The economy of Mali, one of the world's poorest countries, has picked up this year after a French-led military intervention  helped the government halt advances by Islamist rebels.

 

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (or Nersa) on Monday called on 12 of the country’s municipalities to submit their applications as soon as possible. They have yet to apply for a tariff increase for implementation on July 1.

Nersa spokesperson Charles Hlebela told Engineering News Online that all municipalities had to apply for a tariff increase, whether below or above the guideline. However, municipalities applying for an increase above the guideline would have to clearly justify their requests.

He further explained that those municipalities that did not seek a tariff increase would also have to apply to continue using existing tariffs.

 

Also making headlines:

 

A Malian government delegation and Tuareg separatist rebels reach a ceasefire agreement "in principle."

The Democratic Alliance will push for labour reforms in Parliament this week to address underlying causes of mining unrest.

And, France won't recognise Madagascar’s elections unless the current candidates withdraw.

 

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.