March 5, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan seeks a ‘delicate’ balance as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development calls for steeper power hikes.
Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele welcomes the DA’s electoral reform proposal.
And, a rights group urges the UN not to lift Somalia’s arms embargo.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan openly disagreed on Monday with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (or OECD’s) assessment that, notwithstanding a doubling in electricity prices since 2008, South Africa tariffs remained too low and needed to rise “substantially” to cover costs, reduce emissions and eliminate implicit coal subsidies.
In its ‘Economic Survey of South Africa 2013’ report, the third to be released by the OECD since 2008, the authors argued that continued strong increases in power tariffs were necessary to ensure full cost recovery. In addition, they asserted that further increases would offer one of the simplest measures for unwinding the prevailing implicit subsidies for coal and electricity.
However, Gordhan described further tariff increases as a “delicate issue” and indicated that government would prefer that the adjustment towards cost-reflectivity be managed “in a careful way” so that future rises did not further undermine the competitiveness of key industries.
Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele has welcomed the Democratic Alliance's decision to table a private members' bill in Parliament proposing changes to South Africa's electoral system.
Ramphele said South Africans must feel that their votes counted. She added that although Agang is still developing the detail of its policy, the fundamental underlying principle is that citizens should have the right to choose who represents them in Parliament, to hold them accountable and to replace them if they don't perform.
DA MP James Selfe tabled the private members' bill in Parliament on Monday. He proposed that the electoral system should be changed to a constituency-based one, ensuring a direct link between MPs and voters
However, in response, African National Congress chief whip Mathole Motshekga said changing the country's electoral system wouldn’t guarantee that MPs become more accountable to voters. He further dismissed the proposal, saying the DA was "guilty of deliberate distortion and overlooking the complexity of the subject of electoral reform".
The human rights group Amnesty International has warned the UN Security Council not to lift the 21-year-old arms embargo in place for Somalia as called for by a draft resolution. The human rights group described the idea as premature.
The 15-nation council is considering lifting the UN arms embargo on Somalia's government for one year so it can beef up its army to combat Islamist fighters. This is according to a draft resolution obtained by an international news agency.
Amnesty International's Somalia researcher Gemma Davies said that without adequate safeguards, arms transfers may expose Somali civilians to even greater risk and worsen the humanitarian situation, adding that for several years, the arms embargo on Somalia has been continuously violated with arms supplied to armed groups on all sides of the conflict.
The Security Council imposed the arms embargo in 1992 to cut the flow of arms to feuding warlords, who a year earlier had ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and plunged Somalia into civil war. Last year Somalia held its first national vote since 1991 to elect a president and prime minister.
Also making headlines:
South African Deputy Minerals Minister Godfrey Oliphant defends the current review of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.
Kenya's deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta takes an early lead as Kenya counts the votes.
And, a protester was shot dead when Guinea's security forces opened fire in the capital owing to rows over the forthcoming legislative elections.
That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.