Monday, April 12, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.

Making headlines:

The African National Congress's (ANC's) investment firm Chancellor House is planning to sell its 25% stake in Hitachi Power, which won a contract to supply boilers to Eskom's two new coal-fired power stations.
ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa says that the ruling party is planning to exit within the next six weeks, but adds that "no one must hold [them] to six weeks" because commercial transactions are unpredictable.
The World Bank on Thursday approved a controversial $3,75-billion loan to develop the Medupi coal-fired power plant despite a lack of support from the US, Netherlands and Britain.
Opposition parties called for the World Bank to make the loan conditional on the ANC divesting its stake in Hitachi, so that the ruling party would not benefit from it.

Confusion, delays and charges of fraud marked the start of Sudan's first multiparty elections in 24 years. The three-day election may show whether Sudan can avoid more conflict and humanitarian crises as it heads towards a 2011 referendum on independence for the oil-producing south.
The results are widely expected to keep Sudan's two most influential men in power: President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for allegedly planning war crimes in the western Darfur region, and Salva Kiir, who leads the largely autonomous south Sudan.
Across the country, there were long queues and chaotic scenes outside polling centres yesterday, but no major unrest was reported as people vote to choose a national president, a leader of south Sudan, national and local parliaments, and governors of all but one of the country's 25 states.

Yet the election's credibility was undermined even before voting started, as leading opposition parties pulled out candidates and blamed the government for widespread vote rigging and intimidation. Election officials, trying to plan a complex election for the first time in a generation, deny the charges.

African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema remains defiant after being publicly rebuked by President Jacob Zuma at the weekend.
Speaking at a press conference at the ANCYL's Limpopo conference yesterday, Malema said that he would not take any personal responsibility for the remarks he made on Zimbabwe last week. He said that he "can't understand" why he was rebuked on his statements on Zimbabwe, as the views expressed were not his, but those of the ANCYL. Malema allegedly said that Zuma is "worse than [former] President Thabo Mbeki by going public in his rebuke of the youth leader.
Zuma said at a news conference in Durban on Saturday that Malema's conduct was "alien to the ANC", and reproached Malema for his insistence on singing the "shoot the boer" song, his statements about the killing of right wing leader Eugene Terre'Blanche, his intervention in the talks on Zimbabwe, as well as his attacks on journalists.

Also making headlines:

The Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation, or the Hawks, is investigating all possibilities, including whether Eugene Terre'Blanche's death may have involved a sex crime.
A rights group says that sectarian clashes in Egypt are increasing, as government action is weak in the mostly Muslim nation.
South Africa and the Republic of Congo take hands to further trade activity as bilateral trade agreements were finalised last week.
And, the April 1 ouster of Guinea-Bissau's military chief has taken efforts to stabilise the country, back to square one and underlines the threat that it poses to regional security.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.