Friday, April 30, 2010

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

Making headlines:

South Africa's power utility Eskom is confident that it will be able to meet this year's power demand, including during the FIFA World Cup, but is concerned that supply will be tight from 2011/12 unless new capacity is brought on stream.
Eskom generation head Brian Dames says that the Medupi and Kusile coal-fired power plants will provide a buffer once their first units come on stream in 2012 and 2014 respectively. The plants will each generate 4 800 MW. But before they are commissioned, the system will be tight, he said.
Power supply will be stretched again after 2017, owing to fast-rising demand. Dames expects electricity demand to grow annually by 3% for the next 20 years, leading to a doubling of present demand levels of around 37 000 MW by 2030.
Dames says that a decision on the next base-load plant will need to be taken this year to avoid a repeat of a power crisis that brought the mining industry to a halt for days in early 2008.

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in Gauteng province will lobby for the election of Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane as ANC Gauteng chairperson.
ANCYL Gauteng leader Thabo Kupa says that the league wants a "leadership collective that represents the renewal of the organisation, ideological balance, geographic spread, [and a] general mix in gender parity".
Asked why the ANCYL Gauteng was not supporting current chairperson Paul Mashatile, Kupa said that it wants one centre of power.
Regional ANC branches will vote this weekend, with the final results to be made public at the party's provincial elective conference between May 6 and May 9 in Pretoria.

South Africa will need about R23-billion to prevent the country's wastewater treatment works from collapsing, said Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica at the launch of the long-awaited ‘Green Drop' report yesterday. The report assessed 449 treatment plants out of the country's 852 systems and revealed that 55% of these scored below 50%, while 38% scored between 50% and 89%, and only 7% were classified as "excellently managed".
However, Sonjica refuted claims that the country's sanitation system is in a crisis. "A total of 45% of the systems performed within acceptable standards. This implies that, in spite of all the shortcomings, the sector is not in complete disrepair," she said. The Minister hailed the ‘Green Drop' report as a globally unique approach to incentivising local government in order to improve waste services.

Also making headlines:

Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Jeff Radebe puts on hold controversial plans by National Director of Public Prosecutions Menzi Simelane to decentralise the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
Morocco plans to lease 30 000 ha of farmland per year to improve yields.
Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande proposes far-reaching changes to the Sector Education and Training Authorities.
And, the Central African Republic delays its Presidential and legislative elections for the second time.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.