Wednesday, August 18, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Brad Dubbelman.

Making headlines:

South Africa's "ambiguous" minerals legislation will be subjected to a "major overhaul" and issues relating to Kumba Iron Ore, ArcelorMittal South Africa and platinum-miner Lonmin will be dealt with "immediately" and taken to the Cabinet "soon", said Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu on Tuesday.
From September 1, information on the status of exploration and mining licences will be accessible on the Department of Mineral Resources' (DMR's) website, "in the interest of transparency". Within the next six months, the DMR will also have a completely new system of 'licence-process tracking' ready for public access. The September 1 prospecting licence moratorium, which is to be gazetted shortly, will endure for six months to allow for a comprehensive audit of the licences granted since the promulgation of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA).
Briefing the media on South Africa's mining laws, Shabangu said that "gaps and weaknesses" had been identified in the MPRDA. The DMR is ready to review the Act and to go to Cabinet with the issues involved, she said.

One-half of South Africa's electricity generation could come from renewable energy sources by 2030, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a new report on Tuesday.
WWF climate change programme manager Richard Worthington explained that renewable energy is "not just an environmental issue anymore. It is about assessing the health of [South Africa's] economy going forward."
He said that reaching the 50% renewable energy target by 2030 is distinctly feasible, despite the country's heavy reliance on coal to produce electricity, and added that it is necessary to ensure low-carbon reindustrialisation, which will be required under emission reduction commitments in the climate change arena.
The report, entitled ‘Renewable energy in a just transition to sustainable electricity supply', argues that South Africa has the potential to rapidly upscale its use of renewable energy, and with a combination of energy-efficiency measures, this will result in cheaper electricity over the medium term.

Statutory control of South Africa's media would be unwise, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) warned on Tuesday, following a meeting of the organisation's leadership and members.
Referring to a controversial African National Congress proposal for a media appeals tribunal and to the Protection of Information Bill, BLSA chairperson Bobby Godsell said that the "free passage of ideas is the lifeblood of both democracy and the economy." The BLSA believes that South Africa's print media, as is the case in most industrial democracies, should regulate itself, he said. However, Godsell added that the BLSA would like to hear the print media acknowledge that they could do "a much better job".
"We need a free but responsible media," he said.

Also making headlines:

South African Public servants begin an indefinite, countrywide strike today, to press for better wages, saying that their patience with the government has run out.
The East African Community economic bloc says that the region needs to raise up to $25-billion over the next decade to upgrade its railways in order to boost trade.
Congress of South African Trade Unions secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi criticises the proposed Protection of Information Bill.
And, Human Rights Watch reports that corruption in the Nigerian police force has led to the beating and even killing of innocent civilians.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.