Wednesday, February 17, 2010
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Sheila Barradas.
Making headlines:
The African National Congress (ANC) has blasted the Congress of the People (Cope) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) for storming out of the National Assembly yesterday, after a vicious standoff between an opposition Member of Parliament (MP) and Deputy Speaker Nomaindia Mfeketo.
ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga says that the decision by Cope and the DA to walk out of the House had "no place within a distinguished institution such as Parliament".
The dispute started shortly after President Jacob Zuma's response to the debate on his State of the Nation speech, when the Deputy Speaker ordered Cope MP Mluleki George to withdraw a comment about the government leading the country into lawlessness. George steadfastly refused until Mfeketo eventually told him to leave.
The DA's chief whip Ian Davidson said that the party joined Cope in the walkout owing to Mfeketo's "complete disregard of Section 58 of the Constitution" allowing for freedom of expression.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said yesterday that he is confident that the main partners of the ruling coalition will find a way to end a rift over corruption allegations.
This was after President Mwai Kibaki overturned Odinga's order to suspend the country's agriculture and education ministers for three months to allow for more investigations into corruption allegations.
Odinga says that disagreements and misunderstandings may arise between coalition partners but this does not mean that the coalition has collapsed. He adds that he is confident that the coalition partners will find a solution.
Analysts say that the coalition is likely to survive, as neither side can be sure of an election win if the union fell apart.

Whites are generally the biggest beneficiaries of recruitment and promotion in the workplace, said the Labour Department DG said in Pretoria yesterday.
"White people in general are fine. I want to debunk the myth that there is no future for whites," said Jimmy Manyi, who is also president of the Black Management Forum, in a public lecture at the Tshwane University of Technology.
The reason why blacks are not advancing is because companies are deliberately rejecting and ignoring them, said Manyi, explaining that companies cite the education system, skills shortage and skills mismatch in a bid to exclude black people. "Let's recognise people's potential and allow them integration," he said.

Also making headlines:

The Côte d'Ivoire's Prime Minister delays the announcement of a new government which is expected to be a step toward easing a political crisis.
The National Union of Mineworkers says that its members at State-owned power utility Eskom are agitating for a strike for higher housing allowances.
The Constitutional Court finds that ex-Intelligence coordinator Barry Gilder will be allowed to testify in the trial of former National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi.
And, the European Union extends sanctions on Zimbabwe for another 12 months, citing a lack of progress in implementing a power-sharing accord.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.