Tuesday, June 15, 2010

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

Making headlines:

Up to 16 000 workers at South Africa's power utility Eskom could go on strike by Thursday, if their demands for an 18% wage hike are not met. A strike during the first FIFA World Cup on the African continent could affect power supply during the soccer spectacle.
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said yesterday that the talks had already deadlocked. Unless Eskom offers workers a pay rise that is more than three times the inflation rate, plus a housing allowance when parties resume conciliation efforts today, the NUM said that workers will strike within 24 hours.
Eskom sought a court order in May, preventing the union from striking during the month-long soccer tournament. Eskom employees are the latest to use the sporting event as a wage negotiation tool to push for above inflation salary increases that could in the long run undermine South Africa's recovery from a sharp downturn.

African nations must stop seeking hand-outs and begin tough structural reforms, especially on trade, if they truly want to improve their economies, said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday.
Speaking at a forum on US diplomacy in Africa, Clinton said that trade between African countries is "abysmally minimalistic." Her comments were in response to a question about broadening the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), a measure passed by US Congress in 2000 that gives favourable access to US markets to dozens of African countries.
While many African governments hope that the benefits can be made permanent, Clinton signalled that Washington is going to look for signs that African countries are serious about improving their own domestic economic policies. Despite big improvements under Agoa overall US trade with sub-Saharan African countries remains small, accounting for just slightly more than 1% of total US exports and about 3% of total US imports in 2008.
Clinton also indicated that Africa's arguments for the redress of economic imbalances left by colonialism were beginning to wear thin. "We've got to get over what happened 50, 100, 200 years ago and let's make money for everybody. That's the best way to try to create some new energy and some new growth in Africa," she said.

Transnet will move to fire freight rail chief Siyabonga Gama after he was found guilty of a serious breach of governance requirements, said Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan on Monday.
In reply to a Parliamentary question from the Congress of the People, Hogan said that Transnet will motivate for dismissal as the appropriate sanction, but that the issue will be decided by the appointed presiding officers. She added that sanctions would be imposed on the Transnet board under the Public Finance Management Act, if the Gama inquiry shows that it failed to comply with section 51 of the Act, which stipulates that the board of a public entity must ensure that it maintains an appropriate procurement system.
Transnet spokesperson John Dludlu said that a detailed finding pronounced Gama guilty on each of the charges brought against him, including one of irretrievable breakdown in his relationship with Transnet.

Also making headlines:

The International Monetary Fund warns that public and private sector employers in Zimbabwe should exercise wage restraint to avoid an inflation spiral.
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir names his new coalition government, appointing a southerner to the new post of Oil Minister.
Guinean security forces arrest high-ranking soldiers believed to be allies of former junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara in a move that they say is a "checking" measure and not political.
And, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees reports that only 251 000 of the world's 15-million refugees returned to their home countries last year owing to ongoing conflict, the lowest rate in two decades.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.