Monday, October 11, 2010

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

Making headlines:

The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) has confirmed that it is rejecting government's wage offer of a 7,5% wage increase and a monthly R800 housing allowance. However, the union will not embark on industrial strike action and has formally ended the current strikes, Sadtu spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said, adding that "the union refuses to sign the document."
The Sunday Times reported that re-elected Sadtu president Thobile Ntola said: "We still feel strongly that what government is putting on the table is immoral". Ntola reportedly said that Sadtu was "declaring war with the government."
The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party said that Sadtu had turned into a "reckless monster", following a statement that Ntola made on television, saying that the union would make the country "ungovernable".
The DA urged Sadtu members to put the interests of pupils first by terminating their union membership, thereby ending the "financial lifeline that keeps this antieducation organisation... alive".

The World Bank's fundraising drive to help the world's poorest countries will require "a continued push" amid budget cuts by rich donors, World Bank president Robert Zoellick said at the weekend. Failure by donors to provide enough resources for the World Bank's fund for the poor would "devastate" efforts to tackle global poverty.
As rich donors face pressures to slash spending as they try to recover from the global financial crisis, the World Bank is tapping into a deeper pool of emerging market donors that includes China and Brazil. " We are not just asking traditional donors to carry the load," he said. The World Bank is currently in talks with donors to contribute fresh resources to its International Development Association, which provides grants and low-cost development loans to 79 of the world's poorest nations.
The global financial crisis, which erupted shortly after a food price crisis, has forced the World Bank to commit a record $140-billion since 2008 to help poor countries. While developing countries have recovered relatively quickly from the crisis, they still face huge challenges to stimulate their economies and attract investment.

As global finance chiefs wrestled on Friday with how to redistribute voting power in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), emerging markets wanted to ensure that a promised increase in their say does not come at the expense of fellow developing nations.
European countries and the US currently dominate the IMF in a reflection of the post-World War II order, which is now being challenged as developing countries such as China are demanding representation commensurate with their increasing economic clout. There is broad agreement among the IMF's 187 member countries that roughly 5% of voting power needs to shift to underrepresented countries in the IMF.
South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said that it was critical to fix the historical inequities between the "haves and have-nots" that still exist in the IMF. Further, Gordhan cautioned that developing countries should not be the ones to make the sacrifices.

Also making headlines:

Justice Minister Jeff Radebe says that an estimated R800-million has been defrauded and stolen from the Guardian's Fund by corrupt justice officials and syndicates.
Côte d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo vows to double cocoa production and revamp the country's infrastructure if re-elected.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki says, at the launch of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, that the 21st century must be an "African Century".
And, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi warns that separatist conflicts could spread through Africa like a disease if Sudan decides in next year's referendum to split in two.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.