Thursday, October 14, 2010

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

Making headlines:

Central bank governor Gill Marcus says that South Africa's economy is in a fragile recovery and that the strong rand is hurting the country. The rand has firmed by over 28% since the beginning of last year, weighing on exports from the mining and manufacturing sectors that are key contributors to the economy.
Briefing a meeting in Johannesburg on Wednesday, Marcus said that the rand had helped ease inflation and contributed to the bank's decision to lower interest rates by 100 basis points this year, but it could be difficult to influence its value on the market to help the manufacturing sector. She reiterated that there is no "quick fix" to dealing with the flood of capital inflows into emerging markets, which have led to currency appreciations.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said in a written reply to Parliament on Wednesday, that the government would like to achieve a competitive exchange rate over time and create policies that better guard against currency volatility. He added that the risk of increased trade protectionism in the wake of a double-dip recession, would further reduce global growth and could harm South African exports even more.

Hopes for United Nations (UN) climate talks in Mexico next month have faded, overshadowed by splits between the US and China and by fears that the 194-nation process is too unwieldy to work out a pact to slow global warming.
Experts say that the Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit starting at the end of November in Cancun, Mexico, could agree steps to set up climate funds to help poor nations or ways to share green technology. Most nations gave up hopes of a quick all-encompassing treaty to curb greenhouse gases after world leaders at a 2009 summit in Copenhagen failed to work out a binding deal. Even a patchwork of smaller deals, for example, to curb deforestation, is now uncertain.
UN Environment Programme head Achim Steiner says that countries are "bolting down their positions because they don't see any movement on the other side." But he predicted that more extreme weather, such as the floods in Pakistan or the drought in Russia that pushed up grain prices, would eventually bring global cooperation on climate change.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) announced on Wednesday that the public sector strike was over, even though no deal had been signed with the government.
At a press conference on Wednesday, National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union president Michael Makwayiba said that seven of the eight Cosatu unions had accepted the government's offer of a 7,5% wage increase and an R800 monthly housing allowance. Independent Labour Caucus (ILC) spokesperson Chris Klopper said that one of the ILC unions had accepted the offer, bringing the total to about 45% of public sector workers accepting it.
Makwayiba said that he did not think the government would now withdraw its offer and that he believed a deal would be reached.

Also making headlines:

Parliament's portfolio committee on communication says that the Communications Department has been in "virtual disarray" for the "better part" of the current financial year.
Liberia seeks to prosecute a British citizen for bribery in a proposed carbon capture deal that would have given him control of one-fifth of the country's rain forests.
The latest Reputation Institute study shows that South Africa's international reputation improved following the 2010 FIFA World Cup, while perceptions by South Africans dropped significantly after the tournament ended.
And, United Nations peacekeepers could create limited buffer zones in hot spots along the border between north and south Sudan before a referendum on southern independence is held in January 2011.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.