Monday, October 4, 2010

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

Making headlines:

African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) leader Julius Malema has promised to ensure that ANC leaders who oppose his efforts to put the country's mines in the State's hands are removed from the party, the Sunday Independent reported.
Speaking at the launch of the League's nationalisation campaign in Maandagshoek, Limpopo province, Malema said that the League would "fight until [it] realises economic freedom in our lifetime." If mining did not benefit the majority, the League would ensure that it did not benefit the minority of the country's people either, he said, referring to mines in the area as "daylight robbers".
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was reportedly "highly perturbed" by Malema's comments. NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said in a statement that "not only does the NUM find the utterances unacceptable, but [they] threaten the livelihoods and security of jobs of the over 400 000 mineworkers employed in the industry."
Seshoka called on the ANC to provide much-needed leadership to its youth wing, to ensure that no serious damage is done to the country's reputation or the mining industry.

Nearly 40 nations reached agreement in principle on an international trade pact aimed at reducing copyright and trademark theft that causes losses of billions of dollars annually. "Participants in the negotiations constructively resolved nearly all substantive issues," the US, Japan, the European Union (EU) and other participating countries said in a joint statement.
A key feature of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement will mandate that customs officials have authority to seize counterfeit goods without a request from the rights holders or a court order.
The talks involved the US, the EU and its 27 member States, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland, and two developing countries - Morocco and Mexico. The participating countries say that their economies have suffered from a sharp increase in trade in fake and pirated goods.
US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said that States party to the talks "are on the threshold of a landmark achievement in the enforcement of intellectual property rights."

The African National Congress (ANC) should deal decisively with members lobbying for the ruling party's top posts, Congress of South African Trade Unions secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi said in Durban on Sunday.
It was recently reported that the ANC Youth League was campaigning for its former president Fikile Mbalula to replace current ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe in 2012.
Without mentioning the ANCYL, Vavi said that there were people who thought they would launch an election campaign during the ANC's national general council held in Durban last month. "They left with broken hearts because their attempts to strengthen political paralysis failed. The national general council marked a decisive approach to dealing with ill-discipline," he said.

Also making headlines:

The Côte d'Ivoire's identity and electoral roll cards arrive in the country, nudging the nation a step closer to long overdue elections.
South Sudan President Salva Kiir gives his strongest hint yet that he would support a vote for independence from the north in a looming referendum, saying that nothing had been done to make unity attractive.
South African President Jacob Zuma invites India to further build its business relations with South Africa at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Africa India Diaspora Conference.
And, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan says that a small terrorist group based outside Nigeria and not militants from the oil-producing Niger Delta, were responsible for last week's independence day car bomb attacks in the capital.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.