Wednesday April 04, 2012

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Brad Dubbelman

Making headlines:

South Africa's ruling ANC yesterday harshly reprimanded rebellious Youth League leader Julius Malema, angrily condemning his assertion that President Jacob Zuma's government is a dictatorship. Still smarting after Malema accused the president of trying to crush him and the party's Youth League, the ANC put on a show of unity, holding a news conference with all its six top leaders, including Zuma. "It is not only disingenuous but a deliberate falsehood," secretary general Gwede Mantashe said of Malema's comments. The young firebrand's slurs on Zuma were "crude", "disrespectful", "incomprehensible" and "insulting," he added.

The African Union (AU) on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Mali's military coup leader and his allies, who are preventing a return to constitutional order in the West African nation. "The AU is to impose with immediate effect a travel ban and asset freeze to the leader of the military junta, as well as entities contributing to impeding the return of constitutional order in Mali," Ramtane Lamamra, AU commissioner for peace and security, said following a meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Lamamra also said the AU endorsed the decision by Ecowas member States to activate their standby force.

Department of Energy (DoE) chief director for hydrocarbons Muzi Mkhize said the department was reviewing how South Africa calculated its basic fuel price. The review has started and would be completed before the end of the current financial year, Mkhize said at a media briefing in Pretoria, hours before a big fuel increase came into effect. Calculations to determine the basic fuel price currently take into consideration benchmark prices from fuel refineries in Singapore and the Mediterranean regions deemed “most efficient”, in an effort to prevent consumers paying for higher prices that inefficient refineries may impose on them.

Also making headlines:

The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Amendment Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament in May, said Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies.

And, the Labour Department will hold a public hearing on amendments to the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act in Johannesburg today.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.