Thursday April 05, 2012

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Shannon de Ryhove

Making headlines:

Yesterday, the ANC’s national disciplinary committee announced it had temporarily suspended Julius Malema from the party, to investigate charges relating to comments he made on Friday. No ANC member is bigger than the organisation's constitution, the party said, in welcoming Youth League president Malema's latest suspension. "We welcome and respect the decision as we do with all decisions arrived at by constitutional structures of the ANC," spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a statement.

Spending on foreign aid by the world's major donors fell for the first time since 1997, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said, as developed economies tightened budgets in the wake of the global financial crisis. The OECD said aid to developing countries dropped 3% in 2011 with poor sub-Saharan African nations in particular receiving less than promised. Aid flows last year equated to 0.31% of the gross national income of the 23 wealthy donor countries which make up the OECD Development Assistance Committee.

The National Skills Fund and the Sector Education and Training Authorities are to allocate R2.5-billion towards the refurbishment and construction of new further education and training (FET) college campuses over the next three years, President Jacob Zuma announced yesterday. The money will be used for expanding and improving the FET college infrastructure, in keeping with the strategic priorities of the National Skills Development Strategy III. “This is yet another demonstration of the value we attach to FET colleges,” Zuma said at a skills development summit with FET college principals, near Pretoria.
 

Also making headlines:

Most Kenyans want the next elections to be held in December and not March next year as set by the electoral commission, which could stoke further tension between the country's president and prime minister over the disputed date of the vote.

And, Mali's military rulers postponed a national convention to end a crisis sparked by a coup, which has led to international isolation and allowed rebels to seize control of the northern half of the country.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.