Monday April 04, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Brad Dubbelman

Making headlines:

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) had collected more than R6-billion from mining royalties in the first year of their implementation, said commissioner Oupa Magashula on Friday. Companies extracting minerals in South Africa are required to pay royalties at a rate of between 0,5% and 7% based on gross sales, less allowable deductions. Magashula said at a briefing to announce the outcome of the country’s 2010/11 revenue collection, that Sars had also identified transfer pricing issues as a challenge in the collection of taxes within the mining sector.

Zimbabwe's main official newspaper attacked South African President Jacob Zuma on Sunday, labelling him an erratic liability after he called on the government to end a crackdown on its political rivals. The comments are likely to reflect President Robert Mugabe's anger with Zuma, who condemned events in Zimbabwe in unusually strong language at a regional summit last week. Along with the leaders of Zambia and Mozambique, Zuma demanded an end to a crackdown on Movement for Democratic Change activists.

Nigeria postponed parliamentary and presidential elections by one week on Sunday after failing to get logistics prepared in time, a major embarrassment for a nation hoping to break with a history of chaotic polls.
Africa's most populous country will now hold parliamentary elections on April 9, presidential elections on April 16 and governorship elections in its 36 states on April 26, electoral commission head Attahiru Jega said.
Nigeria was forced to abort parliamentary elections on Saturday after voting materials failed to arrive on time in large parts of the country.

Also making headlines:
Fighters loyal to the Côte d’Ivoire’s presidential rivals Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara held their respective positions across Abidjan on Sunday, a day that saw less fighting than the previous three.
A Libyan government envoy has begun a trip to Europe to discuss an end to fighting, but gave no sign of any major climbdown in a war that has ground to a stalemate between rebels and forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
And South African petrol pump prices in the main inland commercial region will increase by 54 c/l, or 5,7%, from April 6, the government said on Friday.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.