For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: Nene appointed Financial and Fiscal Commission chair; Joburg collapse guarantees national failure, warns CDE report; And, WHO says Congo Ebola outbreak can still be brought under control within three months

Nene appointed Financial and Fiscal Commission chair

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Nhlanhla Nene as chairperson of the Financial and Fiscal Commission and Malijeng Ngqaleni as its deputy chairperson.

Additionally, Bulelwa Nqadolo, Neo Tsholanku, Andrew Donaldson and Astrid Ludin have been appointed as members of the commission.

The appointments are for a period of five years. The chairperson serves as a full-time member, while the deputy chairperson and the other members serve on a part-time basis, the Presidency says.

The Financial and Fiscal Commission’s primary objective is to make recommendations to Parliament, the provincial legislatures, local government and other organs of State on financial and fiscal matters as envisaged in the Constitution and other national legislation.

Joburg collapse guarantees national failure, warns CDE report

Preventing the total collapse of Johannesburg must become an urgent national priority. This is the warning issued by Centre for Development and Enterprise director Ann Bernstein, following the release of the organisation’s report, 'Johannesburg Matters: Fixing South Africa’s Growth Engine'.

Bernstein emphasised that Johannesburg is the single municipality whose failure guarantees national failure. If South Africa's principal economic gateway cannot be saved, the entire country’s growth and development are in jeopardy, she said.

The CDE report outlines a failure across every core dimension of the municipality’s mandate and indicates that structural decay is evidenced by alarming financial and operational metrics.

The root of Johannesburg's decay is political instability, the CDE states. Since 2016, the city has cycled through nine different mayors and eight fragile coalitions.

The total absence of a mayor completing a full five-year term has destroyed stable, long-term planning.

And, WHO says Congo Ebola outbreak can still be brought under control within three months

A World Health Organization official said it was still possible to bring under control an Ebola outbreak that is outpacing containment efforts and has become the second-deadliest on record.

The global health agency said earlier this month that reversing Ebola's spread would be possible within a three-month period, but since then there have been signs that it has worsened, expanding to a sixth province.

The outbreak, Congo's worst yet of 17, has so far killed at least 2 325 people.

Resources are currently lagging requirements, and the WHO has raised about 60% of the $115-million it is seeking for the Ebola response.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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