Friday August 19, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Brad Dubbelman


Making headlines:

Energy Minister Dipuo Peters wants copper theft to be classified as economic sabotage. Peters told media at the government's Infrastructure Development Cluster briefing that her department had written to the Justice Minister Jeff Radebe to suggest that legislation be changed so that cable theft can be classified as a serious offence. Her comments come after stolen cables disrupted the Gautrain for the second time in two weeks, on Tuesday. between the Hatfield, Pretoria and Centurion stations.

Nigeria looks set to overtake South Africa as the continent's biggest issuer of local government debt with a planned $650-million auction by one of its states in October, but subnational bonds remain far off for much of Africa.
Capital markets can prove cheaper than bank loans -- and may be the only option -- for some governments seeking to fill budget gaps or fund big infrastructure projects, but in much of Africa the growth of local debt issuance has been slow to take off. A planned 100-billion naira bond issue by Rivers state in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta would take Nigeria's total local debt stock to more than $2.3-billion compared to South Africa's $1.9-billion in municipal bonds.

The South African Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) will march in Johannesburg today demanding an 18% salary increase, the union said.
Provincial chairperson Koena Ramotlou said union members would gather at Peter Rose Park in the city at 9am and then march to the South African Local Government Association (Salga) offices. The march would then proceed to the Premier's office in central Johannesburg. Samwu took to the streets on Monday demanding an 18% pay rise while employers, Salga, were offering 6.08%.

Also making headlines:
Campaigning for Zambia's September presidential election is in full swing with the incumbent launching an expensive building project at a time when State coffers are coming under pressure from declining revenue from its main export, copper.
Libyan rebels took control of an oil refinery in the western town of Zawiyah and blocked the main highway north of the capital, further isolating Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's Tripoli stronghold.
And, Business Unity South Africa welcomed recent suggestions by two Cabinet Ministers on the need for a flexible labour market.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.