Tuesday August 23, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Jessica Hannah


Making headlines:

The ANC made good on a promise to drastically restrict the application of the Protection of Information Bill, and also proposed narrowing the grounds for classifying information. The ruling party ditched an unpopular proposal to pass the new law without a definition of national security. Instead it tabled a rewritten, simplified definition of the concept, which will serve as the only justification for classifying information under the new State secrets law. It does away with flowery language and lofty notions ridiculed by legal experts. It gives the meaning of national security as the protection of the people of South Africa and the territorial integrity of the republic against the threat of the use of force, war, terrorism, espionage, violence and sabotage.

Expected aid cutbacks in developed nations and a push by some African governments to tackle yawning infrastructure gaps by public-private partnerships present a real opportunity for investors on the continent, says the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The regional head of the IFC, the World Bank’s private sector arm, also says that Central African nations have generally been slower than those in West Africa in pushing through reforms needed to attract business, but relative stability has created openings for providing power, roads and healthcare. World Bank studies have found that some $93 billion is needed every year to address Africa's infrastructure needs.

South Africa is not facilitating Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's exit from Libya after rebels swept into Tripoli, and knows that the Libyan leader will not seek asylum in the southern African country, says Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. Nkoana-Mashabane also denied at a media briefing in Johannesburg that South Africa sent an aircraft to Libya for Gaddafi's exit and says Gaddafi's current whereabouts are not known.
South African President Jacob Zuma spearheaded a mediation effort by the African Union but two personal visits to Libya by the South African leader this year failed to produce a tangible outcome.

Also making headlines:
Cape Verde opposition candidate Jorge Carlos Fonseca has won a presidential election runoff in the West African island nation, securing 54.45% of the vote.
The African Union says it will hold an emergency security summit on Friday about Libya, as rebels appeared to be ending Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's 42 years in power, after a six-month civil war.
And, Airports Company South Africa posted a net loss of R220.5-million for the twelve months ending March 2011, despite higher volumes and revenue.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.