Wednesday August 24, 2011

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


Making headlines:

South Africa plans to complete by the end of the year a study on how to use its vast mineral wealth to fight widespread poverty and this will figure into the ruling ANC's policy discussions on nationalisation, a top party official said yesterday. ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe also tried to dispel investor concerns the government wants a complete takeover of the mining sector – a plan backed by the party's Youth League and seen by analysts as liable to bankrupt Africa's largest economy. The party has set up a research team to visit 13 countries to look at their experience in mining and what they did with resource wealth.

A New York judge dropped all criminal sexual assault charges against ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn yesterday after prosecutors lost faith in the credibility of his accuser. But the formal end of the case awaited the outcome of a last-ditch emergency appeal. New York State Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus accepted the prosecutors' request for dismissal of all charges. The move left the man once seen as the leading contender to be the next president of France close to freedom and the chance to try to rebuild his tarnished political career.

A beleaguered Colonel Muammar Gaddafi vowed to fight on to death or victory after rebels forced him to abandon his Tripoli stronghold in what appeared to be a decisive blow against the Libyan leader's 42-year rule.
Gleeful rebels ransacked Gaddafi's compound, seizing weapons and smashing symbols of a government whose demise will transform Libya and send a warning to other Arab autocrats facing popular uprisings.
Gaddafi said his withdrawal from his headquarters in the heart of the capital was a tactical move after it had been hit by 64 Nato air strikes and he vowed "martyrdom" or victory in his fight against the alliance.
Urging Libyans to cleanse the streets of traitors, he said he had secretly toured Tripoli.

Also making headlines:
ANC branches must be allowed to think for themselves and leadership choices must not be dictated by a "well-resourced, narrow circle" of party members, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said.
China urged a "stable transition of power" in Libya and said it is in contact with the rebel National Transitional Council, in the clearest sign yet that Beijing has effectively shifted recognition to rebel forces poised to defeat Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
And, Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande called for further interaction between the South African government and the Swiss-South African Cooperation Initiative to combat youth unemployment in the country.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.