Friday February 11, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Brad Dubbelman

Making headlines:

President Jacob Zuma announced on Thursday evening that South Africa will introduce tax breaks to promote investment and expansion in manufacturing, and will set up a jobs fund to finance new employment creation initiatives.  In his third State of the Nation address to Parliament, Zuma announced R20-billion in tax allowances, or tax breaks, to promote the manufacturing industry, which is of one of the six sectors targeted for job creation. For a project to qualify, the minimum investment must be R200-million for a new project and R20-million for expansion and upgrades. The programme would provide an allowance of up to R900-million in tax deductible allowances for new investors and R550-million for upgrades and expansions, he stated. Zuma also unveiled a R9-billion jobs fund over the next three years and said that the Industrial Development Corporation had set aside R10-billion over the next five years for investment in economic activities with a high jobs potential.

Egypt's people-power protesters, reeling with disillusion and anger after President Hosni Mubarak disappointed hopes that he was about to resign, planned massive new demonstrations on Friday that may test the army's loyalties. Increasingly sour confrontation after 17 days of unrest has raised fears of violence in the most populous Arab nation, a key US ally in an oil-rich region where the chance of disorder spreading to other repressive States has troubled world markets. US President Barack Obama also said that he was less than satisfied by Mubarak's latest concessions, saying that he must explain the changes that he was making and do more to offer a path towards democracy.

Opposition parties are concerned that South Africa has shifted closer to nationalising its mines, following President Jacob Zuma's third State of the Nation speech. "I think we're one step closer to the nationalisation of mines, and I'm very concerned about that," Democratic Alliance (DA) Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said. "We have a State mining company, but his [Zuma's] referral to the mineral assets of this country belonging to the State is a massive concern, because we're not going to be able to create jobs in that industry if there is nationalisation." In his address delivered earlier in the National Assembly, Zuma said that the country's mineral wealth "is a national asset and a common heritage that belongs to all South Africans, with the State as the custodian". He noted that the country had significant mining assets, currently valued at $2,5-trillion.

Also making headlines:

The local government elections will take place before the end of May, and preparations for the poll were well under way, President Jacob Zuma said.

The US has condemned a recent spate of violence in Zimbabwe and blamed President Robert Mugabe's party for the attacks, which are heightening tensions ahead of possible elections this year.

And, JSE-listed Adcorp’s latest employment index showed that employment rose slightly by 0,9% in January, compared with the previous month.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today