Wednesday July 06, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sheila Barradas

Making headlines:

31% of Gauteng roads are in a poor or very poor condition, provincial transport MEC Ismail Vadi said. "The assessment for 2010 shows that out of the total extent of the provincial paved road network of 4 248 km, 9% of our roads are in a very good condition; 27% are in good condition; 33% are in a fair condition; 20% are in poor condition; and 11% are in a very poor condition," he said, in his budget address delivered at the Gauteng Legislature. Two years ago, only 15% of the province's roads were in a poor and very poor condition. Vadi said his department has allocated R1.2-billion to fixing and maintaining road infrastructure.

A solid shift to green technologies in world farming is vital if endemic food crises are to be overcome and production boosted to support the global population, the United Nations said. And as a first step, governments and international agencies should focus on boosting small-scale agriculture in developing countries with support services like rural roads and sustainable irrigation, a report from the world body argues. The UN's latest World Economic and Social Survey, says a sharp move away from large-scale, intensive systems of agriculture is essential if growing environmental and land degradation is to be halted.

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said that he was surprised at the news that police were planning to arrest Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela on charges of fraud and corruption. Speaking in an interview on SAFM, he said he was not aware of it. The Star newspaper reported that police planned to arrest Madonsela. Companies owned by her, allegedly did work for, and were paid R1.8-million by the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC), while she was a full-time commissioner there, three years ago, according to "independent sources". Madonsela who was interviewed shortly after Mthethwa, said that she was never involved in any corrupt activities while working for the SALRC.

Also making headlines:
South Sudan could become a UN member state shortly after seceding from the north, under a timetable given by the UN Security Council's president on Tuesday.
And, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is sounding out the possibility of handing over power, a Russian newspaper said, but the Libyan government denied it was in talks about the veteran leader stepping down.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.