July 11, 2012

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

Making headlines:

South Africa's Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will again be a candidate for chair of the African Union commission when it holds a second election this week.

The AU's elections in January ended in a stalemate with neither Jean Ping of Gabon nor Dlamini-Zuma able to garner the required two-thirds majority despite several rounds of voting. Ping has held the chair since September 2008. At the time, the AU resolved that Ping remain at the helm until new polls were held.

The Southern African Development Community has nominated Dlamini-Zuma as the southern region of the AU's candidate for the chair.

The International Criminal Court jailed Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for 14 years on Tuesday for recruiting child soldiers.

The Hague-based court was set up a decade ago to punish and discourage the world's worst crimes through a system of international justice. However, its critics say it has moved too slowly and failed to put its most important suspects on trial.

Lubanga was found guilty in March of abducting boys and girls under the age of 15 and forcing them to fight in a war in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002 and 2003. At least 60 000 people are thought to have been killed.

IHS Global Insight sub-Saharan Africa principal economist Ronel Oberholzer said that if the South African government kept to infrastructure spending targets and labour unions limited wage increases to 1% above inflation, the country's real gross domestic product could grow by a minimum of R22-billion a year.

She stated at the IHS Africa Economic Outlook Conference that this could also create a minimum of 300 000 jobs in the country.

Oberholzer emphasised that good economic leadership would be required to overcome challenges and elevate economic growth. South Africa's labour and infrastructure hurdles were also highlighted as key aspects to be addressed to allow for notable economic development.

Although South Africa showed relatively good growth over the past two years, compared with developed countries, it was not on par with its emerging peers.

Also making headlines:

The Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Food Security Index named the US, Denmark, France and the Netherlands as the most food secure countries in the world.

Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court has overruled President Mohamed Mursi's decision to recall the Islamist-led parliament that was dissolved by the country's generals last month.

And, the Department of International Relations has confirmed it’s investigating allegations that the former ambassador to Iran, Yusuf Salojee, accepted payments from MTN.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.