Monday July 18, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Jessica Hannah

Making headlines:

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has agreed to a settlement offer by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa and other employers, the union said yesterday. Numsa secretary general Irvin Jim said the union's national executive committee had discussed the "improved benefits" and decided that strikers needed to return to work within the next 48 hours. About 170 000 workers from Numsa, the Metal and Electrical Workers Union, and the South Africa Equity Workers Association started a countrywide strike two weeks ago. They had demanded wage increases of 10% to 13% and a ban on labour brokers.

US President Barack Obama saluted anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela on his 93rd birthday, saying he set the standard for service delivery by civil servants worldwide. "Michelle, and my daughters, Sasha and Malia, recently met Madiba during an official visit to South Africa that focused on service, youth leadership, education and healthy living. Their time with Madiba was the most moving part of their trip," Obama said in a statement issued by the US diplomatic mission to South Africa. Obama said Mandela, who led the ANC struggle against apartheid and became South Africa's first democratically elected president, continued to be a "beacon for the global community".

South Africa has set the stage for the mass deportation of more than one-million Zimbabwean immigrants later this month in a move that could alter its status as the world's largest country of refuge. As a beacon for asylum seekers owing to its liberal immigration laws, proximity to African trouble spots and massive economy compared to the rest of the continent, South Africa has attracted millions seeking wealth they cannot find at home. About one in five of the 845 800 asylum seekers globally in 2010 sought refuge in South Africa, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. That is nearly double the combined figure for the United States and France, the world's number two and three countries in terms of asylum applications.

Also making headlines:
Rebel leaders won recognition as the legitimate government of Libya from the United States and other world powers in a major boost to the rebels' faltering campaign to oust Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
The South African Petroleum Industry Association said that the largest of the unions in a strike that has caused fuel shortages in Africa's largest economy is delaying talks.

And, the ANC Youth League would engage with business, labour and communities in coming weeks to hear if they could provide any alternatives to nationalisation and land expropriation.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.