July 5, 2012

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

Making headlines:

South Africa’s Public Works Minister appeals to skilled professionals to join Public Works.
An aid agency says a new food crisis looms in Somalia.
And, Outa raises almost half of the expected legal costs for its e-toll case.

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi has appealed to the private construction sector technical professionals to partner with government to help improve the Department of Public Works.

He was speaking at the Construction Industry Development Board (or CIDB) national stakeholder forum, on Wednesday. He said that over the past few years, the department had failed to respond to the challenges the construction industry faced. The department required technically skilled professionals to run it and, currently, those skills could only be sourced from the private sector.

He also called on the CIDB to approach industry and attempt to draw the required skills into the public sector “even if only for a year” to whip the department into shape. Nxesi added that there would be an attempt to match private sector salaries.

A deadly combination of conflict, poor rainfall and a predicted late harvest threatens to push hundreds of thousands of Somalis back into hunger. Aid organisation Save the Children said this would undermine aid efforts put in place during last year's drought.

The humanitarian agency said many of the 1.4-million Somalis displaced by conflict and drought would bear the brunt of the new crisis since they rely on good harvests to keep food prices low.

The charity has asked for more funding and fresh efforts by the international community to tackle the underlying causes of Somalia's regular food crises.

Civil rights alliance Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance chairperson Wayne Duvenage said yesterday that there was a growing momentum from both business and individuals to contribute to its legal funds.

The alliance, which interdicted the launch of tolling on Gauteng’s upgraded freeways, has now raised just under R5-million for its legal challenge. This is almost half of the R10.8-million expected legal costs if the case runs its full course.

The e-tolling court case is now moving into the final stage of reviewing all the documents used in order to make the decision to introduce an e-toll system on Gautengs highways.

Also making headlines:

The World Trade Organisation has agreed to new membership standards for the weakest economies, lowering the bar for poor countries.

Sudan's main opposition parties have called for strikes, sit-ins and demonstrations to topple the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, throwing their weight behind anti-austerity protests.

And Senegal’s Macky Sall's coalition wins a landslide victory in a legislative election.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.