Thursday June 02, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Jessica Hannah

Making headlines:

The Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by the Public Protector against an order of the High Court in Pretoria setting aside its report into the so-called Oilgate matter. It concerned allegations made in a series of articles published by the Mail & Guardian newspaper. The first articles appeared under the heading “The ANC's Oilgate” and was about an investigation into how R11-million of public money was diverted to the African National Congress (ANC) ahead of the 2004 national election.
The article referred to the “biggest political funding scandal”, in which it established that South Africa's state oil company, PetroSA, irregularly paid R15-million to Imvume Management, a company closely tied to the ANC, at a time when the party was desperate for election funds.

A power-sharing deal might offer Somalia's feuding leaders a way to save face and reach agreement on political reform, the United Nation's special envoy to the Horn of Africa nation said. The mandate for Somalia's latest transitional government expires in August but the President and speaker of parliament, who covets the top job, are at loggerheads over what should happen then. International patience is running out with President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a former Islamist rebel leader, and speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, once an ally of the leader before they fell out, in part over the adoption of a new constitution.

Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has urged citizens who are concerned about the establishment of the National Health Insurance (NHI) to be patient as government is working around the clock on this issue. "The problem is that many believe that NHI is just the release of a document. For us in health, we know that it also involves an extensive preparation of the health care system, while at the same time preparing a policy document and in this case, the reengineering of the health care system is vital," Motsoaledi said. Motsoaledi, who was presenting the department's R25.7-billion budget for 2011/12, announced that additional earmarked funding, which amounts to R16.1-billion over a three-year period, has been allocated at the provincial level for preparatory work for the NHI.

Also making headlines:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation said it had extended its Libyan mission for a further 90 days, after Colonel Muammar Gaddafi made it clear he would not step down.
Rich OECD countries and South Africa are setting up a training centre for African Treasury officials to improve debt management on the poorest continent and deepen its nascent domestic bond markets.
And, the number of CVs recently received by the Public Works Department "belies the myth of a total skills shortage", Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde said.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.