Wednesday June 22, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Brad Dubbelman

Making headlines:

The South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) has asked for an urgent meeting with government spokesperson Jimmy Manyi's boss, Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane, to discuss the deterioration of relations between government communications and themselves. Manyi said he could not understand why the media was so hostile to government, and denied ever saying that the government's centralised media buying strategy meant that anti-government publications would not receive government advertising spend. Sanef made it clear in a letter to Chabane that they had enjoyed cordial and civil relations with government communications in the past, but felt that these were now at a low point.

Mexico's central bank chief Agustin Carstens has portrayed himself as a consensus builder with diverse experience in dealing with economic crises during an interview with the IMF's board. Carstens was the first candidate to be interviewed by the 24-member board, which will decide by June 30 who the next head of the Fund will be. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde goes before the board today and is widely regarded as the front-runner in the bid to lead the global organisation. Carstens has acknowledged he is a long-shot candidate. However, he has cautioned that having a European run the IMF while trying to resolve the European debt crisis could amount to a conflict of interest.

Mine nationalisation was not only a “bad idea”, but big business in South African argued that the manner in which debate was currently being conducted was eroding policy certainty and business confidence. This was resulting in a deferment of investment not only in the mining sector, but across the South African business landscape. Business Leadership South Africa chairperson Bobby Godsell said that the body was willing to engage in a “robust” debate on the merits of the proposed policy, which had been placed on the agenda by the ANC Youth League.

Also making headlines:
Uncertainty with regard to South Africa’s renewable energy feed-in tariff rates was a significant concern for potential investors, delegates to the Solar South Africa conference heard on Tuesday.
The US has tightened financial sanctions on the Libyan government and two influential senators pushed back against calls to halt funding for American involvement in Nato operations there.
And, the 192-nation UN General Assembly unanimously approved a second five-year term for Ban Ki-moon, who analysts and diplomats see as a solid ally of Washington.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.