Monday March 5, 2012

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Brad Dubbelman

Making headlines:

The ANC was considering dramatic changes to the Constitution, which included doing away with the "sunset clauses", and adjusting the powers of the Reserve Bank and provinces, City Press reported. Draft policy documents were set to be distributed to the party's branches on Monday in preparation for the ANC's policy conference in June, the newspaper said. In the documents, the ANC said the 1996 Constitution was appropriate for a "political transition" but had proven inadequate for social and economic transformation.

Up to 200 people were killed yesterday when an arms dump exploded in Brazzaville, ripping apart a nearby neighbourhood in the Republic of Congo’s capital, medical and local authorities said. Hundreds of others were injured by the blasts which rocked the riverside capital around 8:00, flattening houses near the scene and sending a plume of smoke high above the city. A government spokesman said that a short circuit was to blame for the fire that sparked the explosions and promised to move military barracks out of town as a result.

Julius Malema has asked to stay on as a member of the ruling ANC despite being expelled from the party, a South African newspaper reported yesterday. Speaking at a gathering of the ANC's women's wing on his 31st birthday on Saturday, Malema said he would not challenge the ANC in court over his expulsion for bringing the party into disrepute, even though he believed he had done nothing wrong. Instead, he has asked the ANC's disciplinary council to allow him to keep his party membership even if stripped of the presidency of its Youth League.

Also making headlines:

Libya's Muslim Brotherhood teamed up with other Islamists to establish a new political party that is set to be a leading player in the country's first elections since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.

And, capital flows into Africa are seen growing significantly in 2012 as investors seeking higher returns out of Europe, look at the continent for better opportunities in infrastructure projects, a World Bank senior official said.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.