Wednesday February 23, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Petronel Smit

Making headlines:

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's 2011/12 Budget, to be presented in the National Assembly today, is widely expected to follow current trends and focus on jobs and growth. Democratic Alliance spokesperson Dion George said that the time is ripe to push the deficit to almost 6% and stimulate the economy. Deloitte KwaZulu-Natal associate director Thrisha Soni expected Gordhan to focus on job creation and employment incentives rather than raising tax rates. Business Unity South Africa, was looking to a budget speech which would boost business confidence.
The budget should be another building block in helping to create a favourable environment for growth and job creation in the aftermath of the global recession, it said.

Pressure mounted on the White House on Tuesday to intervene to stop Muammar Gaddafis bloody crackdown on democracy protests as a lawmaker close to President Barack Obama urged oil firms to halt work in Libya. The US faced calls to impose sanctions but also to take direct action such as bombing Libyan airfields and imposing no-fly zones – military steps that most analysts consider unlikely. Some critics questioned Obama's silence on the violence in which hundreds of Libyans have died. US officials called for an end to the violence but seemed to rule out any unilateral action, stressing that the US was working with other countries on a way forward.

Spokesperson Jimmy Manyi said that the South African Cabinet has approved the recommendations made by a team of experts on the acid mine drainage (AMD) situation in the Witwatersrand. The report, which includes recommendations on control measures to reduce the rate of flooding and the eventual decanting and pumping volume, would be made publicly available on Thursday. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is expected to announce financing for AMD solutions in his Budget speech today.

Also making headlines:
West Africa's regional body Economic Community of West Africa said that it was unable to join an African Union mission to mediate in the Côte d’Ivoire power struggle owing to threats of violence against it.
National police commissioner General Bheki Cele feels vindicated by the Public Prosecutor's report into the Middestad Sanlam Centre lease saga, a spokesperson said.
Sudan's leaders have offered tentative concessions as pressure from within the ruling party and possible contagion from uprisings in the region rise, but reformists will only be silenced with action not empty promises.
And, South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation has launched a R10-billion scheme to tackle the country’s chronic unemployment problem.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.