Wednesday, August 12, 2009
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Kelly Farthing.
Making headlines:
South African President Jacob Zuma has taken a tough line on trade unions, saying that there will be no "pandering" to labour after the threat of a strike by workers at State-owned power utility Eskom appeared to fade.
The trade unions, which helped Zuma rise to power, want him to spend more on the poor. But, this policy may be economically risky during the country's first recession since 1992.
When asked if he feels indebted to unions in an interview on Metro FM yesterday, Zuma said: "Not at all."
While the President reiterated that helping the poor is a priority, he kept a strong line on unions, saying that it was strike season in South Africa and pay disputes are not unusual. An electricity strike would be a challenge to Zuma's authority as he tries to lead South Africa through the recession and defuse anger over service delivery in townships.

United Nations (UN) secretary-general Ban Ki-moon warns that failure to act quickly on climate change could eventually lead to violence and mass unrest as global weather patterns change drastically, affecting the livelihoods of millions of people all over the world.
Speaking at a forum near Seoul ahead of next month's UN conference on climate change, Ban said that a failure to act would result in an intensification of droughts, floods and other natural disasters. Water shortages and malnutrition will affect hundreds of millions of people, he said, and could result in social unrest.
Ban refers to climate change as a "fundamental threat to mankind", and calls on world leaders to act quickly, so that a deal on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can be reached at Copenhagen in December.

Opposition parties have welcomed yesterday's court ruling barring President Jacob Zuma from appointing a successor to axed prosecutions chief Vusi Pikoli, pending the outcome of his legal bid to be reinstated. The judge ruled that appointing a successor at this stage would adversely affect Pikoli's rights.
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille welcomed the ruling as a "victory for Vusi Pikoli", who had shown that he is a man of "admirable integrity" by refusing to give in to political pressure while he was head of the National Prosecuting Authority. Democratic Alliance justice spokesperson Dene Smuts said that the opposition felt vindicated by the ruling because it had long argued that Pikoli was wronged. The Congress of the People also felt that Pikoli was unfairly treated.
In a terse one-line statement, the African National Congress merely said that it "accepts and respects" the Pretoria High Court ruling, which the President will study.

Also making headlines:
The Department of Correctional Services says that there is no basis for a review of Schabir Shaik's parole.
Two Congress of the People Members of Parliament (MPs) will appear in a Cape court for refusing to vacate Parliamentary houses reserved for African National Congress MPs.
The World Bank targets Democratic Republic of Congo debt relief by March 2010.
And, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has corruption and electoral reform on the agenda ahead of her visit to Nigeria.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.