South African coal producers have made a final wage offer to
employees, with proposed increases ranging between 7 percent and 11 percent, a
document seen by Reuters showed on Friday. Trade union Solidarity said the workers had until Monday to
either accept, reject or propose changes to the offer.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Angolan police arrest seven at youth protest against president
Angolan police said on Thursday
they have detained seven people at a protest in Luanda by a youth movement
calling for President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to quit after 34 years in power,
but said they would not be charged.
Police spokesman Aristofanes dos
Santos said the detentions followed "minor disturbances" and the
youths' identities would be registered but they would be released, possibly on
Thursday.
Mugabe heads to UN General Assembly
President Robert Mugabe this week
joins 130 other heads of state and government in New York for the 68th annual United
Nations General Assembly. Mugabe, accompanied by the First Lady, arrived at JF Kennedy
International Airport on Saturday and will address the General Assembly on
Thursday.
The ongoing Syrian crisis and the
toxic haze of recent chemical weapons use, clouds the diplomatic horizon at the
global gathering as delegates confront issues of war, peace and widening
humanitarian disasters.
The 68th session, held
under the theme "Millennium Development Goals and Other Internationally
Agreed Development Goals for Persons With Disabilities" will go through
174 assembly agenda items from hot button political issues, to vital
peacekeeping operations, and budgetary items to a gaggle of the usual
perfunctory anti-Israel resolutions, and slap on the wrist items ranging from
the question of the Falkland Islands to the continuing American economic embargo
on Cuba.
Mugabe will have a slight spring
in his step after his emphatic election win on July 31, but will rail at old
foes Britain and the United States for claiming his victory was
"flawed" even as the African Union and SADC passed the elections as
free and credible. The United States maintains a travel ban on Mugabe, but he
can still attend United Nations events.
Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201309220276.html
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
South Africa sets up Rhino Fund to combat poaching
The South African Department of
Environmental Affairs, in consultation with the National Treasury, is to
establish a National Rhino Fund to coordinate the financing of anti-poaching
initiatives in South Africa.
Government, business, international funders, local NGOs and
individuals will be able to contribute to the fund, which will then ensure
"that funding is distributed successfully to state and privately owned
rhino anti-poaching initiatives, including conservation, safety and security,
skills development and research," the department said on Monday.
At the same time, the fund's autonomy would enable
legitimate funding needs to be identified and met quickly, rather than be
caught up in red tape.
Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201309170308.html
Anti-corruption official in Malawi shot
A senior Malawi government
official has been shot and severely wounded in an attack the presidency says
was aimed at silencing his efforts to combat corruption. Malawi’s Nyasa Times reported on Monday that police
had "important leads" they were pursuing after the budget director in
the Ministry of Finance, Paul Mphwiyo, was shot on Friday.
The Maravi Post quoted police as
saying he had been shot in the face, shoulder and chest. The newspaper added
that Mphwiyo, who had been trained in the United States and was appointed by
President Joyce Banda, had overhauled government financial systems and had made
himself unpopular by cancelling "dubious contracts".
The Times quoted Banda's office
as saying the attack "was not just any other robbery but a planned and
targeted attack aimed at silencing him and the government in the fight against
high levels of corruption and fraud".
Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201309160785.html
Climate change threatens Southern African agriculture
A new study suggests that the
Southern African region could be among the hardest hit areas by any potential
climate change in the next 50 years. The study, published by the International
Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and with contributions from scientists
in countries across the southern Africa region, uses available data and a
variety of models to examine likely agricultural developments, particularly
related to crops, in the period to 2050.
The study says climate change,
with rising temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall patterns across much
of the region, will likely cause a decline in average maize and sorghum yields.
However, some areas, such as southern Mozambique, will see a growth in
harvests. Wheat harvests could be particularly vulnerable to rising
temperatures.
Extreme weather events – such as
droughts, floods and changes in the frequency and intensity of dry spells –
already negatively affect agriculture in most parts of Africa, says the study.
Agriculture is the primary source
of employment and income for most of the rural population in southern Africa.
In Malawi about 40% of gross domestic product (GDP) comes from
agriculture. In Zimbabwe, about 80% of
the population depends directly on agriculture.
More than 50% of agricultural
land in the area is devoted to cereal crops, with maize accounting for more
than 40% of the total harvested area. Millet and sorghum are also important
crops, especially in drier areas. Some countries in the region, such as
Botswana and Lesotho, already struggle to meet demand for maize and sorghum and
have to import large amounts, mainly from South Africa.
Original article: http://www.eco-business.com/news/climate-threat-southern-africas-crops/
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
Mugabe not giving any hints over new cabinet
President Robert Mugabe is
playing his cards close to the chest as he assembles his long-awaited cabinet. Mugabe,
who has a huge range of candidates to choose from after Zanu PF secured a two
thirds majority in Parliament, had by last week not appointed a cabinet, almost
40 days after winning the July 31 elections.
Sources said Mugabe had indicated
that he was not in a hurry to announce his new cabinet as he was keen to do a
balancing act in order to please the different factions which helped him win
resoundingly against opposition MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.
A senior government official said
apart from vice President Joice Mujuru, only his closest aides among them chief
secretary to the Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda were in the picture of how the new
cabinet was shaping up.
Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201309080279.html
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