COSATU Media Monitor Special Bulletin, 06 January 2014
Norman Mampane
Special Bulletin
Welcome to 2014! Looking ahead to a prosperous Year
Monday, 6 January 2014
COSATU Listening Campaign and organizing of vulnerable workers continues in 2014….Join a Trade Union today!
COSATU rejection of E-tolls , Labour Brokers & Youth Wage Subsidy Campaign goes ahead in 2014.
http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=6793
Stop Commodification of public goods!
The articles in the Media Monitor do not represent the views of COSATU. They are selected because we believe they deal with topics of interest to our readers, who will then be informed on how the media is reporting and commenting on these topics. It will enable them, if necessary, to respond to inaccurate, misleading or biased reports or comment.
If we have excluded other articles which readers wished could have been picked, this was not intentional but because of tight time-frames. If you have seen article worth to be shared email it.
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Contents
Workers’ Parliament
Ø Youth wage subsidy comes into effect
Ø Numsa to form mother of a coalition party, Cosatu report ‘reveals’
Ø Numsa won't leave Cosatu out of choice: Jim
Ø Miners work overtime to raise funding over festive season
Ø Marikana Commision continues next week
Ø Diamond miners enjoy a sparkling festive season
Legacy of TaTa Mandela
Ø EDITORIAL: Time to reflect on intense 10 days
Ø After the tears, the hard work of building the world that Mandela believed in
Ø Thatcher refused to call publicly for Madiba's release
Ø Tourists want to see Mandela's grave
South Africa
Ø Safety of Metrorail trains under probe
Ø Drivers education needed to curb road fatalities: RTMC
Ø IEC opens voter registration for South Africans abroad
Ø Relapse of "cured" HIV patients spurs AIDS science on
Alliance
Ø Military veterans must be honoured: Zuma
Ø Elections 2014: ANC list conference delayed again
International
Ø Brazil creates special riot force for World Cup
Ø Zimbabwe to import maize from SA in bid to stave off hunger
Ø US employer $76bn burden to ease
Ø Western Sahara dispute dims Morocco’s solar dreams
Ø UK manufacturing growth eases
Ø COSATU rejection of E-tolls , Labour Brokers & Youth Wage Subsidy Campaign goes ahead in 2014.
Ø COSATU Section77 Notice served at Nedlac on the 11th December 2012
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Workers’ Parliament
Youth wage subsidy comes into effect
Sapa, Times Live, 01 January 2014
The Employment Tax Incentive Act, commonly known as the youth wage subsidy, came into effect at midnight.
It is aimed at alleviating youth unemployment, estimated at 70 percent, by offering employers incentives to hire young people, SABC news reported.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions had opposed the legislation, saying it would lead to discrimination against older workers.
Economist Iraj Abedian said the act was unlikely to cause labour market instability in the short term.
"We can expect the businesses to begin to plan... the benefits that they can get, it will take some time, so it's without a doubt not going to have an immediate effect. Typically wage subsidies of this nature take up to nine or 12 months before they take effect in the labour market."
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Numsa to form mother of a coalition party, Cosatu report ‘reveals’
Qaanitah Hunter, The New Age, 19 Dec 2013
Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini said metalworkers union Numsa’s launch of a “United Front” and their non endorsement of the ANC led government was “part of a grand plan”.
He said the latest developments emerging from Numsa’s special congress proved an intelligence report circulated this year true.
The intelligence report claimed that suspended Cosatu secretary general Zwelenzima Vavi was in talks to form a political party after the 2014 presidential elections.
Vavi, who circulated the report to the media, rubbished all claims made. “It is not surprising. It is all part of their grand plan,” Dlamini said. Numsa announced at the special conference last week that a “new United Front that will coordinate struggles in the workplace and in communities, in a way similar to the UDF of the 1980s”.
Numsa said it would work with other like-minded parties and organisations, and it might even consider standing for elections.
Numsa’s general secretary Irvin Jim had given an indication the Vavi would lead the “worker centric” formation.
“They wanted to do this in February this year. They are working with EFF, Agang, Cope.
“They are all working together,” Dlamini said.
He said their collective efforts in Marikana following last year’s massacre proved they had one agenda.
In response to Dlamini’s claims, Jim said he would not “waste time with Sdumo”.
“He should believe what he wants to believe.
“He cooked that report so he must believe it,” he said. Jim said Dlamini did not represent the working class therefore he was spreading propaganda about those who were.
Dlamini also alleged Numsa’s decision to recruit across all sectors would result in bloodshed.
“This will cause workers to kill each other in defending their unions,” he said, adding it would lead to disaster.
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Numsa won't leave Cosatu out of choice: Jim
The New Age, 19 Dec 2013
If Numsa leaves Cosatu it will not be out of choice, the metalworkers' union said on Thursday.
"We [are] taking a path that could lead to us being dismissed," National Union of Metalworkers of SA general secretary Irvin Jim told reporters in Boksburg, on the East Rand.
"If the federation decides to dismiss Numsa it won't be a Numsa decision."
He said Numsa's decision to open its recruitment scope was not being done because the union wanted to leave the Congress of SA Trade Unions.
"That decision will be a decision the federation would take itself."
He said the "sky won't fall" if Numsa broadened its scope.
Numsa on Wednesday said it would not turn away any workers who wanted to join the union.
"It is difficult to turn away workers who want to voluntarily join Numsa, particularly when they are likely to go to non-Cosatu unions," Jim told the congress.
"We will no longer reject any worker."
This went against Cosatu's one union, one industry policy.
Jim on Thursday said people had spent months trying to rubbish Numsa and the union was tired of it.
"Enough is enough, we [are] no longer going to handle propaganda," he said.
Numsa is holding a special national congress. On Thursday delegates were in commissions discussing the problems facing Cosatu and the union's approach to next year's elections.
Resolutions would be taken and declarations read at the end of the conference on Friday.
-Sapa
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Miners work overtime to raise funding over festive season
Brendan Ryan, Business Day, 02 January 2014
FINANCIAL executives at Jubilee Platinum as well as coal companies Resource Generation (ResGen) and Forbes & Manhattan Coal have been putting in overtime during the festive season to bolster their balance sheets.
After announcing on December 20 it had a secured £1.85m (about R31m) in funding through the placing of convertible loan notes, Jubilee said on Thursday it had arranged a £10m equity finance facility with Darwin Strategic.
The £1.85m is to be used for the commissioning of the third arc furnace at Middelburg Smelters and to settle all remaining debt held in Jubilee’s power plant subsidiary, Power Alt.
According to Jubilee CEO Leon Coetzer, the equity finance facility was intended to support Jubilee’s mine-to-metals strategy and "more specifically (go) towards potential acquisitions targeted by the company in the platinum and other metals industry with a view to further utilising the ConRoast process".
ConRoast is a revolutionary smelting technology developed by South African research institution Mintek over which Jubilee holds a commercial licence.
"Jubilee may make drawdowns from the facility at its discretion," Mr Coetzer said.
"The equity finance facility provides Jubilee with a flexible, highly cost-effective source of capital which is available should the company wish to capitalise on further opportunities within the platinum sector," he said.
ResGen has raised a further $65m from partner Noble Resources to be used to fund construction of the proposed Boikarabelo coal mine in the Waterberg and has also received a $2.5m deposit from Singapore-listed investment company Blumont, ResGen said on Thursday morning.
Blumont was supposed to add a further $22.6m to the initial payment to ResGen on December 4 to subscribe for shares but did not.
According to ResGen, if Blumont did not pay in the balance by February 26 2014, the deposit would be forfeited with no issue of shares being made in relation to that money.
The $65m loan is in addition to the $55.3m loan ResGen organised from Noble for the construction of a rail link from the site of the Boikarabelo mine to the existing Transnet Freight Rail network.
The previously announced $123m loan facility dated March 28, 2013 – which was subsequently reduced to $67.7m because of the rail link loan – expired on December 31 2013 without any drawdowns being made.
"Completing these loan arrangements removes the remaining major gap in our funding plans," ResGen MD Paul Jury said.
Forbes – which operates the Magdalena bituminous coal and Aviemore anthracite mines near Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal – has secured a loan facility of up to $19m from Resource Capital Fund.
The funding package consists of a bridge loan of $4m and a convertible loan of up to $15m.
The bridge loan will be used for general working capital in relation to Forbes’s operation around Dundee as well as facilitate the closure of the company’s office in Toronto.
The convertible loan will be used to for general working capital to improve the operations at Dundee as well as provide for further capital investment.
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Marikana Commision continues next week
Nozintombi Miya, SABC News, 03 Jan 2014
The Marikana Commission of Inquiry resumes next week, after a long year of sifting through mountains of evidence of the worst post-democracy shooting.
Police allegedly shot and killed 34 Lonmin miners on August 16, 2012.
The Police Chief Riah Phiyega faced a grilling before the Marikana Commission. She had just been appointed and was new to the job. Her inexperience in policing was pointed out repeatedly. Phiyega denied her decisions were motivated by political pressure.
Phiyega said: "The decisions I took were in line with my role and were of a strategic nature. For example, in terms of the deployment of resources I needed to take a decision and needed to create an enabling environment to do so."
Lawyers representing 200 arrested miners pulled out of the proceedings. They wanted to be paid by the State.
After months of legal wrangling the lawyers were granted a reprieve, Legal Aid South Africa was mandated to pay their fees.
Throughout the commission some witnesses died and many more received death threats.
Police were accused of harassing witnesses. Unseen video footage emerged with police accused of tampering with evidence, a claim they denied. A score of witnesses are still due to testify.
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Diamond miners enjoy a sparkling festive season
Charlotte Mathews, Business Day, 02 January 2014
THE share prices of some of the world’s biggest diamond miners gained strongly during December on reports from the US that festive season jewellery sales, especially diamonds, were strong.
Although China is the world’s fastest-growing market for diamond jewellery, it still remains second after the US, where sales in December are one of the most critical periods for the diamond industry.
Trans Hex rose 23% to 430c on the JSE in the course of the month, although smaller diamond miner Rockwell Diamonds, which is listed in Toronto as well as Johannesburg, fell 19% to C$0.355.
Other Southern African diamond miners listed in London but not Johannesburg were also firmer. Petra Diamonds added 8.4% to 118p in December while Gem Diamonds, which owns the Letseng mine in Lesotho, gained 0.04% to 145p.
Alrosa, the world’s biggest producer by volume, was almost unchanged over the month at 35.67 rubles on the Moscow Stock Exchange but Dominion Diamond Corporation, which owns the Diavik and Ekati mines, ended the month at C$15.22, a 6.4% appreciation.
De Beers, the world’s biggest producer by value, is an unlisted subsidiary of Anglo American.
On December 26, in a breakdown of sales of key items at US retailers, MasterCard Advisers SpendingPulse said jewellery and children’s clothing were the biggest sellers in this period compared with the 2012 festive season. Overall December retail sales in the US were up 3.5% year on year, it said.
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COSATU
Youth wage subsidy comes into effect
City Press, 1 January 2014
The Employment Tax Incentive Act, commonly known as the youth wage subsidy, came into effect at midnight.
It is aimed at alleviating youth unemployment, estimated at 70%, by offering employers incentives to hire young people, SABC news reported today.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions had opposed the legislation, saying it would lead to discrimination against older workers.
Economist Iraj Abedian said the act was unlikely to cause labour market instability in the short term.
“We can expect the businesses to begin to plan… the benefits that they can get, it will take some time, so it’s without a doubt not going to have an immediate effect. Typically wage subsidies of this nature take up to nine or 12 months before they take effect in the labour market.”
- Sapa
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Youth wage subsidy comes into effect
Cosatu sticks to its guns over youth wage subsidy
SABC News, 2 January 2014
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) President Sdumo Dlamini says the Employment Tax Incentive Act is unfair to the general public.
The law stipulates that those who employ inexperienced young people will be offered a tax incentive. Government will share the costs of the programme with business.
Dlamini says Cosatu believes that the law will encourage employers to fire experienced workers and employ younger ones. "It was unfair because the President and Government signed this bill into law when we were expecting discussions at National Economic, Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to conclude on such a matter," says Dlamini.
He says that they are opposed to the law and cannot see how this act creating proper employment for our youths in the country. "We cannot even align this act to decent work, which is very critical. These two oppose each other," he adds.
Sdumo Dlamini says they have a keen interest on the upcoming unveiling of the ANC's manifesto ahead of the general elections.
Dlamini also says the federation is expecting the African National Congress’ (ANC) January 8 statement to reflect on the expectations of South Africans. He says they expect President Jacob Zuma to speak about the economic chapter of the adopted National Development Plan (NDP), e-tolls and creation plan of youth employment.
Dlamini says they have a keen interest on the upcoming unveiling of the ANC's manifesto ahead of the general elections. "Cosatu has very keen expectations for the elections. There are serious issues confronting the nation. We still need to resolve matters relating to the NDP, particularly the economic chapter of the NDP," says Dlamini.
He says that they have an issue with labour-brokering in the country. "The issue of the e-tolls remains unresolved. We need to work on public transport that is safe, affordable and accessible for the poor," he adds.
Dlamini says the ANC and Cosatu are in a crucial test to look into how much of the freedom charter has been achieved in the 20 years of democracy. "When we talk about housing we should be able to ask if people have houses and the answer would be yes but not all of them. There are still more people without housing and water," says Dlamini.
He says that still not everybody is able to access clean water but many people have access to water and that is the same with electricity.
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Government should address Labour Relations Act: economist
SABC News, 03 Jan 2014
Industrial Development Corporation, Chief Economist, Lumkile Mondi says government should address the Labour Relations Act instead of focusing on the youth wage subsidy.
The Employment Tax Incentive Act, widely known as the youth wage subsidy was approved late last year and came into effect this week.
It is aimed at alleviating youth unemployment, estimated at 70%. The legislation was bitterly opposed by Congress of South African Trade Unions, which claimed it would discriminate against older workers.
Speaking on Morning Live, Mondi says interest groups should not be crying over the youth wage subsidy as it will only create around 200 000 jobs in the next three years.
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Unions state where their loyalties lie
Luyolo Mkentane, The New Age, 03 Jan 2014
Labour federations have outlined their plans for the new year, saying they were determined to achieve all their goals.
Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini said with 2014 being an election year, they would spare no effort in ensuring a decisive victory for the ruling ANC.
Cosatu is part of the tripartite alliance led by the ANC. “We have got a direct interest in the outcome of the elections. We will be working very hard for total victory of the ANC,” he said.
This despite one of its biggest affiliates, Numsa, announcing its withdrawal of support for the ANC.
Dlamini said: “We are very clear about the task ahead that we are sparing no efforts to ensure the ANC wins.”
He added that the “onslaught” against the working class would be nipped in the bud this year.
“We are going to intensify the fight against retrenchments and meagre wages. We want a legislated minimum wage and a democratised workplace,” Dlamini said.
Unions state where their loyalties lie
They would also continue the fight for a ban against labour brokers and for a safe and reliable public transport system.
National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu) president Joseph Maqhekeni said the past year had been challenging for them, adding they would do things better this year.
“We had various challenges in 2013 regarding illegal strikes by our affiliates, especially Amcu in the mining sector.
“Our members were dismissed by employers because of their unprotected (industrial) actions, although they were justified,” he said, adding these issues would be pursued in court.
Nactu, said Maqhekeni, would also strengthen its education programmes for all its affiliates: “We have already established provincial structures in the North West and Gauteng because these are our key provinces.”
He said Nactu unions in the mining and construction sectors had reached a deadlock with employers.
Maqhekeni hinted that if there was no improvement on the workers’ demands a strike could be on the cards.
He said Nactu had always encouraged workers to vote for liberation movements such as Azapo and PAC.
“But the ANC has failed the workers because labour brokers are not banned but regulated, and the unpopular e-tolls have been implemented in Gauteng.
“We are saying to our members we don’t think the ANC needs to be supported this time around,” he said.
Fedusa general secretary Dennis George could not be reached for comment.
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Legacy of TaTa Mandela
EDITORIAL: Time to reflect on intense 10 days
Business Day, 19 December 2013
NELSON Mandela, the greatest statesman South Africa has ever seen, has been buried on a gentle Qunu hillside overlooking his home. His dignified, emotional funeral last Sunday at which both family and luminaries spoke of his legacy and towering personality, was a fitting farewell to a global hero of which South Africa shall remain proud for many generations to come.
As life slowly returns to normal, and South Africans head to their festive season vacation, there will be ample opportunity to reflect upon the 10 days that spanned the announcement of his death and his funeral. Of particular interest is the design of the entire programme and the meaning of some of the decisions made.
It was clear from the beginning that the government had prepared a plan well in advance. Members of the Gauteng public had many opportunities to pay tribute to their beloved Madiba, at his Houghton home, at Vilakazi Street in Orlando West, the government memorial service at FNB Stadium, and over the three days during which his body lay in state at the Union Buildings.
Of the large public gatherings the least remarkable was the FNB event. Not only was President Zuma jeered by large sections of the crowd, the speaker line-up appeared constructed to give pride of place to our Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) partners. Only Russia didn’t send a speaker. Neither its president nor deputy could make the trip.
So naked an appeal to material interests seemed horribly out of place in an event meant to pay homage to a life that touched many others at a human level.
It was left to US President Barack Obama’s riveting eulogy to rescue what was becoming an unremarkable, damp event ill-fitting of the stature of the man it was meant to honour. Curiously, there has also been no official role for Thabo Mbeki, Mandela’s deputy president and successor. Their relationship might have been complicated at times but the two did appear to reconcile over the years, with Mbeki delivering a tour de force of a speech in honour of Mandela in 2004.
This omission also left a sour taste as it appeared to have more to do with petty African National Congress (ANC) factional politics than working out an appropriate programme to honour South Africa’s favourite son. It is impossible to tell the story of Mandela’s presidency without mentioning his right-hand man and successor, but this the government tried to do nonetheless, and failed as Mbeki was cheered by the FNB crowd despite his relegation to a mere observer.
Questions will also linger about the exclusion from the funeral of Qunu villagers, the people Mandela always longed to spend his days with after his retirement. For someone who was so open to his community and often walked among them or invited them to his home, the decision is a bizarre contradiction. Instead, some of the guests included television actors and other people with little or no connection to the place or to Mandela himself.
Despite these glitches, overall the government deserves credit for successfully managing what must have been a logistical and protocol nightmare as numerous global leaders and other luminaries wanted to pay their respects. Ministers were involved in various aspects of the programme, and the integration of the ANC into the programme was subtle enough not to be vulgar.
Cyril Ramaphosa was appropriate as master of ceremonies. He is another of Mandela’s post-prison proteges and had managed the process of ushering in a new constitution. His co-host at the memorial and funeral, ANC chair Baleka Mbete was not the best of MCs and was probably not needed at all.
The unveiling of a 9m statue of Madiba at the Union Buildings on Reconciliation Day was a fitting end to what has been an emotionally draining period for the country.
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After the tears, the hard work of building the world that Mandela believed in
Jay Naidoo, Daily Maverick, 09 Dec 2013
I knew before the messages came in that Nelson Mandela had died. Now comes the hard work of trying to keep his legacy alive by working, respectfully and continuously, with the poor and the marginalised.
I feel like a chunk of life has been physically torn from my body. It is an end of an era in my life. Another chapter closes with a thud of finality. A dream yanked from under my feet.
The last time I felt this was the death of my Mother in 1989. Travelling on a restricted passport, valid for 2 weeks, I had travelled to Copenhagen to meet with our fraternal trade union allies. She had been admitted to hospital but she had insisted that I go and do my work and see her when I got back. She had passed away while I was in my meeting.
I had insisted on finishing the meeting and then go back to my room to release the torrent of emotions and tears that had dammed up. In the mix-up over the travel arrangements back I missed her funeral and it took me several years to close that chapter and find peace with her death at the cusp of our victory against Apartheid.
December 6th 2013: I was in the air when the news broke. I was returning from a GAIN board meeting, a public/private global foundation that I chair, fighting malnutrition and hunger facing two billion people in the world. It was an issue close to the heart of Mandela, who famously said, "Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity; it is an act of justice. Like slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings." I see today that face of poverty as a hungry child who is stunted.
When the plane landed in OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg I was anxious. It's been a hard year of intense travelling and building a campaign against hunger and addressing the cancer in our own society of the failure of governance and leadership. Being a volunteer for good causes in the world leaves little personal time in this environment of raging corruption and human greed rearing its ugly head in the world.
I was looking forward to time with my family, good books, good friends and good wine and food. I yearned to work in the garden, smell the fragrance of the flowers and breathe life again. Johannesburg is the most beautiful, relaxed place in December.
The doors opened. The weather was brisk. I overheard the chatter of the German-speaking passengers talking on their mobile phones. I caught the continuous repetition of Madiba's name.
Instantly I knew that moment had arrived. A cold shiver ran down my spine. A wave of sadness passed through my body. I descended the stairs, the tears welled up in my eyes. I hoped no-one would talk to me. I sat in the corner of the bus and wiped away the sorrow. I feared to turn on my phone. But I knew I had to. There was a flood of messages.
My son, Kami, thankfully had come to fetch me. He gave me a deep hug. A flood of memories rushed in as I hugged him back, this time the father in me needing the son's positive energy rather than reassuring him over some of the personal challenges of his life. At that instant he became my pillar of strength and the generations passed each other.
I met his mother and my soul mate, Lucie Page, 23 years ago. Mandela brought us together. She had come to do ten TV documentaries when Mandela was released in 1990.
I remember Mandela visiting us at home when Kami was one year old. It was 6 December 1993. Lucie's mom was with us. He was a surprise guest for her birthday lunch. Mandela was due to travel to receive his Nobel Prize. Kami regurgitated his lunch and it spilled onto Madiba’s pants. Lucie apologised profusely but Mandela, laughing loudly, said: "Lucie, do not worry. I have spent 27 years in prison. The thing I missed the most was the sounds and laughter of children." And with that he scooped Kami into his arms, beaming with empathy.
Right now, Kami takes charge, carries my bags, and I follow him, shielded by his courage. I avoid the eyes of everyone.
'Please don't sympathise with me. I need to be alone. I need to recover my mind and claw back the memories of the past. I must sit for hours quietly in my room, in meditation and reflection,' I think. The noise in my head subsides. I reconnect with my soul.
I am wiser today. I know I have to deal with the voids in my life. We cling desperately to the memories of Madiba, the leader, the servant of the people, who placed the national interests of his people above his party political and personal interests. In my mind Madiba belongs to the world and particularly the marginalised and oppressed, who I meet in the teeming slums and villages. When his heart stopped, humanity missed a beat.
I live in a bubble today, ear to global conversations on sustainable development. I drown in the cacophony of debates on ending poverty, environmental degradation and conflict that engulf over half of humanity today. Mandela in my mind was a revolutionary, a social justice campaigner who led us to that impossible dream of freedom in our lifetime. It what inspired millions of us; and continues to drive my beliefs today.
We weep for leaders who will embrace social solidarity and human dignity; for the leaders who will hold our dreams, our hopes and our aspirations in their hearts, like Madiba.
To the next generation, I know many of you feel cheated. We have not completed the journey we started. My generation defines young people in terms of deficit: you are seen as uneducated, unemployable, unruly and menacing on the margins. You are characterised by what you are not, not by what you could be.
I am sorry. I feel strangled for words to offer you, for the devastation we have wreaked on your future.
I recall a poem that Kami wrote as an 18 year old: "Rather than search for another Mandela, let us look for the Mandela in each one of us."
Deep in the informal settlements and rural villages, far from the glittering ballrooms and ivory tower gatherings of the representatives of the poor, is where I find the comfort of real people. There is no double talk here, no grandiose speeches, and no merchants of poverty; just us and the people whose wisdom and durability has ensured that the lifeline is passed from one generation to them next. That is where we will build the new legions of Mandelas today.
There are times in life when one has to pause, take a deep breath and reflect on the meaning of your life. I feel that quiet but deep-seated sense of urgency now. I have learnt that the journey of life has many doubts.
But now my mind is clear. I will support, you, the next generation, to trailblaze a new path. I will insist that you become leaders, not of tomorrow, but of today. And I know deep in your hearts you will be the true cadres of building the future based on ethics, morality and respect for the diversity of our cultures and our planet that Mandela stood for. Frantz Fanon, the radical philosopher who inspired my early ideas, said, "Each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it, in relative capacity."
Now I go to pay my respects, in private mainly, to the man who influenced so much of what my life is today. I feel that in the outpouring of grief from ordinary people, if we do not look at the politics in our country, we can be positive about the future.
As Madiba, the herald of a new political discourse etched into the 21st century, forecasted in his own unique way, left us his last commandment: "On my last day I want to know that those who remain behind say that here lies a man who has done his duty for his country and his people." DM
THE MANDELA IN EACH OF US (Kami Naidoo-Page)
In all of us is a flame; unity in a spark;
In all of us is a shimmering light; hope in the dark;
In all of us is the vibrant bond of humanity;
It navigates our soul as a ferry; asking no levy;
Demanding as its only fee, freedom and integrity;
Because the mark of a leader is greatness in humility.
Call him what you like, Mandela, Madiba or Tata;
Search for him as you like, he is not to be found in one person;
Some values surpass the body, living only through unison;
Do not call for Mandela, rather shout for compassion;
Do not look for Madiba, rather search for love and passion;
Do not listen for Tata, instead focus on the soul of every human;
The rhythm of our hearts beating in every man and woman;
The blood of this nation flowing in each of us.
This is the lesson to be learnt, and the teacher is wise;
Even with brain and brawn, a person is just a person.
However, bring a million together, add that spark of unity;
And you will find that united we stand, but divided we fall;
And even though each individual flame is not so tall;
Together the fire burning in our hearts can illuminate the earth.
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Thatcher refused to call publicly for Madiba's release
The New Age, 03 Jan 2014
Nelson Mandela's name was not raised once in an official meeting between Margaret Thatcher and South Africa's prime minister in 1984, records showed Friday, re-opening the debate into how much she pushed for his release from prison.
P. W. Botha was invited to talks with the Thatcher at the British prime minister's Chequers country residence to discuss South Africa's policy towards its black population, as the apartheid regime sought to emerge from its international isolation.
The record of that meeting, released 30 years later under secrecy rules, showed that Thatcher pressed Botha on the issue of apartheid but Mandela's name did not come up during the official talks.
Thatcher chose instead to raise the issue during a shorter private discussion the two leaders had beforehand, where no official note-takers were present.
The newly declassified official records show that the British government confirmed that Mandela's imprisonment was raised at a short "tete-a-tete", but that Thatcher made little progress with Botha.
In a note about the 40-minute private meeting sent to the Foreign Office on June 2, 1984, Thatcher's advisor John Coles wrote: "The prime minister said afterwards that Mr Botha had stated that it was never possible for South Africa to satisfy international opinion.
"She took the opportunity to raise the case of Nelson Mandela.
"Mr Botha said he noted the prime minister's remarks, but that he was not able to interfere with the South African judicial process."
But in the broader, four-hour meeting where official minutes were taken, Thatcher omitted the leaders' disagreement over anti-apartheid hero Mandela -- despite prior guidance from the Foreign Office to make the point.
In a briefing paper written by the Foreign Office for the prime minister's office ahead of the meeting, it was suggested that Thatcher include Mandela's release from prison as a "point to make".
In a statement to the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament, after the meeting, Thatcher said: "On the internal situation in South Africa, I expressed our strongly held views on apartheid.
"I told Mr Botha of my particular concern at the practice of forced removals (of the black population) and raised the question of the continued detention of Mr Nelson Mandela."
In her 1993 memoir, "The Downing Street Years", Thatcher said that in the meeting with Botha, she raised the case of Mandela, "whose freedom we had persistently sought".
He was finally released "after all the years of pressure, not least from me", she wrote.
The revelations come after the historical approach of the Conservatives -- the party of Thatcher and current Prime Minister David Cameron -- to Mandela's African National Congress party came under scrutiny after the peace icon's death last month.
Reminded that Thatcher branded the ANC a "typical terrorist organisation" during a press conference in 1987, a senior Conservative former minister, Norman Tebbit, said: "He was the leader of a political movement which had begun to resort to terrorism."
Cameron has in the past apologised for his party's approach to apartheid-era South Africa.
In 2006, he flew to South Africa to seek forgiveness from Mandela for "the mistakes my party made with the ANC and sanctions in South Africa".
Cameron said at the time that Thatcher had been wrong to brand the ANC "terrorists".
-Sapa
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Tourists want to see Mandela's grave
Fundiswa Mhlekude, SABC News, 03 Jan 2014
Scores of people who want to see former president Nelson Mandela's grave have flocked to the Nelson Mandela Museum at Qunu in the Eastern Cape over the past two weeks.
Tourists both local and international are increasingly showing interest in viewing the historically important sites associated with Madiba.
According to Museum management, the United States is leading in the number of tourists visiting the museum, followed by England and Germany. Tourists from the African continent have also been seen visiting the sites.
Thus far, the museum has got their ducks in a row and there has been no problem in accommodating the tourists from around the world.
Museum communications manager, Nokuzola Tetani, says tourists are usually scarce in the museum during December, but things have changed since the passing of Madiba.
She says in the past two weeks, the museum has seen about 500 to a 1 000 tourists a day.
"What they are most interested in is the story of Nelson Mandela as well as his last resting, that is the grave site. As much as they are not yet allowed to come to the grave site, but they are happy even with the opportunity to view the grave site at a distance," says Tetani.
She says that they become fascinated when they hear the stories about Nelson Mandela, how he grew up, the ruins of the school where he was named Nelson Mandela on his first day of school, as well as his sliding stone on the hillside.
"It is quite a steep walk to the sliding stone but they don't mind, they enjoy walking down the hillside," adds Tetani.
This weekend, the AbaThembu Royal family and the Mandela House will hold a meeting to discuss access to the grave site, amongst others.
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South Africa
Safety of Metrorail trains under probe
Njanji Chauke, SABC News, 03 Jan 2014
The safety of Metrorail trains is again under the spotlight. Fifteen people were injured, two critically, after a train derailed in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni.
The train derailed just after 6 o’clock on Friday morning. It was travelling from Pretoria to Johannesburg.
"Out of the 15 who were injured two of them have been seriously injured complaining mainly of lower back pains and the pelvis area, so both of them were transported to Tambo Memorial Hospital and Tembisa Hospital," says Ekurhuleni Emergency Management Service's William Ntladi.
Eleven of the injured were treated and discharged from hospital.
Metrorail technicians spent most of the afternoon clearing the tracks.
The accident, the second involving a Metrorail train in a week. Two other trains collided in Durban, last week. Ten people were injured in that incident.
"We are instituting a board of inquiry to look into the cause of the accidents and we want to do a thorough investigation and on that basis. We do not want to speculate what may have been the root cause of both accidents pending a complete investigation," says Metrorail spokesperson Lawrence Venkile.
Metrorail is renewing its ageing fleet, which was introduced in the early 1950’s, as part of a multi-billion rand Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) rail stock renewal programme.
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Drivers education needed to curb road fatalities: RTMC
SABC News, 04 Jan 2014
The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) says intensive driver education will go a long way towards addressing high road fatalities.
Acting RTMC Chief Executive, Gilberto Martins, says driver's attitude is also to blame in the more than a thousand fatalities during the festive period.
Martins says they have also identified other factors which they will be working on in the coming days. “Head on collision is a major factor, speeding is another factor and drunken driving. We've taken those three factors.”
He says while road monitoring is necessary, various other means have to be implemented to solve the carnage on the country's roads.
“If it's a head on collision for example that is a major factor in most of our crashes, clearly it's about monitoring but at the same time is to address the driver attitude, and that starts with education."
Martins says: “We are doing education programs in our schools. We do education programs when we stop at roadblocks, but certainly that is not enough."
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IEC opens voter registration for South Africans abroad
Linda Ensor, Business Day, 03 January 2014
THE upcoming elections will be the first time South Africans living and travelling abroad will be able to register to vote while overseas and the Independent Election Commission (IEC) has announced that this process has been opened.
In the 2009 election, only already registered South Africans abroad could cast their votes. However the Electoral Amendment Act 2013 gave all South African citizens the right to register and vote abroad in national elections, though they will not be able to cast a provincial vote.
Democratic Alliance (DA) director of strategic markets Marike Groenewald, who is leading the party’s campaign to mobilise its supporters abroad, believes more voters will vote this year than in 2009 because they will now be able to register.
"There were a lot of people who were not registered in 2009 who wanted to vote," she said in an interview on Friday.
Those wishing to register as voters can apply in person at a South African embassy, high commission or consulate during office hours until February 7. The outcome of their application can be determined by checking the IEC’s election website seven working days after making the application.
South Africans wanting to register must have both a South African passport and a South African identity document as no other forms of identification will be accepted.
"To vote in South Africa’s 2014 elections you must be a registered voter. If you are already registered to vote in South Africa, you don’t have to re-register," the IEC said on its website.
There will also be two special weekends dedicated to registration, on January 18 and 19, and January 25 and 26.
Ms Groenewald said the requirement that applicants have a valid ID as well as a passport could prove a constraint as many people either did not have them or had left them back in South Africa. "I am a bit worried about this," she said. Also the process of registration was long and complicated.
The number of potential overseas voters is difficult to determine. In the 2009 elections the highest number of votes were cast in London (7,472); Canberra, Australia (1,235); Dubai, United Arab Emirates (900); Wellington, New Zealand (410); The Hague, The Netherlands (378) and Dublin, Ireland (360). Only one vote was cast in Asmara, Eritrea; Suva, Fiji; Ramallah, Palestine; Bujumbura, Burundi; and Port of Spain in Trinidad and Togabo. Voters wanting to vote abroad had to have been registered and had to submit a form a month before the elections.
The DA will rely on its established DA Abroad structure in the main centres in the UK, Europe and Asia to conduct campaigns on behalf of the party to mobilise its supporters to vote. They would rely on volunteers to distribute leaflets, contact voters and organise events, Ms Groenewald said.
The IEC announcement said that once registered, voters abroad will have to complete a form online that will be available only once the election date has been proclaimed. This form must be submitted within 15 days of the proclamation date.
The form will inform the IEC of the voter’s intention to vote abroad and indicates at which embassy, high commission or consulate the person will vote. The IEC will then contact voters via e-mail or text message to let them know if they qualify to vote abroad.
Those who plan to be abroad on election day and want to vote in South Africa a few days beforehand can apply for a special vote at their local municipal electoral office.
Check your registration status online.
Go to the Department for International Relations and Co-operation website for mission locations and opening hours.
Visit the IEC website at for more info.
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Relapse of "cured" HIV patients spurs AIDS science on
Reuters , Times Live, 02 January 2014
Scientists seeking a cure for AIDS say they have been inspired, not crushed, by a major setback in which two HIV positive patients believed to have been cured found the virus re-invading their bodies once more.
True, the news hit hard last month that the so-called "Boston patients" - two men who received bone marrow transplants that appeared to rid them completely of the AIDS-causing virus - had relapsed and gone back onto antiretroviral treatment.
But experts say the disappointment could lay the basis for important leaps forward in the search for a cure.
"It's a setback for the patients, of course, but an advance for the field because the field has now gained a lot more knowledge," said Steven Deeks, a professor and HIV expert at the University of California, San Francisco.
He and other experts say the primary practical message is that current tests designed to detect even very low levels of HIV present in the body are simply not sensitive enough.
As well as having the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the Boston patients both also had a type of blood cancer called lymphoma, for which they were treated using bone marrow transplants - one man in 2008 and the other in 2010.
They continued taking the antiretroviral AIDS drugs, but eight months after each patient's transplant, doctors found they could not detect any sign of HIV in their blood.
In the early part of 2013, both patients decided to stop taking their AIDS drugs and both appeared to remain HIV-free - prompting their doctors, Timothy Henrich and Daniel Kuritzkes from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, to announce at a conference in July that they may have been cured.
Yet in December came news that one of the men had begun to show signs of an HIV rebound by August, while the second patient had a relapse in November.
Henrich said the virus' comeback underlined how ingenious HIV can be in finding hiding places in the body to evade attack efforts by the immune system and by drug treatment.
"Through this research we have discovered the HIV reservoir is deeper and more persistent than previously known and that our current standards of probing for HIV may not be sufficient," he said, adding that both patients were "currently in good health" and back on antiretroviral therapy.
Inspiration
Barely a decade ago, few HIV scientists would have dared put the words HIV and cure in the same sentence. Yet some intriguing and inspiring cases in recent years mean many now believe it is just a question of time before a cure is found.
First was the now famous case of Timothy Ray Brown, the so-called "Berlin patient," whose HIV was eradicated by a complex treatment for leukaemia in 2007 involving the destruction of his immune system and a stem cell transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that resists HIV infection.
Such an elaborate, expensive and life-threatening procedure could never be used as a broad-spectrum approach for the world's 34 million HIV patients. But the results in Brown focussed scientific attention on a genetic mutation known as 'CCR5 delta 32' as a target for possible gene therapy treatment.
Then last March, French scientists who followed 14 HIV-positive people known as the "Visconti patients", who were treated very swiftly with HIV drugs but then stopped treatment, said that even after seven years off therapy, they were still showing no signs of the virus rebounding.
That announcement came only weeks after news of the "functional cure" of an HIV-positive baby in Mississippi who received antiretroviral treatment for 18 months from the day she was born. By the time she was two this appeared to have stopped the virus replicating and spreading.
A "functional cure" is when HIV is reduced to such low levels that it is kept at bay even without treatment, though the virus can still be detected in the body.
Sharon Lewin, an HIV expert at Monash University in Australia, said all these developments, as well as the setback suffered by the Boston patients, inspired scientists to investigate many different approaches in the search for a cure.
"We've learnt many things here - and one of the most important is that a tiny, tiny amount of virus can get the whole thing going again," she told Reuters. "It's a clear message that we need better ways to pick up the virus."
Scientists are now more convinced than ever that a two-pronged approach which aims to firmly suppress the virus while bolstering the immune system provides the best way forward.
"We need to attack in two ways - reduce the virus to very low levels and also to boost the immune response. We can't do one without the other," said Lewin.
"So we still have to think of other creative ways to control HIV. And it's still early days... before we can say which approach is likely to be the winner."
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Alliance
Military veterans must be honoured: Zuma
The New Age, 03 Jan 2014
Military veterans must continue to be recognised for the contribution they made to reshaping the country's post-apartheid defence force, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday.
"The democratic government has begun honouring military veterans for their contribution to the attainment of freedom and the establishment of the constitutional democracy in our country," said Zuma in a eulogy prepared for delivery at the funeral service for Lt-Gen Lehlohonolo Moloi in Randburg.
He said Moloi, a former Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) commander, had helped build the SA National Defence Force after 1994.
"In this role, he had to provide support to many returning cadres who had to be integrated into a conventional army."
Zuma said today's SANDF was a collective to be proud of.
"We have an SA National Defence Force that is making significant contributions to peace-making and peace-building in the African continent."
He said the SANDF also represented a cross-spectrum of South Africans.
"We have an SANDF that made the nation proud in the manner in which it managed the health and farewell of our founding father Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela."
Zuma said Moloi could rest in peace after the good work he had done in his lifetime.
"Give our warm regards to Madiba, Chris Hani, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Albertina Sisulu, Bram Fischer, Ruth First, Amina Cachalia, Dorothy Nyembe and all the heroes and heroines to whom we owe our freedom and democracy and to whom we shall forever be indebted."
Moloi died last Friday at the age of 81. He was buried in a full military funeral.
-Sapa
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Elections 2014: ANC list conference delayed again
Matuma Letsoalo, Andisiwe Makinana, Verashni Pillay, M&G, 03 Jan 2014
·
· ANC leaders have postponed the date for its national candidates' list conference to ensure that divisions do not derail the party's 2014 campaign.
The ANC has once again postponed the date for its national candidates' list conference, with internal dynamics putting a brake on finalising who will go to Parliament after this year's election.
With polls suggesting that the ANC might drop to well below 60% for the first time, the party needs all hands on deck for a successful election campaign.
Instead of the list conference taking place after the national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Mpumalanga on January 6 and 7, it will now take place at a date yet to be decided on,
It was already postponed once before, after the death of President Nelson Mandela. This was seen as giving the party the breathing space to try to get its house in order.
Meanwhile, the Mail & Guardian has established that the multimillion-rand upgrades at President Jacob Zuma's private homestead in Nkandla, the controversial e-tolling of Gauteng freeways and resolutions taken by the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa [Numsa] not to campaign for the ANC in this year's elections and its calls for Zuma to step down will top the NEC agenda.
ANC spokesperson Keith Khoza confirmed the party's decision to postpone the national list conference yet again, but dismissed suggestions that this was a delaying tactic to avoid internal ructions.
"I'm sure it's purely logistical," he said. "There are too many things happening at once."
Standard practice
A senior ANC member in the Western Cape said that, due to the factional battles, it had become the norm in that province for a large number of ANC members to stop campaigning for the party if their names did not appear high enough, or at all, on the national or provincial lists.
However, Lindiwe Zulu, an ANC national working committee member and head of the party's subcommittee on communications, said this could not be a reason to postpone the list conference.
"If there are people who are planning to leave because they are not included in the final list, let them go. We can't keep nursing comrades. If you belong to the ANC, you must belong to the ANC.
"Our programmes can't be shifted because of certain people. We were in a similar situation with Cope [Congress of the People]. What happened? They [ANC members] left to join Cope, but they are now coming back. If there is such a feeling [about people wanting to leave because they are not included on the list], it will be unfortunate," said Zulu.
"If we need to tell people to leave the ANC, we must do so. I am referring to people who attack the ANC publicly and those who keep plotting in corners," she said.
"There have always been issues in the ANC, but the capacity of the leadership in the ANC and intact membership ensured we withstood those challenges. We need to keep our organisation together and alive."
Zulu said Numsa's resolutions would be on the NEC agenda.
Numsa's impact
"Whether we like it or not, it [Numsa resolutions] will have an impact on the ANC. They [Numsa] have taken a decision, but not everybody agrees with those decisions," said Zulu. She said the ANC would try to keep the union within the ANC but warned against those who have agendas to join other political parties.
"We must try to keep them inside. We know there are agendas here. People want to go to government. They are being ambitious. These comrades have joined other forces. That's clear. One thing is for sure – they have joined anti-ANC forces. They are just short of joining opposition parties."
She said the ANC task team, which is led by ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and was set up to help Cosatu to find solutions to its problems, was expected to table a report to the NEC.
E-tolls were also expected to be on the NEC's agenda. ANC sources have claimed there are some in the party who believe that e-tolls should be rejected and that the government should acknowledge it had erred.
They believe that this is necessary if the ANC is to shore up its support at the polls. Some members say that the arms deal and Gautrain cost a lot more than was originally estimated and the government bore the extra costs and could do the same again with the e-tolls.
While Nkandla was expected to be on the agenda, ANC sources believe what is likely to come out of the NEC meeting is a strategy to defend Zuma.
"People are just pissed off. There is a call for an NGC [national general council] as it was reported in the media, but we doubt it will happen in 2014," said the NEC member.
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Moloi’s death forces SA to ‘face mortality of struggle heroes’
Karl Gernetzky, Business Day, 03 January 2014
AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) members have a duty to take up the personal missions of struggle-era heroes after their deaths, such as the drive for economic emancipation shown by former Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) commander Lt-Gen Lehlohonolo Moloi, who died last month, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday.
Delivering a eulogy for Moloi in Johannesburg, Mr Zuma said the death of yet another struggle hero meant South Africa was "forced yet again to confront the mortality of the men and women who were willing to sacrifice everything" in the fight against apartheid.
Moloi, who died of leukaemia on December 23 at the age of 81, commanded MK from 1983 to 1992.
He also played a key role in negotiating the entrance of MK forces into the South African National Defence Force, with Mr Zuma saying on Friday: "We remember his patience with soldiers who were at times anxious and unsure of what was expected of them during the difficult integration process.
"He believed that economic emancipation should be an integral part of our political freedom … continued investment in education and skills development will enable us to build the prosperous South Africa that he desired."
Moloi was a founding member and served as chairman of the boards of 3C Telecommunications and Cell C and played a role in the formation of Platreef Platinum in Mokopane as well as Kalagadi Manganese.
Speaking at the funeral on Friday, Cell C acting CEO Jose dos Santos said Moloi’s role in 1998 as a driving force of 33 "truly black economic empowerment companies" behind Cell C came "long before broad-based black economic empowerment (was) legislated".
Born in Lesotho in 1941, Moloi left South Africa in 1962 and received military training in the former Soviet Union and the former German Democratic Republic. He was credited, along with Chris Hani, with ensuring the ANC had an official presence in Lesotho in the 1970s before he was transferred to Zambia amid fears his family was at risk.
At the time of his death, he was a member of the newly established Defence Service Commission. He was on Friday given a full military funeral, attended by ANC stalwarts including Mr Zuma and former president Thabo Mbeki.
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International
Brazil creates special riot force for World Cup
The New Age, 03 Jan 2014
Brazil has created a special riot force to help police control demonstrations expected during the World Cup later this year.
Col. Alexandre Augusto Aragon heads the elite National Security Force. He tells the G1 Internet portal that 10,000 riot troops selected from state police forces throughout Brazil will be deployed in the 12 cities hosting World Cup games June 12-July 13.
Violent street demonstrations broke out last June protesting corruption, poor public services and a host of other complaints. The protests coincided with the Confederations Cup, a warm-up tournament for the World Cup.
The Black Bloc anarchist movement has announced plans for demonstrations for the World Cup, starting with the opening match on June 12 in Sao Paulo.
-Sapa
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Zimbabwe to import maize from SA in bid to stave off hunger
Agency Staff, Business Day, 03 January 2014
HARARE — Zimbabwe is importing 150,000 tons of maize from South Africa to guarantee food supplies before the April harvest, a senior official said on Friday, with an estimated 2.2-million people at risk.
"We are importing maize from South Africa to cover the gap between now and the next harvest," Deputy Agriculture Minister David Marapira said.
At least 2.2-million people in rural areas will require food aid before the April harvest, according to a survey by the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee, which groups government and aid agencies.
"So far, we have received 300 tons by road through Bulawayo and will be moved to other parts of the country," Mr Marapira said. "The total we are importing is 150,000 tons and we are hoping this will cover the period between now and April."
Perennial food shortages have prompted the Zimbabwean government to import maize from neighbours to augment local production.
Poor food production has been blamed on land reforms that saw the seizure of white-owned commercial farmers under President Robert Mugabe’s land reforms for redistribution to landless blacks.
The government says poor rains in recent years are to blame for the drop in food production.
Zimbabwe needs more than 2-million tons of maize a year, but last year the country produced only 800,000 tons, a drop from 1.4-million tons the previous year.
Last year, the government signed a deal to import maize but deliveries have been slow, Mr Marapira said.
"We are still getting maize imports from Zambia but the movement of the maize has been very slow," he said.
Zimbabwe has a population of almost 14-million people.
Sapa-AFP
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US employer $76bn burden to ease
Business Report, 03 January 2014
Dallas - 3M Co. and Deere & Co. are among US employers seeing pension costs drop from a $76 billion peak, freeing up cash to spend or return to investors, as the Federal Reserve’s pullback on bond buying boosts interest rates.
The drain on company cash is easing after rising rates and surging stock prices helped increase the pension funding levels to 93 percent last year for 418 large companies with US plans, from 77 percent a year earlier, consultant Towers Watson said yesterday in a report.
Pension expenses for Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies jumped fourfold in 2012 from $19 billion in 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Now, 2013’s increases in interest rates and equities probably will continue this year as the Fed begins to taper bond purchases, pushing defined-benefit plans closer to full funding levels, Towers Watson said.
“A lot of good news has flowed their way, and they’ll have more options and opportunities this year than they did last year,” Dave Suchsland, a Towers Watson senior consulting actuary based in Philadelphia, said in a telephone interview.
Deere, the world’s largest maker of agricultural equipment, has projected pension expenses to be $150 million lower in 2014.
3M, whose products range from Scotch tape to dental braces, is forecasting costs as low as $100 million, down from $534 million in 2012.
As pension funds become fully funded, more companies may look at matching liabilities to assets to ward off future market crashes, according to pension advisory firms including Milliman Inc. and Towers Watson.
Others are using the higher funding status to reduce risk by paying retired employees lump sums.
Reduced Risk
When many pensions were overfunded last decade, companies failed to take steps to reduce risk.
They probably won’t pass up the opportunity this time, Suchsland said.
Ford Motor Co. has begun to move more of its pension investments to fixed income to reduce volatility.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based carmaker now expects required annual cash contributions to its pension funds will drop to $1 billion to $2 billion over the next three years from an earlier estimate of $2 billion to $3 billion as rates move higher.
“Because of the strategic actions that we’ve been taking along with increases in discount rates, we estimate that the underfunded status of our global pension plans at year-end 2013 will be reduced to about $10 billion,” Chief Financial Officer Robert Shanks said during a December 18 presentation to investors.
Fed Taper
Pension fund liabilities are projected using an interest rate based on a group of corporate bonds, known as the discount rate.
The higher the rate, the lower the liability.
The prospect of Fed tapering driving up interest rates will help companies such as Joy Global Inc., a Milwaukee-based maker of mining equipment.
Joy Global estimates its pension contribution will drop to less than $50 million per year over the next few years from $166 million in 2013.
“With the company’s pension plans now approaching fully funded status, the go-forward discretionary contribution rate is expected to be less than $50 million per year for the next few years,” Chief Financial Officer James Sullivan said on a December 11 earnings conference call.
It’s also good news for employees. Companies that stuck by their defined-benefit pension plans through the difficult years now are unlikely to seek to disband the benefit, Suchsland said.
“By now, the ones who still have an active plan have looked at it and made a conscious decision to keep it,” Suchsland said.
“The economics this year are going to be more favourable to them.”
Boeing Exception
One exception is Boeing Co. The Chicago-based planemaker is seeking union approval for a second time to freeze its pension plan for new hires as part of a deal to keep production of the new 777X wide-body jet in the Seattle area.
Boeing wants to convert the pension plan to a 401(k)-style retirement program, where the employer matches worker contributions instead of paying benefits at a set monthly amount. Boeing’s machinists rejected the proposal in November and are voting on it again today.
With Fed tapering signaling the US economy is strong enough to resume good growth without stimulus, stocks may climb along with rates.
Honeywell International Inc., the Morris Township, New Jersey-based producer of goods as varied as aircraft engines and work boots, is counting on that to forecast a $100 million drop in its pension contribution in 2014, Chief Financial Officer Dave Anderson said in a Dec. 17 conference call with analysts.
“If the economy continues to recover and we have modest gains on the equity side, it could be a second consecutive win- win year for pension funding,” said John Ehrhardt, a New York- based principal and consulting actuary for Milliman. - Bloomberg News
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Western Sahara dispute dims Morocco’s solar dreams
Aziz El Yaakoubi, Business Day, 03 January 2014
RABAT — A Moroccan solar project worth about $9bn aimed at turning desert sun into lucrative power exports to Europe could be at risk as international lenders balk at plants planned for the disputed Western Sahara.
Morocco drew up plans in 2009 to build solar plants and wind farms to generate 4GW of power by 2020 but much of that output is to come from sites planned in Western Sahara, the focus of a decades-old territorial dispute.
Morocco has controlled most of Western Sahara since 1975 and claims the sparsely populated stretch of desert, which has offshore fishing, phosphate reserves and oilfield potential, as its own.
However, the Algeria-backed Polisario Front seeks independence and a United Nations mission was formed more than 20 years ago ahead of an expected referendum on Western Sahara’s political future, but this has never taken place.
The dispute was rekindled in October when Morocco recalled its ambassador from Algeria after that country’s president upset Rabat by calling for human rights monitors to be sent to the region.
Western Sahara has also drawn scrutiny as European and US authorities worry that damaged relations between Morocco and Algeria could hurt co-operation against Islamist militants who are active across the Maghreb.
Five sites
Morocco’s plans call for building five solar power plants, including two in Western Sahara — a 500MW plant at Foum El Oued and a 100MW plant near Boujdour. Another 500MW project is planned at Sabkhat Tah which borders on Western Sahara.
Yet lending sources at German state-owned bank KFW, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the European Union (EU) have told Reuters they will not finance projects based in Western Sahara.
"If we support those investments, it would look like we are supporting the Moroccan position. We are neutral regarding that conflict," one senior bank source said.
A second source said: "We have never supported any project in that territory (Western Sahara), and we won’t, although the Moroccan solar plan means a lot for us." All the sources declined to be named because of the political sensitivity of the matter.
Progress on the solar projects has so far been limited to one site within Morocco where Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power IPO-ACPO.SE is building a 160MW solar plant in the city of Ouarzazate.
MASEN, Morocco’s solar energy agency, plans to launch tenders soon for construction of two more plants worth €1.7bn — one of 100MW and another of 200MW — also near Ouarzazate.
Germany’s KFW backed a €654m loan in October to part-finance these.
Gulf funding?
Mines and Energy Minister Abdelkader Amara said Morocco dismissed concerns over financing although he acknowledged plans for Western Sahara were not yet finalised.
"In the initial plan, three solar power plants of five are based in the southern provinces (Western Sahara), but we have not yet decided all those areas yet," he said.
"If those institutions say that they would not finance them, we will see at the time." Sources say Morocco may seek alternative bilateral financing from Arab Gulf states already invested in the kingdom if KFW and others baulk at backing the sites planned for Western Sahara.
But they say these investors may also be skittish over such investment and would be unlikely to finance the whole of it.
Fisheries
While rights groups such as Amnesty International accuse Morocco of continuing to use excessive force against activists and repressing political freedom in Western Sahara, Rabat invests heavily there hoping to calm social unrest and independence claims.
Yet any investment involving international firms stirs protests over the legitimacy of Moroccans to negotiate on behalf of the Western Saharan population.
EU legislators approved a fisheries agreement with Morocco last month, allowing European ships into Moroccan and Western Saharan waters, two years after rejecting a similar deal out of concern it might strengthen Rabat’s control over Western Sahara.
Morocco’s official media portrayed the EU fishing deal as a political victory, while the Polisario Front dubbed it a violation of international law.
Kosmos Energy and Cairn Energy last year also started seismic surveys off Cap Boujdour in Western Sahara and plan to drill an exploration petroleum well.
"We respect international laws. We have started oil exploration and have signed a fishing agreement with the European Union," Mr Amara said.
"So I don’t see why we could not get the financing needed for those solar power projects."
Moroccan legislators drew up a renewable energy law in 2009 which helped to attract foreign investors including German industrial and financial firms which set up the north Africa-focussed Desertec Industrial Initiative.
However, some members have since quit the initiative, including manufacturers Siemens and Bosch, and European efforts to bolster production of renewable energy have reduced Europe’s need for potential North African imports.
Morocco has domestic demand for such power, however, as the country remains heavily reliant on energy imports.
Reuters
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UK manufacturing growth eases
Reuters, Business Report, 02 Jan 2014
London - British manufacturing grew less quickly than expected in December but the sector still looks on track to notch up growth of more than 1 percent in the fourth quarter, according to a survey on Thursday.
Keen for Britain's economic recovery to reduce its reliance on consumer spending, policymakers have taken heart from a pick-up in factory output in recent months.
The Markit/CIPS Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) eased to 57.3 last month from November's three-year high of 58.1.
That was below the 58.0 expected by analysts but still well above the 50 mark that signals expansion.
The average PMI reading for the final three months of the year was the highest since the first quarter of 2011.
“UK manufacturing's strong upsurge continued at the end of 2013, with rates of growth in production and new orders still among the highest in the 22-year PMI survey history,” said Markit economist Paul Dobson.
While manufacturing has yet to recover to pre-crisis output levels - unlike the service sector which has already surpassed them - Dobson said broad-based growth in the sector should keep the recovery on track going into 2014.
A sub-index for new orders slipped to 60.4 in December from November's 19-year high of 63.9, but it remained well above the historical average.
December's survey signalled an eighth successive monthly rise in manufacturing employment with the second-strongest rate of jobs growth in the past two-and-a-half years.
Unemployment has fallen faster than the Bank of England expected, adding to doubts about how long its pledge to keep interest rates at a record low will last.
Britain's central bank has said it will only consider raising interest rates once unemployment has fallen to 7 percent.
That level, which appeared distant when the bank announced its so-called “forward guidance” policy in August, is now fast approaching.
Figures two weeks ago showed unemployment fell to 7.4 percent in the three months to October, down from 7.6 percent in the three months to September. – Reuters
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Comment
COSATU rejection of E-tolls , Labour Brokers & Youth Wage Subsidy Campaign goes ahead in 2014
For more information, contact COSATU Offices
Come one…..Come All!
Stop Commodification of public goods!
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Don’t buy e-tags Don’t buy!-E-tolls system is a form of privatisation of public goods
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Norman Mampane (Communications Officer)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
110 Jorissen Cnr Simmonds Street
Braamfontein
2017
P.O.Box 1019
Johannesburg
2000
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 339-4911 or Direct 010 219-1342
Mobile: +27 72 416 3790
E-Mail: mam...@cosatu.org.za