source: The Botswana Gazette
Written by JFG
Tuesday, 30 June 2009 10:34

Gaborone launched in South East North

Leader of Opposition in Parliament and Botswana National Front (BNF) leader Otsweletse Moupo has said President Lt Gen Ian Khama will be the first leader of the opposition from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) come 2014, should the BNF loose this year’s general elections.

Launching BNF’s Vice President and South East North Parliamentary candidate, Olebile Gaborone at a well attended party event in Tlokweng on Sunday, Moupo said if the BNF fails to take power after the October 2009 general elections; they will win the 2014 elections.

“If the BNF fails to take power in this year’s general elections, the BDP will be ruling this country for the last time. Come 2010 Khama will be the first leader of the opposition from the BDP,” said Moupo.
He charged that the BDP was engulfed in factional wars than before as a result of Khama, whom he described as a leader of a faction within the BDP. He added that Khama has openly campaigned for some BDP candidates and [continue reading]

source: Fin24
2009/07/02 10:16:00 PM

Johannesburg – The World Cup organising committee will “engage” construction industry trade unions about a looming strike over wages, it said in Johannesburg on Thursday.

The organising committee has promised Fifa the stadiums to be used for the World Cup will be finished six months before the tournament starts on June 11 2010, organising committee chairperson Irvin Khoza said in Johannesburg on Thursday. A strike could put paid to that, he said.

At this stage, though, all the committee knew of the impending industrial action was that the media was reporting that a major strike was expected.

“While we acknowledge and accept and recognise the democratic right [of workers to strike], there are [continue reading]

source: The Fincial Gazette
Saturday, 27 June 2009 14:33
Njabulo Ncube, Political Editor

PARTIES to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that gave birth to the inclusive government are heading for collision over plans to have the Kariba Draft used as the working document in crafting a new constitution for Zimbabwe, The Financial Gazette can reveal.

The contentious document was crafted in September 2007 by representatives of the three main political parties in Kariba at the height of the negotiations among the protagonists to the Zimbabwe crisis.
South Africa brokered the negotiations.
ZANU-PF has in recent weeks been trying to worm its way out of a constitutional making template being advocated by the larger faction of the Movement for Demo-cratic Change (MDC) citing all sorts of reasons.
Two weeks ago a ZANU-PF Parliamentary caucus recommended that the process be deferred because of [continue reading]

source: SouthAfrica.info
2 July 2009

Exxaro has entered into a prospecting joint venture agreement with Sasol Mining for the development of a new coal mine, the diversified resources company said on Wednesday.

The mine was intended to supply Sasol’s new potential inland coal-to-liquids (CTL) project, Exxaro said in a statement.

“Project Mafutha is an investigation into the development of another CTL project in South Africa and is envisaged to be located in the north-western part of the Limpopo province due to the substantial coal reserves in the Waterberg region.”

Should the project proceed, it would require a new coal mine to produce feedstock for the 80 000 barrels-a-day CTL complex.

“The development will help meet the growing shortfall in South Africa’s domestic fuel production, most notably in the [continue reading]

source: Mmegi
BRIAN BENZA
Staff Writer

Botswana’s trade deficit has started to ease-off as diamond sales pick-up on the back of renewed hopes of an economic recovery.

The Central Statistics Office has reported that for the first time since October 2008, Botswana recorded a trade deficit of less than P1 billion in April. The April figure stands at P204.3 million. Total exports were valued at P2 billion during April 2009, having increased by 26.9 percent from P1.5 billion recorded in March.

The increase in total exports were largely attributed to higher diamond sales of P1.5 billion from P823.4 million in March as confidence starts to come back to the market that has been ravished by the global economic recession.

Botswana registered a P2.6 billion trade deficit in 2008 as [continue reading]

source: Fin24
2009/07/02 01:45:00 PM

Johannesburg – A summit on the rising costs of fuel will be held by Energy Minister Dipuo Peters, her department said on Thursday.

“She will call a summit of all stakeholders to discuss the rising prices of all fuel – not only petrol,” said spokesperson Bheki Khumalo.

Subsidising the price of some fuels was not on the cards.

“I can rule out any subsidies.”

Any discussion on a change in the government’s current formula of petrol price determination would include the country’s unions.

“And the summit won’t only be [continue reading]

source: The Botswana Gazette
Written by JFG
Friday, 03 July 2009 00:00

MAUN: Maun Choppies supermarket manager, Unni Bhaskaran, has to wait until July 10 to know his fate in a case in which he is facing charges of uttering disrespectful statements about President Seretse Khama Ian Khama.

Maun chief magistrate Clifford Foroma on Monday delayed delivering judgement in this case as Bhaskaran’s defence team asked for time to be availed and respond to the prosecutor’s submissions.

Bhaskaran was expecting to hear his judgement in a case in which he is tried for allegedly uttering disrespectful words to Elizabeth Anderson, a former employee of the Choppies supermarket that “she should go and ask permission to go to the toilet from Ian”, the words were said to have been intended to mock the President of Botswana.

During the trial Anderson told the court that some time April last year she asked his manager (Bhaskaran) for permission to go to the toilet but was told by the manager to ask permission from ‘Ian’.
She also told the court that previously in the same month she had also asked for [continue reading]

source: IOL
July 01 2009 at 05:09PM

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday indicated government would not reduce spending because of the recession, but increase borrowings instead.

“After holding up reasonably well in the past year, our revenue collection has deteriorated in the first three months of this fiscal year,” he told the National Assembly during debate on his budget vote.

“At the moment, we are about R19-billion below our benchmark target for revenue.

“If the present trend continues, we could be as much as R50 to R60-billion below our target by the end of the year.

“Assuming that spending stays as budgeted, our deficit will be higher than we estimated in [continue reading]

source: Mmegi
STAFF WRITER

Botswana has the lowest civil aviation charges in the region because it has not reviewed the levies for over a decade, senior aviation officials have said.

The chief executive officer of Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) Meshesha Belayneh and the finance director, Patrinah Masalela told a consultation meeting with stakeholders in Maun recently that they have decided to review charges to bring them to international levels.

“The fact of the matter is that in Botswana, some civil aviation regulatory charges have not been reviewed for over 10 years,” Belayneh said.

He explained that the reasons for the delay are many though the government and stakeholders have [continue reading]

source: Trading Markets
Thu. July 02, 2009; Posted: 09:09 AM

CIC Energy Corp. (”CIC Energy” or the “Company”)(TSX:ELC, BSE: CIC Energy) today announced the following update on the Mmamabula Energy Project in Botswana, Africa.

Offtaker Review of Power Purchase Agreement Offer

In conjunction with the ongoing negotiations of the power purchase agreement and related documentation for the Mmamabula Energy Project, CIC Energy, on behalf of its Botswana subsidiary Meepong Energy (Proprietary) Limited, submitted an offer to Eskom Holdings Limited (”Eskom”) and Botswana Power Corporation (”BPC”) in March 2009 (the “Offer”).

The Offer was taken through Eskom’s formal governance process, culminating in consideration of the Offer at an Eskom board meeting held on June 18, 2009. The Company had expected that a response to the Offer would be received from Eskom soon after this board meeting. However, a response to [continue reading]