source: Engineering News
Published: 11 Nov 08 – 15:32
Botswana parastatal, the Water Utilities Corporation, plans to duplicate its North South Carrier Scheme, in an effort to mitigate the effect of severe weather conditions in the country, an official said on Tuesday.
Water Utilities Corporation CEO Fred Muange said the initial North South Carrier Scheme had cost the utility about 1,5-billion pula, an estimated $350-milion, and had started operation in 2000.
The North South Carrier Scheme ran from a dam on the Motlontse River, in northern Botswana along transfer pipelines, four pumping stations, and a water treatment plant.
It links the Letsibogo dam and major wellfields to Gaborone through a large diameter pipeline 400 km in length. It also serviced all [continue reading]
source: Mmegi
MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer
Hundreds of diamond workers at Diamond Trading Centre (DTC) Botswana will be smiling all the way to the bank with 17percent back pays of the last seven months.
This follows a recent victory by the DTC workers’ union when the DTC GM Brian McDonald offered the workers a 17percent wage increment after months of a stalemate over the issue.
A happy DTC Union chairperson, John Motsu last week revealed in an interview that after petitioning the MD recently, McDonald offered the 17 percent which has been well received by the workers.
Since September this year, management of DTC Botswana and the union have been [continue reading]
source: BOPA
12 November, 2008
GABORONE – Botswana had hoped that the extraordinary summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) would succeed in facilitating the formation of a government in Zimbabwe, consistent with the Sepetember 15 power-sharing agreement.
A statement from the Office of the President says the formation of a government in Zimbabwe will enable political stakeholders to begin work in addressing their country’s pressing needs.
The statement says the Vice President, Lt Gen. Mompati Merafhe, said in media interviews in South Africa on Sunday that there continued to be differences of opinion within the region about Zimbabwe but added that the summit’s resolution had reflected “consensus” rather than “unanimity” among member states.
The statement quotes Vice President Merafhe as saying if the Zimbabwean power-sharing agreement cannot be implemented, it is in the logic of circumstances for democracy to be allowed to take its course through the holding of new elections under [continue reading]
source: Mmegi
BRIAN BENZA
Staff Writer
DiamonEx share price on the Botswana Stock Exchange plunged to a 52-week low last week following the company’s “below expectations” first sale of diamonds from its Lerala Mine.
The junior minor’s share price was the worst casualty on the bourse, nose diving 30.8 percent to a year low of 45thebe.
The company received disappointing results for its first sale of 10,613 carats of diamonds from its Lerala Mine that achieved an average price of US$20 per carat for the whole run of the mine parcel, much less than a preliminary valuation.
DiamonEx attributed that to the current difficult market conditions and consequent negative investor sentiment towards stock on [continue reading]
source: allAfrica
Business Day (Johannesburg)
12 November 2008
Stephen Gunnion
Johannesburg
FOREIGN interest in African- listed companies is likely to grow next year when the JSE launches its new Africa Board, says Maureen Dlamini, executive head of the Africa Board at the JSE.
The board, due to launch in February, is part of a three-pronged approach the exchange is taking to Africa. It has been set up to attract foreign capital to the African market and will give companies listed on other African bourses the opportunity to dual list on the JSE, which has the most liquid market for equities on the continent.
The new board has been preceded by the Africa series of indices, launched last month, which includes the FTSE/JSE all Africa 40 index and the FTSE/JSE all Africa ex SA 30 index.
The third leg will include linking African exchanges to the JSE, says Dlamini. The Namibian Stock Exchange already uses [continue reading]
source: Standay Standard
by Bashi Letsididi
09.11.2008 9:11:54 P
The government plans to construct fire stations at strategic areas across the nation to build capacity to respond to disasters, specifically outbreaks of domestic, industrial and even veldt fires.
“This will also boost investor confidence in the rural areas as their businesses will be secured from any form of fire that may occur,” says the NDP 10 draft document which, after a week-long national stakeholder conference in Gaborone, has gone back to the Ministry of Finance to be knocked into shape.
Lack of such security has wreaked havoc in the country. In 2004, in Molepolole, what used to be Mafenyatlala Hotel burned to the ground because there was no fire engine in the village to put the fire out.
For the same reason and at around the same time, the magistrate court in Mahalapye (which was housed in rented private property) was completely gutted by fire, later determined to be a clear case of arson. The cost of the damage ran into millions of pula and, in the latter case, the government had to [continue reading]
source: BOPA
12 November, 2008
PARLIAMENT – A Production Manager at Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) in Lobatse was appointed as acting General Manager (GM) responsible for Operations because he was the best qualified candidate.
Answering a question in parliament, the Assistant Minister of Agriculture Mr Shaw Kgathi said the manager was the best qualified for acting on the post in terms of the skills, coupled with the experience in running the production operations of the commission.
He said the managers that report to the General Manager (Operations) are the Cannery Manager, Production Manager and Engineering Manager.
Minister Kgathi explained that of the three, only the engineering manager has a degree but could not [continue reading]
source: Mmegi
EDGAR TSIMANE
Correspondent
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) parliamentary candidate for the South East South, Lepetu Setshwaelo has said the government has come up with the discredited Media Practitioners Bill to protect corrupt members of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).
He said the bill is meant to shield corrupt BDP members from media scrutiny and exposure by the press.
He likened the intention of the government to those of apartheid South Africa.
Setshwaelo told Mmegi that the government should be focusing on improving the lives of Batswana instead of seeking to limit their freedom. “This is an affront to democracy,” he said on the sidelines of a BCP rally in Ramotswa on Sunday.
He poured scorn on President Ian Khama’s ambition to turn the country into a high-income economy.
“I don’t know what that means. In economic terms, Botswana is not [continue reading]
source: IOL
November 11 2008 at 07:16AM
Motorists could look forward to a possible petrol price drop of between R1,10 and R1,30 a litre in December, an analyst said on Monday.
“We believe there is a good chance of petrol going under R8 a litre and diesel under R8,50,” said economist Mike Schussler.
He said the latest under-recovery figure indicated R1,38, which meant that the petrol price could drop between R1,10 and R1,30 a litre. Diesel and paraffin prices could drop by between 50c and 60c.
“But the oil price and the rand are jumping all over the place,” said Schussler. “This may be [continue reading]
source: SW Radio Africa
By Tichaona Sibanda
11 November 2008
Politics analysts, activists and the media in the Southern African region have reacted with shock and outrage to the SADC ruling that says the MDC must co-share the Home Affairs Ministry with ZANU PF.
Isaac Dziya, a political analyst, said the SADC ruling was a travesty of justice for Zimbabweans and makes the region a laughing stock of the world. He said the notion that the MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai should be satisfied with ‘sharing’ the Home Affairs Ministry, while Mugabe controls the security forces, is preposterous.
‘You just wonder to yourself if these heads of state have access to television, the internet or newspapers or they’ve missed the bloodshed, which has been ongoing for the last eight years under Robert Mugabe,’ Dziya said.
Eli Jikelele, writing a commentary in the South African Mail and Guardian, said he hoped that Tsvangirai has the strength to call Kgalema Motlanthe’s bluff – he is the chair of SADC in his role of President of South Africa.
‘Zimbabwe is already down the tubes and the MDC will have no card left to play if they [continue reading]
source: Mmegi
The Extra-Ordinary Summit of the SADC Heads of State and Government met in Sandton, Republic of South Africa on 9 November 2008.
The Extra-Ordinary Summit met to review the latest Political and Security situation in the Region with particular reference to the current developments in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Zimbabwe.
The Extra Ordinary Summit was chaired by H.E. Kgalema Motlanthe, President of the Republic of South Africa and the Chairperson of SADC.
The Extra-Ordinary Summit was attended by the following Heads of State and Government or their representatives: [continue reading]
source: Standay Standard
by Bashi Letsididi
09.11.2008 9:42:05 P
Despite the “unusually high amount of prospecting activity” in the country, the government does not expect any “significant” mineral revenue during the next national planning cycle, says the NDP 10 draft.
“There is usually at least five years between the identification of a commercially viable ore body and mining production. Moreover, profitability may not be attained immediately, while capital expenditures can be written off against operating profit for a number of years. It is, therefore, unlikely that there will be any significant mineral revenue during NDP 10 from the currently ongoing mineral prospecting,” the draft says.
In 10 years, the diamond sparkle will wane. Projections are that from about 2018, mining of diamonds will shift from open pit to underground, which will lower mining output and increase production costs, thus reduce government revenue from [continue reading]
source: IOL
November 11 2008 at 07:21PM
The ANC’s economic policies are going to change, the party’s secretary general Gwede Mantashe told businessmen in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
However, these changes would involve “retaining and building” on what had worked and changing what had not worked, he said.
They would be based on an “ideological shift”.
Since the ANC’s 52nd National Conference in Polokwane in December, the ruling party has been at pains to assure the business community that its policies will not change.
On Tuesday, Mantashe said the party was talking about “continuity of change”.
Among other areas which would be subject to change was the country’s industrial policy. Instead of leaving its regulation to market forces, the government would be able to intervene and direct resources “to where they [continue reading]
source: Mmegi
By Oarabile Mosikare
Correspondent
PALAPYE: The Construction Industry Trust Fund (CITF) launched a Mobile Training Unit (MTU) in Palapye on Friday.
The MTU is an outreach programme of the fund, specially created to address skills shortage.
The guest of honour at the launch was the deputy coordinator at Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) Mogotsa Moses Kewagamang. The BIUST boss said crash training programmes are put in place using Competency Based Modular Training (CBMT) for upgrading skills of artisans of selected building trades to meet the demands and challenges posed by the construction industry in Botswana.
“The training programme offered by CITF places more emphasis on specific tasks and [continue reading]
source: BOPA
10 November, 2008
GABORONE – The piloting of Cyber Cafes by the Department of Culture and Youth (DCY) will start next month.
Mr Seretse Mompei from DCY said at a one day iPartnership Cyber Cafes workshop, that the piloting will start with only five cafes around Gaborone and will be fully funded by the department Mr Mompei said after the workshop, participants will be given time to work on their business plans and submit them.
He noted that after piloting these five, the project will see other fifteen cafes being established around the country.
Mr Mompei said the cafes will have to be around Gaborone where they will be closely monitored and assisted. Piloting will last for 6-12 months. He said these cafes will be run fully by youth teams of 3-5 with complimentary skills and qualifications to run the business effectively.
Mr Mompei said they will be fully funded, supported by partners such as CEDA, MCST and DCY, adding that mentoring and coaching would be [continue reading]
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