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Friday, September 12, 2008.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Mariaan Olivier.

Making headlines today:

On Thursday, the African National Congress's treasurer-general, Mathews Phosa, insisted that South Africa's macroeconomic frameworks would remain in place in what would be a "seamless" economic-policy transition from Thabo Mbeki's administration to the one that is expected to be led by Jacob Zuma after next year's election.

Phosa also insisted that it was the ANC rather than its left-leaning alliance partners that would ultimately determine the new government's economic policies.

He said that, while the ANC had respect for the views held by other sectors within the alliance, the ANC was not "communist". It was prepared to make the necessary compromises, as it had in 1994 under former President Nelson Mandela's leadership, in the interest of South Africa and continued economic growth.

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JSE- and Aim-listed information and communication technology group Datatec on Thursday announced that it had acquired a 50,01% stake in Indian ICT distribution business, Inflow Technologies, for an undisclosed amount.

The group said in a statement to shareholders that the acquisition would provide Datatec with an entry point into, and an initial footprint in India.

Datatec CEO Jens Montanana said that the acquisition was another step in Datatec's strategy to increase its exposure to emerging markets. It has already increased its presence in Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and Brazil.

Official data showed on Thursday that South Africa's total mining output dropped by 12,6% in July. This was as the production of gold and nongold minerals fell by 16,4 and 12%, respectively.

Statistics South Africa said that platinum group metals recorded a 32% decrease in July, when compared with the same period for 2007. This was mainly attributed to deferred maintenance, which would normally have occurred in the first half of the year.

Mining production for the three months ended July fell by 6,6%, when compared with the same period in 2007. However, quarter-on-quarter, output improved by 1,3%. Stats SA reported that this was mainly driven by an increase of 2,2% in the production of gold, followed by an increase of 1,2% in the production of non-gold minerals.

Also making headlines:

An ANC heavyweight asserts that business must prepare to reinvest in Zimbabwe.
July's manufacturing output growth slows.
Dwaf unveils a new water certification scheme for municipalities.
Platinum junior Platfields is confident about a JSE listing before year-end.
Bateman Engineering's profit drops in a ‘challenging' financial year.
And, Sentula Mining asks for a voluntary share suspension.

In political news:

Zimbabwe parties agree on a power-sharing deal.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warns the West against an arms race.
The UN's Ban Ki-moon denies failing and slams the UN bureaucracy.
And, global child deaths are seen to fall slightly.

That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories, visit engineeringnews.co.za, miningweekly.com and polity.org.za