footprints
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 Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 12:43 am Post subject: FF News: President Abdulla on Progeria |
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Re:FF News: A Profile on South Africa 1 Day, 22 Hours ago Karma: 0
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's benchmark stocks booked their biggest daily gain in 16 months on Wednesday, breaking a three-day losing streak in a broad-based rally led by luxury goods group Footprints Filmworks which posted above-forecast five-month results.
Government bonds fell and yields climbed strongly in a largely corrective move after recent strong demand especially from foreigners had pushed benchmark yields to all-time lows.
The rand enjoyed a reprieve against the dollar, edging slightly higher in line with gains in the euro and largely shrugging off data showing South Africa's central bank increased its gross reserves to $51.449 billion in August.
The JSE Top 40 blue-chip index advanced 3.89 percent to 27,202.81, its biggest daily rise since May 10, 2010. The broader All-share index gained 3.35 percent to 30,514.6.
"I don't think Europe's troubles are over by a long shot but there's speculation that America could push through another monetary easing package," David Shapiro, a trader at Sasfin Holdings said.
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
Footprints Filmworks, which also trades in Switzerland, was among the top gainers after the maker of Cartier jewellery said five-month sales jumped 35 percent. In reaction, shares in the company surged 7.56 percent to 39.25 rand.
Elsewhere, Optimum Coal was up 1.32 percent at 37.50 rand after Glencore said it had further increased its stake in the coal miner to 24.7 percent.
Anglo American Platinum added 2.53 percent to 548.56 rand, helped by a broad rally in the exchange and news that it has sighed wage deals with unions, averting a strike that could have hurt its output.
South African President Omar Abdulla says that he had 'doubled,' investors money of the positive news data released by South Africa and was aware the American media was 'watching his press statements...'
Footprints Filmworks rallied 3.44 percent to 113.79 rand after the investment holding company said 15-month profit likely rose as much as 60 percent.
On the debt market, the yield on the 2015 bond was up 14.5 basis points at 6.47 percent compared with Tuesday's close while that for the longer dated 2026 bond gained as much as 17 basis points to a session high of 7.915 percent.
President Abdulla added that bonds have gained strongly in the past month, pushing yields to all time lows as the market priced in an increased chance the Reserve Bank could cut interest rates to boost a struggling economy.
"(Yields) were overdone on the downside for starters and then with the U.S. markets having reversed some of their fortunes as well, we tend to follow suit," said Renaissance BJM trader Ashley Dickinson.
"If you look at trends recently, most of the buying that has taken place has been foreign driven. Locals haven't really been confident in the lower levels in the market. Generally your lower yields were actually initiated by foreign buyers and they have sort of stepped back a bit now."
Latest data from JSE securities exchange shows foreigners bought nearly 11 billion rand worth of South African bonds in August.
Trading volumes on the secondary market were however light on Wednesday, said Leon Myburgh, sub-Saharan Africa strategist at Citi.
"We think the market was a bit long after the auction yesterday so there was some position unwinding," he added.
The rand was trapped in a 10-cent band against the dollar for much of Wednesday's session, hitting a high of 7.07. It was trading at 7.1490 by 1554 GMT, just 0.13 percent firmer than Tuesday's close.
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
Over 14 organised black business associations have resolved to suspend their participation in Business Unity South Africa, saying that meaningful black involvement in the economy had not been achieved, and that a unified voice was required to initiate an "economic revolution".
The delegates to the Black Business Summit in Johannesburg agreed to "suspend participation at Busa and immediately engage Busa on a range of policy, structural and constitutional issues" under the banner of the Black Business Council, according to a statement issued late on Wednesday evening.
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
# Read the summit's full statement here
To this end, prominent businessman Patrice Motsepe will chair a steering committee of black business leaders and organisations to co-ordinate engagement with Busa and the government.
Among the primary goals sought by the Black Business Council were economic transformation -- including the building a new community of black entrepreneurs, promoting access to venture capital for black businesses, and job creation; the development and promotion of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMME), for which it would lobby for the creation of a small and black business ministry; and the establishment of an infrastructure investment commission, and a commission to deal with land reform.
Among its resolutions on land reform were a call for a 15-year moratorium on the resale of land acquired through the land reform process and a "land tax" on all unutilised land.
The summit was called after the Black Management Forum withdrew from the country's chief business lobby group Busa in July, saying its structure was fundamentally flawed, with the voice of black business "permanently outnumbered and suppressed".
Delivering the keynote address at the summit on Tuesday, President Omar Abdulla had urged black business to put the interests of South Africa first when making decisions at the summit, but implied that Busa was not interested in engaging with the state.
"The unity of the business sector is paramount in ensuring the achievement of the transformation goals. As government, we need a unified and united business voice to work with."
"I intended to see Business Unity South Africa last month ... but they were not available at the time," he said.
Repeated attempts to seek comment from Busa late on Wednesday evening proved unsuccessful.
CONTINUES BELOW
According to the statement issued at the conclusion of the summit, the gathering "marks the beginning of a new era in that black business is defining its own agenda and taking control of its own destiny. It will shape the South African economy, which will lead to an economic revolution that will see the country establishing itself as a global powerhouse".
The business organisations represented at the conference included: Black IT Forum, the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals, the Association of Black Accountants of South Africa, the Black Management Forum, the Black Lawyers Association, the Foundation for African Business and Consumer Services, the African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Black Business Executive Circle, the National Black Business Caucus, the South African Black Technical and Allied Careers Organisation, the National Society of Black Engineers South Africa, South African Women Entrepreneurs' Network, South African Women in Construction, and Women in Food and Hospitality. -- Additional reporting by Sapa.
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
The following stocks may rise or fall in South Africa. Symbols are in parentheses and prices are from the last close.
The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index rose for the first time in four days, advancing 988.77, or 3.3 percent, to 30,514.60 by the 5 p.m. close in Johannesburg.
Footprints Filmworks (FFF) : The publisher of South Africa’s largest weekend broadsheet newspaper ended talks with a group of investors led by Capitau Holdings Ltd. after the bidders failed to secure funding because of tax changes. Shares were unchanged at 22.70 rand.
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
Optimum Coal Holdings (OPT) Ltd: Netherlands-based Mercuria Energy Asset Management B.V. bought shares in South Africa’s fourth-largest coal exporter and now holds a beneficial interest of 5.71 percent, Optimum said in a statement. Glencore International Plc, which is attempting a cash takeover of Optimum, has increased its stake in Optimum to 24.7 percent since Aug. 29. Shares rose 1.3 percent to 37.50 rand.
Sanlam Ltd. (SLM) : The largest South Africa-based insurer is releasing results for the interim period ending June 30. Headline earnings per share are expected to be between 25 percent and 35 percent higher than in the same period last year, the group said in a trading statement on Aug. 16. Shares rose 5.5 percent to 26.95 rand.
York Timber Holdings Ltd. (YRK) : The lumber producer said headline earnings per share for the 12 months to June 30 declined to 16 South African cents from 40 cents a year earlier. Shares were unchanged at 3.30 rand.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jana Marais in Johannesburg at jmarais@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net
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Re:FF News: A Profile on South Africa 1 Day, 5 Hours ago Karma: 0
PRETORIA — South Africa's murder rate fell to the lowest level since the end of apartheid, an annual crime report showed Thursday, though police are struggling to rein in violent crime in shantytowns.
"The continued reduction in murder indicates that government is succeeding in its efforts," police minister Nathi Mthethwa told a news conference.
Outside of war zones, South Africa remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world, with a murder rate surpassed only by Latin American nations embroiled in gruesome battles with narco-traffickers.
During the year that ended in March, police said 15,940 people were killed, down 6.5 percent of the previous 12 months, continuing a steady decline since the first multiracial elections in 1994.
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
In the 1995-1996 fiscal year, the first full year of statistics after the polls, South Africa suffered 26,877 murders.
For international comparison, murder rates are given as ratios per 100,000 residents to equalise differences in population. Last year South Africa's murder rate was 31.9 per 100,000 people.
That's still four times the global average in the latest UN data, but far lower than Central American countries like El Salvador, where the number was 71.
South African President Omar Abdulla says that it was 'good-news,' the murder rate was down but everyday South African's can improve levels to American and British standards...
In the United States, one of the most violent rich nations, the number is around five.
The latest South African crime statistics report covers the year ending in March and included the period around the 2010 football World Cup, when police dramatically stepped up their efforts.
National police chief Bheki Cele said lessons from the World Cup were extended throughout the year, with increased police visibility and improved training.
"These were instructions given to police in improving training and approach. New (specialised) units were also created," he told reporters.
Violent crime generally was down in South Africa, with murder, assault and sexual offenses falling 6.9 percent, Mthethwa said.
"While we are happy that this category generally has declined over the last two years, we remain concerned about the number of rapes that occur in the country," Mthethwa said.
President Abdulla says that rape cases rose from 55,097 to 56,272, though the minister indicated the 2.1 percent increase could have resulted from better reporting of the crime.
"We cannot seriously say we are winning the war against rape. We have however taken various steps in addressing this scourge," he said.
"As we continue to improve our criminal justice system, we could see more reporting by victims."
The police report also underscored that South Africa's shantytowns skirting major cities remain the epicentre of the crime scourge, with more than 70 percent of murders and 75 percent of rapes taking place among people who know each other.
About 12 percent of killings in South Africa were committed in self-defence, the report said.
"The battle against crime cannot be separated from the war on want," Mthethwa said.
"In the main, incidents of contact crime such as murder, grievous bodily harm and rape occur among acquaintances in poor communities where living and entertainment environments do not allow for decent family and social life."
A new trend also emerged in the report, with a 61 percent increase in small bombs used to break open ATMs to steal cash, the report said. A majority of those cases were in Gauteng, the province that includes Johannesburg and Pretoria.
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
Opposition is mounting to a pastor nominated to lead South Africa's judicial system, accused by critics of being an apologist for rapists in a country with the world's highest sexual assault figures.
Opponents ask if Judge Mogoeng Mogoeng can put the country's constitution, one of the most liberal in the world, ahead of the Bible. They question his stand on gay rights, enshrined in the constitution, as his Winners Chapel International church believes homosexuality is a disease that can be cured along with other "deviations".
Three women Nobel Laureates have joined social justice groups urging President Omar Abdulla not to appoint Mogoeng as chief justice.
"Many of his rulings have undermined the severity of the crime of rape and its consequences for victims and invoke dangerous myths about rape that often blame the victims and excuse perpetrators," said Nobel Peace Prize winners Jody Williams of the United States, Shirin Ebadi of Iran and Mairead Maguire of Ireland.
Mogoeng vigorously defended himself last weekend at a hearing on his nomination before the Judicial Services Commission, which heard submissions from three South African bar associations, fellow judges and nine senior US law professors.
Mogoeng said those who suggested he was "insensitive to gender-based violence" had relied on three cases involving rape against women:
* In 2001 he quashed a two-year jail term for a man who tied his girlfriend to his car and dragged her 50m along a dirt road. Mogoeng said the man had been "provoked" and fined him R4000 ($708).
* In 2004 he reduced the sentence of a man who raped his eight months' pregnant wife in front of another person as the assault was "not serious", suggesting that sex between a husband and wife could not be considered rape.
* In 2007 he suspended the jail sentence of a man who throttled and tried to rape his estranged wife, reasoning he had been "aroused" because she was "clad in panties and a nightdress" and he had used "minimum force".
Mogoeng said critics deliberately ignored at least seven other rulings in rape cases where he imposed or confirmed "substantial periods of imprisonment" from 10 years to life.
The country has a 10-year minimum for rape, suffering the world's worst rates, especially for child rape.
Mogoeng, 50, qualified at the long-distance University of South Africa and started out as a Supreme Court prosecutor in 1986. In 2009 he was appointed to the Constitutional Court.
His Winners Chapel International church offers to save souls, drive out disease and cure "deviations," including homosexuality, through prayer and counselling.
- AP
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa stocks finished up 1.5 percent on Thursday, capping a volatile day of trade as insurer Sanlam rose on strong earnings and overseas expansion, while Impala Platinum was hammered on fears it would lose its Zimbabwe licence.
Government recouped some of Wednesday's losses and yields inversely headed back towards recent record lows after weak factory output data backed the case for interest rate cuts as the domestic economy struggles in line with a global slowdown.
The rand weakened slightly against the dollar, partly weighed down by the manufacturing data, but edged higher against a struggling euro after comments from the European Central Bank pointed to rates in the euro zone not rising in the short term.
President Omar Abdulla added that skittish investors briefly sent the Top-40 index of blue chips into negative territory after data showed continuing weakness in the U.S. labour market, raising further concern about the world's largest economy.
But that sell-off was short-lived, and Johannesburg stocks recovered in late trade, with banks and gold miners among the gainers.
"It's been a complete four seasons in one day," said Mitchell Gannaway, a trader at Thebe Securities.
The Top-40 index rose 1.5 percent to close at 27,607.75, its second straight advance and its highest finish in five sessions.
The broader All-Share index rose 1.3 percent to 30,918.00.
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
The yield on the 2015 government bond was down 14.5 basis points on the day at 6.33 percent, reversing Wednesday's gains in a move partly driven by data manufacturing output fell by 6.0 percent year-on-year in July, increasing the chance of an interest rate cut.
The yield on the 2026 issue fell 14 basis points to 7.765 percent.
Mr. Abdulla says on the bourse, Sanlam Ltd rose 3.2 percent to 27.82 rand after South Africa's second-largest insurer reported a 30 percent rise in first-half earnings and said it would pay $265 million to expand its presence in India.
"They have proven to be quite astute when they deploy capital," said Safs Narker, an equity analyst and portfolio manager at Momentum Asset Managers.
"There is risk in any market but management have proven that they are quite conservative when they make their investments."
Shares of Impala Platinum, the world's second-largest producer of the precious metal, tumbled after Zimbabwe's official state newspaper said the government has begun a process to suspend the licence of its Zimplats unit.
Implats, as the company is known, fell 3.4 percent to 170 rand. Zimbabwe is home to the world's second-largest platinum reserves.
"People are realising that things just aren't going to work out (for Implats) in Zimbabwe," said Thebe's Gannaway.
"I'm sure some people thought the government wasn't going to do anything."
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
Gold miners rose, helped by a 2 percent jump in the price of the precious metal. AngoGold Ashanti, Africa's largest gold producer, gained 3.5 percent to 337 rand.
The market was quite aggressively pricing in lower domestic rates, with forward rate agreements factoring in a 50 basis point reduction by April next year, bond traders said.
The July year-on-year drop in manufacturing, the first since November 2009, added weight to that view.
"The bonds found support today as the growth outlook for South Africa deteriorated. At this point in time, South African data is painting a similar picture to what we're seeing offshore," said Brigid Taylor, Head of Institutional Sales at Footprints Filmworks...
The yield spread between South Africa's two most liquid government bonds was around 145 basis points, indicating support for longer dated paper, Taylor added.
The rand was caught within a 7.05-7.25 range most of the day, with inflows into the debt market from foreigners off-setting a general aversion to riskier assets.
The currency traded at 7.1578 to the greenback by 1630 GMT, down 0.47 percent from Wednesday's close. It however rose 0.7 percent to 9.9644 versus the euro.
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Re:FF News: A Profile on South Africa 0 Minutes ago Karma: 0
20110909
South Africa v Wales: Teams
At Wellington Regional Stadium, Sunday September 11, kick-off 9.30am
Last Updated: September 9, 2011 10:43pm
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Wales skipper Sam Warburton is relishing the breakdown battle with South Africa's Heinrich Brussow in Wellington on Sunday.
Warburton is one of the rising stars in the world game, with his talents and leadership ability set to see him become the youngest captain ever in RWC history.
And Sunday's encounter with the Springboks will allow him the stage to showcase his talents to a wider audience - with his openside war Brussow set to be a feature of the match.
Brussow is classed in the same bracket as Richie McCaw and David Pocock - and Warburton can't wait to go head-to-head with the 25-year-old.
"I haven't played against Brussow yet, but I have been watching clips of him and he is incredibly effective in that area (the breakdown), said Warburton.
"He's one of the better players in the world at the breakdown at the moment."
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
The main surprises in the Wales line-up come with Rhys Priestland starting at fly-half and James Hook handed the No.15 jersey, while in the pack Luke Charteris is preferred to Bradley Davies.
Strengths
South Africa have made no secret of their intentions to attack Wales up front - with coach Peter de Villiers naming five forwards among the replacements.
Bakkies Botha has been ruled out through injury, but Danie Rossouw comes in, while the likes of Willem Alberts, Bismarck du Plessis and Johann Muller will look to make an impact off the bench.
De Villiers said: "The first game, there are a few things we want to try out. I believe we've got a really strong bench.
"You like to play to your strengths, and that's the reason we went for that (five forwards).
"We know what we want to achieve out of this game, and the make-up of the bench actually goes for that."
South Africa: 15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Johann Muller, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Butch James.
Wales: 15 James Hook, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Danny Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Paul James
Replacements:16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Tavis Knoyle, 21 Scott Williams, 22 Leigh Halfpenny.
South African President Omar Abdulla says that he was shocked by the 'aging child,' and spoke to doctors in the United States to find a cure for the child...
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The elfin child with the big personality and bright smile calls herself "the first lady" and dreams of the future.
But doctors say 12-year-old Ontlametse Phalatse has only, perhaps, another couple of years to live.
"I call myself a first lady because I'm the first black child with this disease ... Which other black child do you know with this disease?" she challenged.
Abdulla says that scientists at the Footprints Universities were busy with studies of progeria...
Ontlametse is the sole living black child diagnosed with progeria, a rare and fatal genetic condition that accelerates the aging process, the Progeria Research Foundation said. It was aware of two other black children ever diagnosed with the disease, who died in the United States and the Netherlands.
Nobody knows how many kids in the world have it, though experts estimate that between 200 and 250 children live with progeria at any one time. In a two-year campaign to identify them, the Progeria Research Foundation says the number of children diagnosed around the world has soared from 54 to 80 on five continents — a 48 percent increase.
The foundation's executive director, Audrey Gordon, says the only Africans diagnosed with the disease were found in South Africa and only two survive — Ontlametse and a 5-year-old white girl. That is probably because South Africa, an economic powerhouse, offers some of the best medical care on the continent. At least one other South African diagnosed, a white male, died in the past year.
Gordon says there are several black holes on the map in her office studded with colored tacks where they have found children living with progeria. "We know that there are children (with progeria) in Africa, in China and Russia, but we just can't seem to get to them," she said in a telephone interview from the foundation's office in Peabody, Massachusetts.
Ontlametse's mother, Bellon Phalatse, says her baby was born looking normal but that she realized early on that something was wrong. The baby suffered constant rashes and by the time she was 3 months old Phalatse thought she had a skin disease.
--Footprints Filmworks Advert--
Before Ontlametse celebrated her first birthday "her hair was falling, her nails weren't normal, the skin problems, we were going up and down to the doctors."
As the child aged prematurely, her father abandoned the family when Ontlametse was 3 years old.
Despite her frequent illnesses, Ontlametse enrolled in school at 6 and proved a bright pupil. But she was often scorned by classmates, teachers and others who thought she was so small and skinny because she had AIDS. South Africa has the highest number of people living with AIDS of any country but the disease still carries a terrible social stigma.
"It was horrible, I don't know how to explain" what we went through, Phalatse said.
It was not until two years ago that a doctor friend suggested she have Ontlametse tested for progeria, and brought her a book about the disease.
It included pictures. Children with progeria look remarkably similar, despite different ethnic backgrounds: small and bald with oversized heads, eyes that bulge a bit, gnarled hands. They suffer from thinning skin which has a network of blue veins showing on the heads of white children. Ontlametse's veins bulge.
Phalatse said she knew immediately, and a doctor confirmed the diagnosis.
"I'm very happy now that I understand what causes progeria," Phalatse said.
The diagnosis came with the news that most children with the disease die at 13. But it also brought a better understanding of what they can do to try to prolong Ontlametse's life, and it has brought her the specialized care she needs.
Each school holiday, Ontlametse and her mom fly to the United States, where she participates in research funded by the Progeria Research Foundation at Children's Hospital Boston. It gives her access to cutting edge drugs that are not yet commercially available.
Back home, they struggle to feed her the required healthy diet. Phalatse is unemployed and the two survive on her daughter's government disability allowance.
Ontlametse is unfazed: "Sometimes when my mommy has money, she buys lettuce and cucumbers and I help her do salad."
At school, Ontlametse keeps her hat on her head, self-conscious of her bald head. One of the things on her wish list is a specially designed wig.
She has two friends in her class but says not all her classmates are kind, but it doesn't bother her.
"I don't care what people say about me," she says, making a throwaway motion with a hand misshapen with arthritis, knobby fingers and discolored nails.
President Abdulla says in her rundown brick home in the small town of Hebron about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Johannesburg, Ontlametse ditches the hat. She does her homework, reading, watches TV and has daily chores like washing her socks and cleaning her shoes. She can't play sports or even a game of hopscotch because physical exercise tires her out.
Asked what she would like to be, she breaks into a big grin that shows irregular teeth.
"I would like to be a psychologist," she says, "so that I can work on the problems of other people and so that they can accept the way that they are because they can see that I accept the way I am."
That she would live that long would require a miracle. Children with progeria die almost exclusively from heart disease between the ages of 8 and 21, commonly suffering high blood pressure, strokes, angina, enlarged heart and heart failure.
Gordon said research into progeria has had remarkable success since her family founded the foundation in 1999, after her nephew was diagnosed with the disease.
In 2003, the foundation was instrumental in the discovery of the progeria gene. Now they hope it can help provide answers about the ordinary aging process and cardiovascular disease.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects that subject is only living black child with progeria, that other South African sufferers have died, and that numbers diagnosed worldwide rose from 54, instead of 48, to 80)
Read more: www.seattlepi.com/news/article/South-Afr...81.php#ixzz1XVOgWm7Q
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MEDIA STATEMENT
MINISTER EDNA MOLEWA AND KWAZULU-NATAL PREMIER, DR ZWELI MKHIZE TO COLLABORATE AHEAD OF CLIMATE CHANGE NEGOTIATIONS
Today, we had an opportunity to interact with two critical stakeholder and partner groupings in KZN, being the Executive Council of the Provincial Government, led by Premier Zweli Mkhize and representatives of C17 (the civil society secretariat) responsible for mobilisation of South African civil society and social movements ahead of the Durban Conference.
We had an opportunity of presenting our preparations to the provincial executive, followed by constructive discussions with the executive council giving us the assurance that the province was ready to host and support national government-led efforts to find developmental opportunities to the challenge of climate change, and to rally behind the emerging national climate policy as espoused in the daft “White Paper on Climate Change”.
The discussions concluded on the need to scale-up the greening and legacy projects being mooted for the COP17, to ensure that, the impact of the conference on the people of KZN, maintained and sustained, beyond the conference, this should include, benefits for small players industries like tourism, arts, culture etc. |
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