THURSDAY, 11.00AM:
A DISPUTE has flared between the ministries of water and the environment over a white paper on environmental management policy, now being debated by Parliament’s environmental committee.
Water Affairs Minister Kader Asmal insists that his department will remain the ”lead agent” over water resource management. Environmental Affairs Deputy Minister Peter Mokaba insists that his department has overall responsibility for environmental policy, even where other departments directly administer those functions.
Mokaba says he has written to Asmal requesting an urgent meeting. If the issue is not resolved, it will be taken to the cabinet.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
PETROLEUM SALES BOOM THE South African Petroleum Industry Association said on Wednesday the sales of petroleum products rose significantly in the third quarter. The growth in demand for petroleum products for the quarter was 5% higher than that for the same period last year. Jet fuel sales increased 15,3%, and diesel 5%.
LABOUR TROUBLE THE Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, (CCMA) found the labour department guilty of unfair labour practice on Wednesday. The CCMA ruled the department had been unfair in not promoting two members of the Industrial Court. The two were not promoted into positions which they had been filling in an acting capacity, despite those positions being vacant and advertised for three years. The department has been ordered to promote the two into the positions.
BUSINESS CONDITIONS The manufacturing sector didn’t quite meet up to predicted targets for growth during the third quarter, despite fairly stable business conditions. The Bureau for Economic Research manufacturing survey, released on Wednesday, shows the export sales and order volumes declined in the third quarter, and production capacity utilisation was also on the wane.