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/ 21 February 2007
The United Nations has warned that a significant number of Arab militia, suspected to be the pro-government Janjaweed, is assembling in Sudan’s Darfur and that its purposes are not known. The Janjaweed is a militia that has been blamed by UN and African Union officials for numerous cases of rape, arson, looting and killing during the four-year conflict in Darfur.
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/ 21 February 2007
The safety and security budget is set to increase to R43,6-billion by 2010. According to the 2007 estimates of national expenditure, tabled by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel in Parliament on Wednesday, by that year there will be 190Â 000 police officers patrolling South Africa’s streets.
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/ 21 February 2007
Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday that Britain would reduce its troop levels in Iraq by 1 600 over coming months, but its soldiers would stay in the country into 2008 as long as they were wanted. The planned withdrawal comes as British troops hand over responsibility for security in Iraq’s south-eastern region to Iraqi forces.
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/ 21 February 2007
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s 2007/08 budget proposals tabled in Parliament on Wednesday contain further relaxation of exchange controls. The requirement that South African companies obtain a majority shareholding in foreign entities or projects outside of Africa is abolished, and they now have to obtain only a 25% shareholding.
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/ 21 February 2007
The government is confident it will remain within budget for hosting the 2010 Fifa World Cup, says Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi. Speaking at a media briefing ahead of Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s Budget speech on Wednesday, he said he saw no reason why building stadiums would exceed the R17,4-billion allocated for the purpose.
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/ 21 February 2007
The Department of Housing has been allocated R32-billion over the next three years in an attempt to reduce backlogs and fast-track housing delivery. According to the 2007 estimates of national expenditure, tabled by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel in Parliament on Wednesday, the department will receive R8,8-billion in 2007/08, R10,5-billion in 2008/09 and 12,5-billion in 2009/10.
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/ 21 February 2007
Agencies operating under the umbrella of the Department of Trade and Industry will receive R1,7-billion to promote black economic empowerment (BEE) and small-business development, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Wednesday. Delivering his budget speech to Parliament, he said an additional R380-million will go to the national empowerment fund.
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/ 21 February 2007
Spending on dedicated HIV/Aids programmes by national and provincial government departments will exceed R5-billion within the next two years, according to Wednesday’s budget. The Treasury says in its budget review that an additional R1,65-billion has been committed to provinces over the next three years for their Aids-treatment programmes.
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/ 21 February 2007
The Department of Defence’s budget has risen to R25,9-billion to meet the rising cost of peacekeeping operations and the military’s need to beef up its airlift capacity. Tabling his 2007/08 budget in Parliament on Wednesday, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said the South African National Defence Force had ”assisted significantly” in helping reduce a number of African conflicts.
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/ 21 February 2007
Lebanese anti-aircraft guns fired at Israeli warplanes over southern Lebanon on Wednesday, a military spokesperson said, indicating that Lebanon’s army is taking a new assertiveness toward Israel. The Israeli planes had ”violated Lebanese sovereignty, posing a challenge to United Nations Resolution 1701,” the spokesperson said.