More Black People Getting Richer

Johannesburg - More and more black people are getting richer as nearly every glowing statistic coming out of the SA economy is attributed to the growing wealth of the black middle class. According to Amps figures released by the Saarf (SA Advertising & Research Foundation) towards the end of last year, blacks now account for around a third of SA's middle class. In the past 12 months another 421,000 black adults have moved into the middle income bracket, a growth of 30%. These are people in LSM (Living Standards Measure) 7-9, earning between about R6500 and R11800 a month. There has also been strong growth in the number of blacks in the top LSMs, or higher classes, and a decline in the number of black people in lower LSMs, indicating that black people are moving up the wealth scale. This phenomenon is considered one of the outstanding marks of success of political and economic transformation since 1994, but should be tempered with the knowledge that most black people remain poor.

More Attacks on Niger - Delta 

Nigeria – Nine expatriate oil workers - three Americans, one Briton, one Filipino, two Thais and two Egyptians - were taken hostage on Saturday, by Ijaw militants who launched attacks on oil facilities in the region. The United States said it would declare its position on the kidnap of its three citizens by youths in the Niger Delta while Thailand's foreign ministry said it would press Nigeria over the two Thai oil workers. "Thailand asked the Nigerian government to speed up negotiations and try to end the situation peacefully," ministry spokesman, Sihasak Puangketkeow said. President Olusegun Obasanjo has directed the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta to stop further attacks on communities in the region, while the Delta State government should do everything possible to get the nine oil workers released immediately. Already, the Federal Government has deployed more troops in the Niger Delta to secure oil facilities there and the Osubi Airport, Warri.

Rains Wipe Out Shelters Leaving People Homeless 

Dakar – Last weak, rains in eastern Algeria wiped out houses and schools and damaged hospitals in camps leaving about 60,000 Western Sahara refugees homeless. Because the rains - reportedly the worst seen in the area since 1994 - came on the heels of the UN World Food Programme's February distribution, refugees have lost an entire month's food supply, a WFP official told IRIN on Wednesday. "Heavy, concentrated rains basically melted houses, administration buildings, the Red Cross building and schools," said Michelle Iseminger, head of WFP's office in Tindouf, Algeria. In a statement on Thursday, WFP said it needed about US $3.6 million to cover food needs for the refugees over the next six months. "These people are already facing hardship. Now many are homeless and in urgent need of emergency assistance," WFP regional director Amir Abdulla said.

DRC Gets a New Constitution and Flag 

Kinshasa - President Joseph Kabila promulgated the Democratic Republic of Congo's new constitution and flag on Saturday, a move that paves the way for the beginning of the country's electoral process, expected to end with presidential elections midyear. The promulgation of the new constitution followed a referendum on 18 December 2005, during which 85 percent of voters favoured the after draft constitution. The promulgation of the new constitution paves the way for the holding of democratic elections in the DRC, the first in 40 years. Present during the promulgation ceremony in Kinshasa were the head of the African Union and president of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, and South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Government Prints $21 Trillion to Pay IMF Arrears

Zimbabwe - Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono said on Monday that the government printed a staggering $21 trillion to buy foreign currency to pay off International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrears. The move, which will avert expulsion but not avail much-needed balance-of-payments support, is set to stoke inflation and push the local currency against the wall. Gono said printing money and resultant broad money supply growth was the major driver of inflation in 2005 and has spilled over into the current year. He said the country had no choice but to print money to pay its IMF arrears. He said there was no budget for the IMF payment in the 2006 financial year and the money could also not be feasibly absorbed in a single fiscal year "without imposing a perilous squeeze on critical public sector services".

Opposition Blames Govt Over Hunger Situation

Lilongwe - The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) MP for Lilongwe City Central Constituency, Boniface Kadzamira has challenged the government on the way it has handled the hunger situation in the country, alleging the Bingu wa Mutharika administration has failed to address the problem. Kadzamira said in an interview with The Chronicle that the government promised the nation in March 2005 that maize would be in abundance in the country by July 2005 but he said this has not been the case and that people are still starving because there is no grain in the ADMARC depots. "The truth as to why the government doesn't want Parliament to meet is that it is afraid of being exposed on how it has failed to handle the hunger situation in terms of relief food and distribution and the fertilizer subsidy programme. The government knows it will be at pains to explain why many areas haven't started receiving relief maize despite the huge allocation of MK5.2 billion Parliament made," Kadzamira said.