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Thursday, April 1, 2010.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Tamsyn Graumann.

Making headlines today:

The South African government's inter-Ministerial committee (IMC) on energy approved the much-anticipated stakeholder engagement process on Wednesday. This was for the second version of the integrated resource plan, which will provide a power investment and energy-mix road map for the next 20 years.

The Department of Energy, which has formulated the process, also called on all interested parties to register on a stakeholder database for inclusion in the consultation process, which would begin in earnest during April.

The IMC hopes to complete the plan by June and have it published in the Government Gazette by September.

South Africa and China have signed trading agreements to the value of three-hundred-and-eleven-million-dollars. This reaffirms China's position as South Africa's number-one trading partner.

The two countries signed a similar agreement in 2007 to the value of a hundred-and-forty-three-million-dollars.

South Africa's Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies says that the value of the contracts more than doubled in a three-year period, showing the countries' commitment to mutually beneficial trading ties.

Bilateral trade between China and South Africa has been following a very sharp upward trend since 2002, with the total trade between the two countries amounting to a hundred-and-nineteen-billion-dollars.

Also making headlines:

Zambia's Kariba North hydropower station faces a delay of at least a year.
The upgraded Durban port is now ready to handle much larger vessels.
Three building materials firms are fined a combined 40-million-rand after admitting to anti-competitive behaviour.
And, Exxaro Resources signs a definitive coal supply and offtake agreement with Eskom for the Medupi power station.

That's a round up of news making headlines today.