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Thursday, March 11, 2010.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon de Ryhove.

Making headlines today:

Phase one of the Gautrain rapid-rail link, stretching from OR Tambo International Airport to Sandton station, will be ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) CEO Jack van der Merwe says the Gautrain should be able to carry passengers, at the latest, on June 8.

This follows months of negotiations between the GMA, representing the Gauteng provincial government, and Bombela, the consortium responsible for building the Gautrain, on the costs and implications of accelerating construction to enable the system's operational readiness ahead of the original phase one completion date in July.

The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has confirmed that the 21,4% undivided share that ArcelorMittal South Africa had hitherto owned in the Sishen iron-ore mine had reverted to State custodianship. This is in line with the prescripts of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.

Spokesperson Jeremy Michaels says that the DMR had held separate meetings with both ArcelorMittal South Africa and Kumba Iron Ore, the majority shareholder in Sishen Iron Ore Company. It had cancelled a supply agreement with the steel group from March 1, 2010, citing as its key reason the failure of the company to convert its rights from the old to the new order by the April 30, 2009, deadline.

Michaels told Engineering News Online that, in terms of the MPRDA, the State is the custodian of the country's minerals and the mining right in question had, therefore, reverted to the State.

However, he added that the DMR saw the dispute on the matter as one between two private entities and that it was treating it as such.

Also making headlines:

Transnet officially sanctions its 93,4-billion-rand capital expenditure plan and outlines its role for the private sector.
South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation takes a stake in a Kenya wind project.
The Trade Activity Index returned to positive territory in February.
And, Rwanda's national carrier expands fleet as it relaunches its Johannesburg-Kigali flights.

That's a round up of news making headlines today