African press review 6 September 2012

Troubles Nigeria's aviation sector, South Africa's mining industry and the teaching profession in Kenya are all stories in Africa today.

There's trouble in the Nigerian aviation industry.

According to a story on the front page of this morning's South African financial paper, BusinessDay, millionaire oil magnate Jimoh Ibrahim is shutting down Air Nigeria’s operations for a year from next Monday. And Nigeria's Dana Air is also on the brink of collapse.

Ibrahim said yesterday all but 50 of his employees had been sacked with immediate effect. He said it was difficult to continue investing in the carrier with the high level of staff disloyalty and the weak business environment, but said he remained committed to the airline's long-term survival.

Ibrahim established Air Nigeria two years ago after purchasing the fleet of the defunct national carrier Nigeria Airways.

Dana Air is also on the brink of collapse, sources said yesterday. The airline has placed most of its staff on compulsory leave and is struggling to pay salaries. Flights were suspended by the Nigerian Air Transport Authority after a Dana Air jet hit a block of flats as it was landing in Lagos in early June, killing 153 people.

In South Africa itself, BusinessDay reports that striking miners on Wednesday said Lonmin management had until later today to close the main shaft at its Karee platinum mine or they would end up dead and the mine would be burnt down.

More than 3,000 striking miners marched on Wednesday morning through the streets near Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine in the North West, the largest protest at Marikana since police shot dead 34 of their colleagues last month.

Workers have been on strike for the past three weeks, demanding a monthly salary of 1,180 euros.

The Sowetan says the strikers are pinning their hopes on shutting down all mine operations to ensure their demands are met.

In a related development, a South African union on Wednesday laid criminal charges against the former leader of the ruling party's youth league, Julius Malema, for inflaming tensions at mines hit by unrest.

Malema, who was expelled this year by the ruling African National Congress for ill-discipline, has allegedly capitalised on violent strikes at South African mines to take pot shots at enemies like President Jacob Zuma and push his radical views on nationalising the mining sector.

Trade union Solidarity, which largely represents white, skilled workers, laid charges of incitement to public violence and intimidation against Malema at a police station near Pretoria.

"Malema is an opportunist who uses unrest to try to revive his political career," said Solidarity spokesman Johan Kruger.

In Kenya, the main headline in today's Standard reads "Teachers' strike negotiations hit deadlock". The article goes on to say that a crisis meeting between teachers, government representatives, and the Teachers Service Commission collapsed last night, further escalating the strike that yesterday spread to Kenyan secondary schools.

By the time The Standard went to press last night, there was little hope of a compromise.

The Nairobi-based paper says the meeting was deadlocked because the Government side is insisting that the Kenya National Union of Teachers drop their demand for a 300 per cent pay increase.

Discussions are due to resume this morning.

The main story on the front page of Uganda's Daily Monitor is a warning that the Ugandan Communications Commission is going to switch off stolen and counterfeit mobile phones in November.

The implemenation of a 15-digit code for each phone will make it technically impossible for counterfeit equipment to be used on the country’s existing mobile telecommunications network.

The move follows an upsurge in the influx of fake mobile handsets onto the Ugandan market in the past few months.

Seventeen million Ugandans are owners of mobile phones.

Regional daily The East African reports that Kenya on Wednesday cut its key lending rate to 13 per cent, putting additional pressure on commercial banks to lower the cost of loans.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Kenyan Central Bank of Kenya reduced the rate at which the Central Bank lends to commercial banks   from 16 per cent, citing falling inflation and a stabilising currency. Kenya’s inflation fell for the ninth straight month in August.

It is now up to the commercial banks to decide how and when they pass the cut on to their customers.