October 23, 2014.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Schalk Burger.
Making headlines:

Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene confirmed a further direct allocation to power utility Eskom of at least R20-billion.

At least 4 877 people have died in the world's worst recorded outbreak of Ebola.

And, National Treasury freezes the public personnel headcount and embarks on a review of funded vacancies.

In his inaugural Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene confirmed a further direct allocation to power utility Eskom of at least R20-billion.

Nene stressed that the injection would have no impact on the budget deficit as the capital would be raised through the sale of ‘non-strategic state assets’.  However, he was unable to give further details on the assets in question, saying that they include property, direct and indirect shareholdings in listed firms,
non-strategic government shareholdings in State-owned Companies (or SoCs) and surplus cash balances in public entities. 

He said that more than one asset was being considered, saying it was only logical for government to dispose of assets that were not core to meeting its developmental and economic objectives. The funds would be “appropriated as they are realised” and any capitalisation would only take place once the proceeds of asset sales were deposited into the National Revenue Fund.

A similarly ‘deficit-neutral’ financing model was also flagged for other ailing SoCs, with no specific new allocations outlined for South African Airways, South African Express, the South African Post Office or the Land Bank.

At least 4 877 people have died in the world's worst recorded outbreak of Ebola, and at least 9 936 cases of the disease had been recorded as of October 19, the World Health Organisation (or WHO) said. However, the true toll may be three times as much.

The WHO said real numbers of cases are believed to be much higher than reported: by a factor of 1.5 in Guinea, 2 in Sierra Leone and 2.5 in Liberia, while the death rate is thought to be about 70% of all cases, suggesting a toll of almost 15 000.

Among the thousands of cases are 443 healthcare workers, 244 of whom have died. The WHO said it was undertaking extensive investigations to determine why so many had caught the disease.

The WHO also estimates 28 laboratories are needed in the three worst-hit countries, with 12 now in place, and 20 000 staff will be needed to keep track of people who have had contact with Ebola patients and may be at risk.

National Treasury this week froze the public personnel headcount and embarked on a review of funded vacancies in an effort to curb State spending and re-establish a sustainable foundation for the public purse.

In his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene announced the new measures as a means to lower the ballooning public sector personnel bill over the next two years. However, he warned that failure to shrink expenditure could lead to trade-offs, impacting jobs and service delivery.

Nene outlined that posts across national and provincial departments that have been vacant for some time would be removed, with the permanent withdrawal of some of the funded vacancies being considered. A National Treasury spokesperson told Engineering News Online that current vacancies across the 1.3-million employees at national and provincial government stood at about 11%.

While exceptions would be considered for critical positions, particularly those key to urgent national development ambitions, natural attrition would be relied on to create space for new appointments in a sector that cost the government around R450-billion a year.

Also making headlines:

Failed South African lender African Bank Investments is likely to re-list on the stock exchange early next year.

North West Premier Supra Mahumapelo launches a R300-million-rand water project, enhancing his commitment to provide clean water to residents in Mahikeng.

50 Cuban doctors and nurses arrived in Liberia on Wednesday to help treat victims of Ebola in the West African country.

And, 700 Chinese peacekeepers are expected to join a United Nations mission in South Sudan at the start of next year.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.