African press review 15 May 2015

Are tourists being scared away from South Africa by the visa regulations? What can sub-Saharan Africa do to improve the way countries use human resources? And what's really going on in Burundi?

The main story in South African financial paper, BusinessDay, worries that tourists are being kept away by red tape.

According to Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom, the visa regulations that took effect last year have already had a negative impact on foreign tourist arrivals in South Africa.

The decline in tourist numbers was especially noticeable in arrivals from countries such as China and India.

The current visa regulations require that potential tourists visit South African missions to lodge their visa applications in person, which can be logistically difficult and expensive.

Last year international tourist arrivals grew by 6.6 per cent, with nine and a half million visitors.

South Africa also has a problem with human resources.

The latest World Economic Forum (WEF) index ranks the country 92nd out of 124 in terms of ability to nurture talent.

The WEF’s human-capital index ranks economies on how well they are developing and deploying their human capital, and creating workforces which are prepared for the demands of competitive economies.

The rankings, which are topped by Finland, show sub-Saharan Africa ranks lowest of all the world’s regions because of chronically low investment in education and training.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development lists South Africa as one of 10 countries whose economy is most severely held back by poor-quality education.

On its Opinion pages BusinessDay says the deaths of two protesters this week at the hands of the police have highlighted the urgent need for President Jacob Zuma to release the findings of the Marikana commission of inquiry.

The incidents   which occurred in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo on Tuesday   also underscore the importance of implementing the commission’s recommendations. The commission was established to provide guidance on how to improve public-order policing.

Marikana in the north-west was the scene of one of the worst events involving the police in post-apartheid South Africa. In August 2012 34 mineworkers were killed during a drawn-out strike in the platinum mining belt. A total of 44 people died during the dispute.

President Jacob Zuma says he is still studying the report, handed to him last month.

On its African News pages BusinessDay reports the head of Burundi’s army as saying that an attempted coup had failed and forces loyal to President Pierre Nkurunziza were in control. This news comes one day after another general said he had sacked Nkurunziza for seeking an unconstitutional third term in office.

Yesterday Burundi's army chief of staff General Prime Niyongabo in a statement broadcast on state radio claimed that loyalist forces are still in control of all strategic points.

The Reuters news agency quotes a journalist at the state broadcaster as saying there was still heavy gunfire being heard around the state television and radio station in the capital on Thursday morning. Another Reuters witness said loud blasts were heard in the capital.

The main story in the Kenyan Daily Nation is headlined "President Pierre Nkurunziza returns to Burundi after 'failed' coup attempt".

The report says the Burundian leader has returned to the country, quoting an official from the president's own office, as a deputy coup leader said the attempt to overthrow the president had failed after fierce battles between rival army factions.

Nkurunziza was in neighbouring Tanzania for regional talks on Wednesday when the coup was announced by top general Godefroid Niyombare, capping weeks of violent protests against the president's bid to seek a third term.

Over at The Standard, the main headline reads "How Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza’s flight home aborted".

Four East African Community leaders, among them President Uhuru Kenyatta, were deliberating on the happenings in Burundi, when word seeped through that Godefroid Niyombare, a retired major-general and former director of military intelligence, had "dismissed" the Burundian president from his duties. Nkurunziza frantically tried to leave his hotel room at the Dar es Salaam Serena but was talked out of his intention to return home immediately by protocol officials from the Tanzania government.

He was advised to monitor the situation before returning to Bujumbura.

The Monitor in Kampala wonders "Who's in charge in Burundi now?"

The situation remains tense, according to the Ugandan daily, with gunfire heard across the capital yesterday. Forces loyal to Nkurunziza were still fighting to defend the national broadcaster and the presidential palace in Bujumbura.

The coup plotters are said to be in control of some parts of the city but have lost control of the airport to Nkurunziza loyalists.

As the fighting continues, says The Monitor, millitary intelligence chiefs were in a crisis meeting in Kigali to discus ways of averting a further degeneration of the crisis.