South Africa

Pretoria - All eyes will be on the South African Police Service (SAPS) this morning, as they release the Annual Crime Statistics.

Cape Town – The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, plans to do away with the quintile system, which her department uses to allocate funds to schools, in favour of a two-category system.

Mandeni – Despite teething problems four years ago in the Mandeni Municipality, service delivery is now at the optimum level in the Ilembe District, says KwaZulu-Natal Acting Premier Senzo Mchunu.

Pretoria – Progress has been made towards strengthening the effectiveness of the health system to improve its responsiveness to the health needs of South Africans and to prepare for the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI).

Pretoria – The Department of Basic Education has set up a portal which links qualified but unemployed Mathematics and Physical Sciences teachers with principals of schools in need of teachers.

Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma is expected to address the opening session of the General Debate during the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York later this month.

Pretoria – The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) increased its allocation to metro and local municipalities in the past year in a bid to improve the provision of basic services.

Pretoria - The North West Health Department continues to see steady progress in addressing the challenges of scares skills and training of health professionals, with more nurses and doctors becoming available.

Cape Town – Municipalities have become more responsible in reporting their financial position, with all 278 municipalities having submitted Section 71 financial information to the National Treasury for the last two quarterly reports, the chief executive of the SA Local Government Association (Salga), Xolile George, said today.

Pretoria - People should allow due the processes of the Pinetown crash to unfold without interference, says Transport Minister Dipuo Peters.

Pretoria - The proposed Draft Policy Framework on Combating Hate Crimes, Hate Speech and Unfair Discrimination will help to balance the right to dignity and the right to freedom of speech in line with international law.

Pretoria – The newly appointed SABC Board must put the interests of the public broadcaster first and not allow personality clashes to hamper their work.

Pretoria - South Africa has welcomed the International Atomic Energy Agency’s efforts to strengthen global nuclear safety, Energy Minister Ben Martins said today.

Pretoria – South Africa had a dramatic increase in the number of strikes in 2012 compared to the previous four years, according to the Annual Industrial Action Report.

Pretoria – Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant has condemned the violence in the on-going motor industry strike, and has also called on parties to speed up negotiations.