South Africa

Pretoria - The South African Navy will next week host the 3rd Sea Power for Africa Symposium which will focus on the challenges facing navies throughout the continent.

Johannesburg - An incentive-based regulation programme which aims to acknowledge municipalities which have excellent drinking water quality management was launched by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry on Monday.

Pretoria - The fourth quarter of 2008 witnessed an uptake in job creation resulting in a decline of 1.3 percent in unemployment in the country, Statistics South Africa reported, Monday.

Johannesburg - To ensure there is sufficient water available for generations to come and that economic activity in the country is able to grow, government has launched the Water for Growth and Development Framework.

Pretoria - Cooperation between South Africa and Finland has been intensified with the signing of a Declaration of Intent to deepen bilateral relations between the two countries.

Pretoria - Political parties registered to contest the 2009 general elections have only until this afternoon to submit a list of their candidates to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

Cape Town - Politicians and policy makers need to show political will and action in order to deal with the issue of climate change, says President Kgalema Motlanthe.

Pretoria - The Housing Development Agency was launched by the Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu on Monday evening to fast track the delivery of houses to the poor.

Pretoria - Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel has appointed Advocate Oliver Josie and Trudi Makhaya as Deputy Commissioners of the Competition Commission to serve for a period of six months.

Lareystryd - North West MEC for Agriculture, Conservation and Environment Jan Serfontein is satisfied with the progress made by emerging farmers in the province.

Pretoria - The North West province has already started to intensify its Arrive Alive operations heading towards the Easter long weekend.

Komatipoort - Government's Justice, Crime, Prevention and Security Cluster will on Tuesday meet with provincial policing structures to discuss beefing up crime prevention measures along Mpumalanga's border.

Johannesburg - The current lack of electricity infrastructure and the inefficient way it is being distributed is costing the country's economy R2 billion per annum.

Pretoria - The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries says no fruit will be brought into South Africa from other countries without a phytosanitary import permit.

Midrand - Environmental and climate stakeholders from across the country have gathered at the National Climate Change Summit to formulate a framework to lead South Africa in its fight against climate change.