South Africa

Johannesburg - The Gauteng Department of Health has confirmed four more cases of meningitis and restated that only one person has died from the disease in the province.

Pretoria - President Kgalema Motlanthe has assured the National House of Traditional Leaders that government, under a new administration, will remain committed to strengthening the House and its institutions.

Pretoria - With four consecutive months of negative growth in manufacturing data, the sector could be heading for a recession with production dropping 11.1 percent from January 2009 compared to January last year.

Pretoria - The South African Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP) has urged all social workers and social auxiliary workers to renew their annual registration by 31 March.

Durban - South African writer Mandla Langa has scooped the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best Book Award in the Africa Region 2009 for "The Lost Colours of the Chameleon".

Pretoria - Police are closely monitoring two service delivery hotspots in Sakhile, outside Standerton, and in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, as service delivery protests intensify.

Johannesburg - Education Minister Naledi Pandor visited the University of Witwatersrand on Thursday to check on whether the investments made by the department for infrastructure development were being properly utilised.

Pretoria - The Department of Public Works has launched a dedicated hotline aimed at ensuring that payments are processed much faster

Pretoria - The Department of Health has urged the public not to panic over the reported cases of meningitis, especially in Gauteng.

Johannesburg - Business and government must partner together to mitigate the effects of the current global financial down-turn, especially in countries like South Africa.

While only a handful of those that were forcibly removed from the once vibrant town of Sophiatown are alive today, the pain of being uprooted during forced removals is still all too real for those who experienced it, writes Nthambeleni Gabara.

Pretoria - All registered South Africans living abroad and wishing to vote in the 2009 general elections must notify the Chief Electoral Officer of their intention to vote within 15 days.

Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma will on Tuesday meet with more than 283 executive mayors and mayors to discuss the state of local government and service delivery improvement.

Johannesburg - Training for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup volunteers has officially kicked off, marking another significant milestone for the 2010 FIFA World Cup appetizer.

Pretoria - The economic turmoil sweeping the globe has lead to a sharp spike in hunger affecting the world's poorest, uncovering a fragile global food system requiring urgent reform.