South Africa

Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has called on provinces and municipalities to work tirelessly to ensure a safe, reliable and efficient public transport system.

Johannesburg - Gauteng's MEC for Infrastructure Development, Qedani Mahlangu, has lambasted the behaviour of some National Youth Service (NYS) recruits who this week held employees at the department's headquarters hostage for several hours.

Pretoria - Gauteng Health MEC Hope Papo has reassured staff at George Mukhari Academic Hospital that the institution has not fallen off the department's radar, and that officials were committed to giving the hospital the necessary attention it needed in order to keep serving the public.

Pretoria - Duduza police have nabbed eight suspects during an anti-crime awareness campaign aimed at mobilising the community against crime over the festive season period.

Pretoria - The Department of Basic Education says it acknowledges and welcomes the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) reports by the Human Sciences Research Council.

Pretoria - The KwaZulu-Natal Cabinet has approached National Government in a bid to declare parts of the province worst hit by the recent flash floods and thunderstorms disaster areas.

Pretoria - Gauteng Health MEC Hope Papo has urged communities in the province to donate blood and save a life this festive season.

Washington - The euro area should take more steps to check the debt crisis, as the global recovery continued to be threatened by strains in the region and fragility elsewhere, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday.

Cape Town - Government is making billions of rands off the reserves it has locked up in the Compensation Fund and the Unemployment Insurance Fund available for investment in businesses, to create thousands of new jobs, the Minister of Labour, Nelisiwe Oliphant says.

Pretoria - An 11-member delegation from the State Council of Information Office (SCIO) in China met on Wednesday with the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) to discuss communication practices.

Power parastatal Eskom has called on the public to save electricity in the upcoming winter months, which in turn will save them money.

Pretoria - The South African Revenue Service (SARS) says it is tightening the screws on enterprises that are using increasingly sophisticated financial schemes to evade tax obligations.

Pretoria - Government, working with musicians, has set up task teams to look into the challenges facing the various sectors of the music industry.

Pretoria - The Tshwane Metropolitan Police Department has called on the public to handle the matter of missing officer, Constable Dimakatso Mable Peete, with care and sensitivity.

Mbombela - Deaf people in Mpumalanga have asked Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities Lulu Xingwana to establish a free SMS line they can use to report crime.