South Africa

Pretoria - The green economy must form part of South Africa's agenda of development and job creation, said President Jacob Zuma.

Cape Town - Amid concerns over a sluggish global economic recovery and the unresolved European debt crisis, the government plans to focus more on investing in infrastructure and boosting industrial capacity while looking to set up a special nest-egg fund to held build the economy, the Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said in Parliament today.

Cape Town - The National Treasury wants to make it easier for foreigners to invest in South Africa and promote the country as a gateway into Africa by overhauling the prudential and investment regulatory framework.

Cape Town - Government would maintain a countercyclical fiscal policy over the next three years by growing expenditure to bolster job creation, the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan revealed today, while warning that revenue collection is expected to be R13 billion off target.

Durban - Climate change threatens to undermine many of the development objectives of African countries and the developing world, says Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tina Joemat-Pettersson.

Cape Town - South Africa's mining sector has failed to capitalise on escalating commodity prices and has performed poorly in recent years when compared to the mining sectors of other countries, the Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan revealed today.

Pretoria - An email claiming that certain bananas from KwaZulu-Natal have been poisoned with a flesh-eating bacterium has been clarified as a hoax email by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Cape Town - The National Treasury is looking at creating a separate nest-egg of funds or "policy reserve" by drawing from its existing investments and revenue to support economic growth, the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan said today.

Cape Town - The rights of South Africans must come first when debating whether to limit the sale and advertising of alcohol, the Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini said on Monday.

Pretoria - The South African Football Association (Safa) has issued a notice to municipalities interested in serving as host cities of the 2013 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) and the 2014 African Nations Champions (CHAN).

Durban - A group of 54 African countries at the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban has flexed its muscles on Monday, expressing concern at what it described as attempts by some developed countries to kill the Kyoto Protocol.

Cape Town - The Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan today revealed plans to provide R25 billion over the next six years to stimulate industrial development zones, boost investments in enterprises and job creation, support green initiatives and to get the private sector to partner with the public sector to invest in infrastructure.

Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has applauded the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following the successful conclusion of the presidential and parliamentary elections.

Durban - As Heads of State and ministers start arriving in Durban today for the UN climate talks, negotiators are hoping that come end of the week, some kind of political compromise will be reached to break the stalemate on a whole range of issues.

Pretoria - Unit 2 of the Koeberg power station has returned to service as repairs to the generator have been completed, Eskom said on Monday.