South Africa

Soweto - A school safety campaign launched at Pace Comprehensive School and Lavela High School in Soweto on Tuesday was an eye opener for both learners and teachers.

Pretoria - The first day of the countrywide Annual National Assessment tests was a success with Grades 1, 2, 4 and 5 learners from almost 19 000 schools, sitting for their language paper.

Pretoria - The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in August rose to 5% in line with market expectation, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Wednesday.

Pretoria - Denel, South Africa's largest defence equipment manufacturer and Russian Helicopters, a leading global designer and manufacturer of helicopters on Wednesday signed an agreement to create a helicopter servicing hub in Africa.

Pretoria - The Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Marikana tragedy led by Minister in the Presidency, Collins Chabane, has welcomed the conclusion of the negotiated wage settlement between the Marikana miners and Lonmin mine management.

Pretoria - International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim is to pay a two-day working visit to the Philippines next week to strengthen relations with that country, in the areas of trade, investment, tourism and culture.

Pretoria - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson has in a statement conveyed a message of support to farm workers who are staging a sit in at a farm in the Boland region in the Western Cape.

Pretoria - The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on the Marikana tragedy led by Minister in The Presidency, Collins Chabane, has sent condolences to the family of Councillor Pauline Masutlhe from Marikana.

Cape Town - The Western Cape has put in place various programmes to assist municipalities to improve their performance, the province's Premier Helen Zille said on Monday.

Pretoria - Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Thandi Tobias-Pokolo has urged Limpopo residents to look to entrepreneurship to help eradicate unemployment.

Johannesburg - The overall quality of life in Gauteng has risen marginally, the results of the 2011 Quality of Life survey show.

Pretoria - Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has called on police to intensify the war on criminals who target jewellery stores and people with large sums of money.

Umzimkhulu - Residents of a small KwaZulu-Natal village will get an opportunity to discuss their challenges with the country's first citizen today.

Pretoria - The provision of bulk infrastructure remains one of the major challenges in delivering houses in rural areas, says Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale.

Cape Town - A new agency, which will provide training and support to co-operatives, is to help raise the survival rate of co-operatives and in so doing enable them to create thousands of jobs, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Elizabeth Thabethe said today.