South Africa

Midrand - Taxi drivers will soon have the first aid skills necessary to save lives and offer assistance to accident victims, thanks to an initiative launched on Monday.

Pretoria - South Africans are set to see the roll-out of new identity document smart cards, which will replace the current identity document, from next year.

Pretoria - Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula says the National Sport and Recreation Plan (NSRP), which was recently approved by Cabinet, must be aligned to all government planning processes in order to make it more effective.

Cape Town - Durban and Gauteng as well as the transport corridor between these two key logistics centres will be alive with work, as five key projects get under way in the next five years, the Minister of Transport Sibusiso Ndebele says.

Pretoria - Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has called on police officers to go beyond the call of duty in order to protect children.

Pretoria - The Department of Home Affairs is making significant progress in clearing permit backlogs, improving access to services and managing its finances.

Pretoria - The Limpopo Department of Education has moved to put across certain facts with regard to a Sunday media report about the learners of "Selowe primary school" in Limpopo who are being taught under trees.

Pretoria - South Africa says as host of the next BRICS summit next year, it has a duty to ensure that the grouping realises its dream of a Development Bank.

Pretoria - Stakeholders on Monday came together to add meat to one of the 17 projects announced in the country's major infrastructure programme.

Mbombela - Owners of Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in Mpumalanga have been invited to register their businesses so they can get funding from government.

Pretoria - Government is looking at enhancing cooperation with its SADC neighbours along the Indian Ocean shoreline, especially the island states of Mauritius, Seychelles and Somalia, to safeguard the sea routes from pirate attacks.

Soweto - Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana, says more effort should be put into gathering the views of the country's children when designing policies and programmes pertaining to them.

Pretoria - As the country marks the 18th anniversary of democracy on Friday, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize and members of the executive council have called on the people of the province to use Freedom Day to celebrate unity, diversity and prosperity.

Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has accepted the resignation of Clifford Motsepe as a member of the Board of Directors of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

Pretoria - Students at Further Education and Training (FETs) colleges, who get a transport allowance from the Higher Education and Training Department, may not claim part of the allowance in cash or kind.