South Africa

Pretoria - Government has promised to respond to the list of concerns raised by marchers who supported the ANC Youth League's call for "economic freedom" in Pretoria today.

South Africa may be on track to achieve five of its eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, but serious problems in health and education, if not attended to soon, may hold the country back from becoming a more prosperous society. Stephen Timm reports.

Pretoria - Power parastatal Eskom has been granted a $250 million loan (about R1.9 billion) for its Eskom Renewables Energy Support Project (ERSP), said the World Bank.

Pretoria - All grades of petrol are set to increase by 23 cents a litre next week, said the Energy Department on Friday.

Pretoria - The Kruger National Park has advised day visitors to the park to make prior booking arrangements in order to secure their entry as daily visitor quotas will strictly be enforced throughout the festive season period.

Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma in a statement on Thursday said he regretted the situation around the flat he owns in Berea, Johannesburg, relating to unpaid bills and utility bills.

Pretoria - Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and members of the Cabinet are to meet with the South African Editors' Forum this weekend, as part of Government's strategic engagement with key stakeholders.

Pretoria - Eskom customers can now buy prepaid electricity tokens after the recent problems with the company's online prepaid electricity vending systems have been resolved.

Pretoria - Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula will lead the 'I Play Fair' cycling team of celebrities in the Cape Argus Cycle Tour in Cape Town to spread the message of ethics, fair-play and anti-doping in sport.

Pretoria - While there were mixed views on whether the Mathematics paper written today was more difficult than the one written in the preliminary exams, all Grade 12 learners agreed that the Mathematics and Mathematics Literacy Paper 1 was difficult.

Pretoria - National oil company PetroSA has received environmental authorisation for Project Ikhwezi, which is aimed at sustaining the life of the Mossel Bay gas-to-liquid refinery.

Brussels - European Union (EU) leaders on Friday morning agreed to the establishment of a new "fiscal compact" based on inter-governmental treaties rather than the anticipated EU treaty changes.

Pretoria - Presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj maintains that he is innocent of any wrongdoing amid allegations that he tried to stop a newspaper from publishing a story, and that he and his wife received a bribe from a company that was later awarded a tender when he was Minister of Transport.

Johannesburg - The City of Johannesburg will aim to improve the accuracy of its billing system and its customer service over the next few years.

Pretoria - Several countries which have qualified for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon are heading to South Africa to utilise the World Cup facilities as training camps ahead of the continent's premier tournament.