South Africa

Boksburg - Minister Lulu Xingwana has called for more rigorous effort to be put into leveling the playing field for people with disabilities.

Cape Town - Amid a global economic outlook which continues to remain uncertain, the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan today presented a circumspect, yet upbeat Budget Speech detailing how the infrastructure projects highlighted by President Jacob Zuma earlier this month would be funded.

Pretoria- Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Obed Bapela, will meet the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Parks Tau, tomorrow, to discuss the ongoing billing challenges experienced by the city.

Cape Town - As government finds ways to grow an economy that may eventually produce much needed jobs, spending on social assistance will rise sharply in the next three years from R111.2 billion this year to a projected R129 billion in 2015.

Cape Town - The government plans to speed up the expansion of the country's mega infrastructure programme by continuously increasing the budgets for rail transport, energy and communications services.

Pretoria- The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, has gazetted the Phase II Draft Financial Services Sector Code in terms of Section 9 (5) of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act 53 of 2003.

Cape Town - The next time you visit your favourite watering hole - be prepared to spend a little more on a glass of beer, wine and spirits.

Pretoria- The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, has told parliamentarians that manufacturing in South Africa remains seriously affected by the economic crises.

Cape Town - The Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan outlined a range of measures to boost the planning and monitoring capacity in departments and municipalities to ensure they carried out infrastructure projects and allocated the necessary spending on these projects wisely.

Springs - Traffic officials will be out in full force across the country to ensure that the high accident rate normally associated with the Easter long Weekend is minimised.

Pretoria- The Gauteng Department of Health has developed a plan to clear all of its debt by the end of June this year, the department said in a statement on Sunday.

Pretoria - The City of Tshwane did not breach the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) in the issuance of its inaugural R1.5 billion bond, National Treasury said on Friday.

Pretoria - Law enforcement and paramedics in Mpumalanga are working on an accident scene in which a truck and a goods train collided earlier this morning, killing at least 17 people.

Johannesburg - Participating in the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) will not only enhance the reputation of the companies involved and that of the country, but in the long run it will help in the development of South Africa, says Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba.

Johannesburg - Former Local Government and Housing MEC Humphrey Mmemezi's usage of his official credit card for personal use amounted to an act of negligence, the Privileges and Ethics Standing Committee has found.