South Africa

Pretoria - South Africa has been overwhelmingly elected by the Members of the UN General Assembly to the 47-Member Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC).

Polokwane - Highway Patrol members swiftly arrested six suspects aged 30 and 42 for attempted robbery over the weekend.

Cape Town - With just hours to go before Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan delivers his Budget Speech, many are expecting the speech's mood to be an austere one, but it may just be one tinged strongly with hope and optimism.

Pretoria - Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande will on Wednesday give an outline of the progress made to turnaround FET Colleges.

Pretoria - The Department of Correctional Services is conducting an investigation into the circumstances that led to an attempted prison escape by three awaiting trial inmates at the C-Max Prison in Pretoria on Wednesday morning.

Polokwane - Four Polokwane City players have been killed and six injured after the mini bus they were travelling in collided with a bakkie and overturned along the R71 road at Nobody, Mankweng, on Sunday evening.

Pretoria - Banyana Banyana were beaten 4-nil by the host Equatorial Guinea in the final of the CAF African Women Championship played in Malabo on Sunday.

Pretoria - The Orlando Pirates duo of Oupa Manyisa and defender Siyabonga Sangweni have been withdrawn from the Bafana Bafana squad to face Zambia in the Nelson Mandela Challenge on Wednesday at Soccer City.

Mbombela - The Mpumalanga Provincial Government has set aside R2.8 billion for infrastructure projects in the coming financial year, which starts on 1 April.

Pretoria - Minister of Home Affairs, Naledi Pandor, is expected to deliver a paper under the theme "Collaborating for Change" at the fourth World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) in Doha, Qatar.

Pretoria - KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, has unveiled the first batch of revamped state-of-the-art mobile clinics in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday.

Johannesburg - Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Obed Bapela last night urged government communicators to use all platforms available to them to ensure government's message reached every citizen in the country.

Pretoria - The department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has temporarily suspended the harvesting of West Coast rock lobster under the sixth interim relief dispensation.

Ludondolo - The Nelson Mandela Legacy Bridge currently under construction at former President Nelson Mandela's birthplace, Mvezo village in the Eastern Cape, will attract tourists to the area, Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti said on Wednesday.

Pretoria - The Department of Environmental Affairs says it has decided to enter into negotiations with Indalo Yethu Trust to discuss its dissolution following a review to determine the viability of the organisation.