South Africa

Pretoria – The Department of Home Affairs will this year introduce a high security form on which permits issued to asylum seekers will be printed.

Pretoria – Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor says the long-awaited smart Identity Document (ID) card will be rolled out in the second quarter of this current financial year.

Johannesburg – Gauteng Transport MEC Ismail Vadi says the Gautrain is experiencing continuous growth, with the average weekday passenger trips on the train having increased from 26 000 at the beginning of April 2012 to 42 000 at the end of March 2013.

Cape Town – Africa’s attitude towards itself and how it interacts with the world has changed for the better, President Jacob Zuma said today at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa held in the city.

Pretoria - The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) says it has noted media queries to various ministers on their attendance of the Gupta family wedding last week.

Pretoria - Ministers from South Africa and Sweden will on Thursday meet to assess the state of relations between the two countries.

Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has extended a warm welcome to delegates of the World Economic Forum on Africa, which meets in Cape Town from today until Friday.

Pretoria – The Labour Department Director General, Nkosinathi Nhleko, has challenged the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to take a proactive approach in the labour market before the negotiation season begins.

Cape Town – A total of R113 billion of the Department of Social Development’s R120 billion budget will go towards the payment of social assistance grants, Minister Bathabile Dlamini told Parliament today.

Pretoria - With just days before the start of the Tourism Indaba in Durban, organisers say they are confident the event will deliver widespread international exposure for the country.

Pretoria – Public Work Minister Thulas Nxesi says his department has taken “firm control” of Prestige projects by centralising them, implementing a new structure and creating a direct reporting line to the Director-General.

Pretoria - The turnaround strategy to rebuild the Department of Public Works is well underway, Minister Thulasi Nxesi told the National Assembly when presenting his 2013/14 Budget Vote Speech on Wednesday.

Pretoria - The Department of Public Works is currently aligning its activities to support the identified goals of the National Development Plan (NDP), Public Works Minister Thulasi Nxesi announced on Wednesday.

Pretoria – Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi says the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) remains an effective part of government’s response to the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else can. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.” These are powerful words spoken by former President Nelson Mandela who believed that sport can transcend race, politics and unite a country.