South Africa

Pretoria - Group Five has been appointed to manage PetroSA’s 2013 maintenance shutdown, said the national oil company on Thursday.

Pretoria - Calm has returned to Eskom’s Medupi power plant this morning, following protest action by between 500 and 1000 workers at the Limpopo plant on Wednesday.

Butterworth - A 52-year-old Eastern Cape man has appeared in court in connection with the rape of a seven-year-old boy.

Pretoria - Parliament’s Presiding Officers, Members and officials have extended their condolences to the family of former Chief Justice Pius Langa, who passed away on Wednesday.

Pretoria - The National Health Laboratory Service and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, together with the national Department of Health, will commemorate World Hepatitis Day on Monday, 29 July.

Durban - The South African Police Service (SAPS) in KwaZulu-Natal has opened a docket for malicious damage to property following the discovery of dumped workbooks/textbooks in Empangeni, 149km away from Durban.

Cape Town – The Department of Home Affairs’ new smart ID card is a step in the right direction and will help combat identity fraud, former President FW de Klerk said today after receiving his new smart ID card.

Pretoria – The Department of Water Affairs is making good progress in efforts to eradicate unlawful irrigation in the Vaal River System by 2014, with the intervention already having stopped 51 million cubic meters per annum of unlawful water use.

Johannesburg – Four days before the Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Nkosiphendule Kolisile, died in a tragic accident along with his driver and bodyguard, he sent a message to all his staff and told them that they were the umbilical cord between the public service and the people of Gauteng.

Johannesburg – Unless government intensifies its anti-rhino poaching measures, South Africa will have a serious problem in dealing with an ever growing demand for the horn in Asian countries, a conservation expert has said.

Pretoria - Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane has, on behalf of the Gauteng Provincial Government, extended condolences to the family of former Chief Justice Pius Langa, who died on Wednesday morning.

Pretoria - The Premier of the Eastern Cape, Noxolo Kiviet, has conveyed her deepest sympathy to both the Langa family and the entire legal fraternity following the passing of former Chief Justice Pius Langa.

Pretoria - The Westminster Magistrates Court has ruled that Shrien Dewani is to be extradited to South Africa to stand trial for orchestrating the murder of his wife, Anni.

Cape Town – The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) has significantly ramped up grant incentives to small businesses in the last year, which will help these firms acquire new technology and machinery, and to put in place various measures to help them improve their competitiveness and grow employment.

Pretoria - The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 5.5% in June, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) announced on Wednesday.