South Africa

President Jacob Zuma has signed five new into law.

Pretoria – President Jacob Zuma has announced the names of the two new universities government will be building in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.

Johannesburg - Expropriation of land without compensation is not a government policy, says Gauteng MEC for Rural Development and Land Reform, Nandi Mayathula-Khoza.

Pretoria - International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will be on a diplomatic blitz in the next few days, which will see her visiting three countries.

Pretoria – Gauteng hospitals will, from Friday, be allowed to order medical products directly from pharmaceutical companies in a bid to end the delays in hospitals and clinics getting their medical supplies.

Pretoria – The South African National Roads Agency Limited says that reports that it has run out of money are factually incorrect.

Cape Town – The new smart ID card, which the Department of Home Affairs expects to start rolling out to the public within the next three months, demonstrates again what South Africa as a country is capable of, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said today after receiving the new ID card.

Pretoria – An alleged serial rapist, who was due to appear in court on charges of raping 34 children and two women, has committed suicide in his cell shortly before his appearance.

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.