South Africa

President Jacob Zuma says infrastructure remains critical to South Africa's development goals adding that it is an essential component of service delivery.

Cape Town - The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is to re-register the more than 15 million social grant beneficiaries in the country, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini announced on Tuesday.

Cape Town - Smallholder farmers turning once fallow land in the former homelands into farmland have propelled the agricultural sector which has seen a three percent growth in jobs - overcoming years of decline.

Pretoria - Over 70% of people aged between seven and 24 are attending educational institutions within South Africa, a slightly lower figure than in previous years, said Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

Pretoria - Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has called on the international community to include road safety as part of the global development agenda.

Pretoria - Mosotho Moepya has been appointed the new Chief Electoral Officer of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the Commission's Chairperson Advocate Pansy Tlakula announced on Tuesday.

Stakeholders in higher education have until Monday to submit comments on the Green Paper for Post-School Education and Training released three months ago by the Higher Education and Training Department.

Pretoria - Public Service and Administration Minister Roy Padayachie has undertaken to speed up the setting up of a centralised mechanism structure to better manage and coordinate disciplinary cases across government departments.

Skukuza - The Kruger National Park has urged 204 striking rangers to return to work.

Pretoria - The Department of Home Affairs has made public the names of 29 000 people who share their ID number with someone else - in a bid to assist those with duplicated IDs.

Pretoria - Journalists have been called to enter the 2012 SADC Media Awards and Water Media Awards Competition.

Pretoria - The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is to spend R136 billion to acquire about 7000 new trains and upgrade and modernise train stations.

Cape Town - Partnerships between the state and private sector are key if government is to train more people and create more jobs, the Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Thursday, while delivering his Budget Vote speech in Parliament.

Cape Town - Opposition members have welcomed President Jacob Zuma's announcement in his State of the Nation Address that government would spend more on infrastructure development, but urged the President to focus more on developing skills, implementing labour reforms and tackling corruption to ensure that the country overcomes unemployment and poverty.

Pretoria - The Department of Home Affairs is to issue 2000 smart card ID's during the project's pilot phase, the Home Affairs Director-General Mkuseli Apleni has announced.