South Africa

Pretoria - Former President Mandela is responding very well to medication and treatment and continues to be visited by close family and relatives.

Pretoria - KwaZulu-Natal has assembled a team of specialists, including obstetricians, paediatricians and advanced midwives, to help the province reduce the maternal and child mortality rate.

Pretoria - KwaZulu-Natal Premier Dr Zweli Mkhize has called on Further Education and Training (FET) colleges to increase their intake to cater for learners who will not be registering at universities.

Pretoria - The South African Development Team touched down safely in Sudan on Sunday for the 2nd Orange African Nations Championship (CHAN).

Cape Town - Government has committed itself to enhancing its contribution to the SADC Regional Early Warning Centre (REWC).

Pretoria - With the conclusion of voting in the referendum for the self-determination of Southern Sudan having recently been declared free, fair and credible by the African Union (AU), President Jacob Zuma and AU leaders go to this week's AU summit in Ethiopia faced with yet another year of crisis as the political stalemate continues to wreak havoc in Cote d'Ivoire. Chris Bathembu reports.

Roosters cluck, dogs dig through heaps of mud and garbage, music blasts from a distance, children's cries and laughter can be heard from miles away and raw sewage trickles past the doorsteps of many dishevelled houses. This is the flood-hit Themba Khoza informal settlement, near Ivory Park, outside Tembisa.

Pretoria - Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele will approach Cabinet to approve the planned high-speed railway project for the Durban-Johannesburg route.

Pretoria - Former President Nelson Mandela is "doing well" three days after being discharged from hospital after suffering from an acute respiratory infection.

Pretoria - The Gauteng Health Department has made it clear to health professionals that from now on, the death of any person in the province's hospitals will have to be strictly accounted for.

Pretoria - Not quite dressed in the trademark red suit with a sleigh hauled by reindeer, Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde spread some good old fashioned Christmas cheer to the elderly and orphans of Hammanskraal.

Pretoria - Toll tariffs gazetted for the 185-km Gauteng highway network have been suspended until further notice.

Pretoria - The R500 million lease agreement of the new South African Police headquarters in Pretoria has been ruled as "improper and maladministration" by Public Protector, Adv Thuli Madonsela.

Pretoria - National Treasury today published a discussion paper on carbon tax for public comment across all sectors of the economy.

Pretoria - Outraged by the murder of eight members of a KwaZulu-Natal family, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has called on police to hunt down and bring to book those responsible for the massacre.