South Africa

Pretoria - The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has reached the one million mark of income tax returns - just 22 days after the current tax season opened on July 1.

Pretoria - South Africa and Spain are to advance bilateral, political and economic relations, among other things, when the two countries meet for their 8th annual consultations next week.

Pretoria - Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Labour is to hold public hearings on the Labour Relations Amendment (LRA) Bill and Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill (BCEA).

Pretoria - The Siyahlola Presidential Monitoring Programme will be formally launched by President Jacob Zuma in Umzimkhulu on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday.

Pretoria - The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa has published the National Ambient Air Quality Standard.

Johannesburg - Six municipalities have joined the ranks of municipalities with clean audits this year, bringing the total number to 13.

Pretoria - Brand South Africa has urged all South Africans, business leaders, trade union movements, political parties and civil society to heed government's call for calm and support the security cluster by abiding with the laws of the land.

Pretoria - South Africa remains deeply concerned about the continuing violence and deteriorating human rights situation in Syria, says Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.

Pretoria - Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has instructed police management to strengthen firearm control measures with immediate effect.

Pretoria - Lonmin Platinum mine and union representatives on Tuesday signed a wage increase, bringing to an end the six-week strike that left 44 people dead.

Johannesburg - The Gauteng Legislature's Finance Portfolio Committee has urged the provincial Treasury to monitor the expenditure on conditional grants allocated to departments for planned projects.

Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma said it was wrong and scientifically not true that the gap between the rich and poor had widened since 1994, and that this amounted to an attack on the democratic government.

Pretoria - Nice and fair with no surprises -- this is how most Grade 12 learners felt after writing Afrikaans Home Language and First and Second Additional Language Paper 1 on Thursday.

Cape Town - Travel and Tourism in South Africa is booming, with the country recording an increase of 10.5 percent in the number of arrivals during the first six months of 2012, compared to the same period last year.

Pretoria - South Africa's unemployment rate had increased from 24.9% to 25.5% in the third quarter of 2012, said Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Thursday.