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Nobody thinks of snails as cute and cuddly critters, but Snailboy is an unconventional hero. And he is rapidly growing his fanbase. The South African mobile phone game is a download hit in the US and China.

South African-born and trained engineer and researcher John Briscoe has been named the winner of the 2014 Stockholm Water Prize for his "unparalleled contributions to global and local water management, inspired by an unwavering commitment to improving the lives of people on the ground".

Greenpop plants trees, to beautify spaces, absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, and raise awareness of how important trees are to life on Earth.

British outsourcing giant Capita plc has entered the sub-Saharan African market through the acquisition of South African contact centre solutions business Full Circle, reinforcing the country's reputation as a serious offshore BPO location.

South African Airways took national pride to new heights in 1996 with its Ndizani Olympic plane, and now the airline plans to do it again for the 2012 Olympic Games – this time with the help of creative citizens.
• How’s your Friday looking?

Helped on by being provisionally named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, Cape Town's Table Mountain drew a record number of visitors in December, with 116 000 people taking the cable car trip to the top.

Table Mountain has been announced as one of the New7Wonders of Nature along with the Amazon, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Jeju Island, Komodo and Puerto Princesa Underground River.
• Kirstenbosch best place to picnic

Celebrations erupted at Cape Town's V&A Waterfront on Friday night as Table Mountain was provisionally named a New 7 Wonder of Nature following a three-year global race to choose the world's seven most wonderful natural sites.

Zimbabwean literature has taken a step forward with the publication of author Masimba Musodza’s book MunaHacha Maive Nei?, the first science fiction novel in the chiShona language.
• Local author gets top sco-fi award

Khulekani Magubane is a prolific young writing talent who honed his skills through a KwaZulu-Natal literacy programme. With the imminent publication of his 18th book, he hopes to one day mentor a new generation of South African writers.
• Local author gets top sci-fi award