government

Cape Town's film boom has attracted 120 investments worth over R52-million to the region since July 2005, injecting over R2.6-billion into the Western Cape economy.

Overseas investment in South African stocks hit a record high for the second year running in 2006, Bloomberg reports, as foreigners sought to profit from the longest period of uninterrupted economic growth in the country's history.

Over five million children across South Africa will benefit from the country's no-fee schools policy in 2007.

The Niall Mellon Township Initiative has built 600 houses for South African shack dwellers since 2003 - and is busy raising millions of euros to build thousands more.

The Limpopo Tourism and Parks Board is to commercialise facilities in 15 of its nature reserves in order to create jobs and boost conservation and tourism in the province.

PW Botha, South Africa's last true white-minority president and ruler of an increasingly repressive and violent state in the final years of apartheid, died at his home near the town of George on Tuesday night. He was 90 years old.

South Africa's police reservist (volunteer) service has approximately 30 000 active members and is expected to grow to 80 000 by 2009 with an additional budget of R260-million.

A British- and Dubai-led consortium has beaten strong competition from a number of international bidders to buy Cape Town's landmark V&A Waterfront for US$1-billion in a record South African property deal - and could spend as much again developing the Waterfront into "Africa's Riviera".

South Africa's Gauteng province has launched a R3-billion project to develop 20 of its townships into upmarket residential areas.

Although the host country of the Square Kilometre Array is yet to be announced, South African science is already reaping the benefits of the massive international radio telescope project in the form of a prototype, the Karoo Array Telescope.