The establishment of a BRICS development bank, marine cable an trade and development risk pool will spur the five nations to greater cooperation while removing dependency on the developed world, South African President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday.

The BRICS mechanism provides an opportunity for South Africa to learn from other members in nation-building and for the whole Africa to stimulate economic growth, says a local business executive.

The death toll from a bus crash in South Africa on Friday has risen to 22, the authorities said.

A fire ripped through a shanty town near Cape Town in South Africa on Friday, killing two people and leaving thousands homeless, authorities said.

The South African government on Monday pledged to address prison overcrowding which is ranked the most serious in Africa.

Officials in South Africa say that 57 rhinos have been killed by poachers across the country so far this year.

Striking farm workers in South Africa's Western Cape province have clashed with police after blocking roads in several areas as part of a protest for higher wages.

The doctors treating former South African leader Nelson Mandela believe he should remain in Johannesburg for now to be close to medical facilities that can provide care to the 94-year-old, the government said Thursday.

Having hospitalized for more than two weeks, former president Nelson Mandela is to spend Christmas Day in hospital, the South African Presidency said on Monday.

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma on Saturday visited former president Nelson Mandela as he marked two weeks of being at a Pretoria hospital. "President Zuma this morning visited former President Mandela in hospital in Pretoria. Zuma assured him of the love and support of all South Africans, young and old, and the whole world," said the Presidency on Saturday.

The South African government on Saturday intensified its security here before the ruling African National Congress (ANC)'s national congress.

A South African freight train derailed and plunged into a river Tuesday morning, leaving four people injured.

A bridge collapsed in eastern South Africa, leaving six people dead and five others seriously hurt, local media reported early Tuesday.

South African President Jacob Zuma on Sunday morning visited former president Nelson Mandela in a Pretoria hospital, the presidency said in a statement. "The president found the frail 94-year-old Mandela to be comfortable and in good care," said the presidency.

South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela has been admitted to a hospital in Pretoria "to undergo tests", the Presidency said on Saturday.

The American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking into a tender scandal that has plagued South Africa's social grant payouts in recent months, it was revealed on Friday.

The South African government on Thursday summoned the Israeli Ambassador to express concerns over Israel's move to build 3,000 jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, a senior government official said.

A South African judge has sentenced a hip-hop star and his co-accused to 25 years each in prison for the killings of four schoolchildren in a drag-race crash.

A South African military aircraft on an unknown mission to an area near former President Nelson Mandela's village crashed in a mountain range, officials said Thursday. It was unclear whether there were any survivors.

Expanding access to anti- retroviral treatment has contributed to the increase in life expectancy from 56 years to 60 years between 2008 and 2011, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said on Saturday.