SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa's monetary policy will maintain its focus on hitting a 3-6 percent inflation target over the medium term but will remain sensitive to the domestic economic situation, Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus said on Tuesday.

South Africa's third-biggest listed clothes retailer, Mr Price, reported a 22 percent rise in first-half profit as above-inflation wage increases and decades-low interest rates lift consumer spending in Africa's biggest economy.

South Africa's mine workers union on Tuesday rejected an increased wage offer from Lonmin Plc and said it was moving closer toward launching a strike at the platinum miner's operations.

Marius Els was killed by his pet hippopotamus Humphrey on Saturday. Six year-old Humphrey attacked the South African man at his farm, repeatedly biting and gouging his owner.

About 230,000 people in Swaziland -- almost one-fifth of the population -- are HIV-positive

Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum producer, beat expectations with a 59 percent jump in full-year earnings, even though a strike at its Karee operations drove up unit costs and forced the miner to cut its output target.

Harmony Gold , South Africa's third-largest gold producer, said on Monday it had received a number of enquiries and proposals from parties interested in acquiring its assets in Papua New Guinea, but it was not ready to sell.

Browse on to know why the seven provisional winners are natural wonders and worth a visit.

World champions Argentina, who missed out on their usual ticket to the Olympic women's hockey tournament, have got into the London 2012 Games by the back door.

Noted cricket writer Peter Roebuck was found dead Saturday at his hotel in South Africa, where he was covering Australia-South Africa Test series.

The new seven wonders of nature have been named Friday Nov. 11 by the New Open World Corporation in a provisional list based on the first count of voting results.

South African stocks capped a volatile week with a sideways close on Friday, as concerns about the outcome for Italy's debt crisis kept investors on the sidelines, although platinum miners and other battered-down shares ticked higher.

South Africa's government bonds were weaker on Friday as the market priced out the chance of a rate cut after a hawkish monetary policy statement while the rand jumped against the dollar as global sentiment turned pro-risk.

South Africa needs to adress uncertainties including allocation of mineral rights and ownership which are impeding growth in the mining sector, the National Planning Commission said on Friday.

South Africa's National Planning Commission unveiled a plan on Friday to reduce unemployment and poverty plaguing Africa's biggest economy, but key elements may be blocked by a powerful union in a governing alliance with the ruling ANC.

Swaziland said on Friday it would delay paying civil servant salaries this month, a move prompted by a liquidity crisis that has already triggered unprecedented public protest in Africa's last absolute monarchy.

Bollore plans to invest 18 billion CFA francs in Abidjan port by 2013 to make it the region's key sea hub, the French logistics and transport group's Africa chief said.

South Africa's Energy Minister Dipuo Peters wants an audit of the country's oil refineries to establish their reliability in the face of increasing unplanned refinery shutdowns, the ministry said on Thursday.

Commodities giant Glencore has signed a deal to buy energy trader Mercuria's 15 percent stake in South Africa's Optimum Coal Holdings (OCH) in its drive to acquire the whole company worth around $1 billion, sources close to the agreement said.

Nigeria plans to change the base year for its gross domestic product (GDP) to 2008 from 1990, a move that could lead to a huge jump in the estimated size of Africa's second biggest economy, the national statistics chief said on Thursday.

South Africa's government bonds weakened on Thursday, erasing earlier gains as the Reserve Bank said the inflation outlook had deteriorated, a hint that the chances of another rate cut had diminished.