Bafana Bafana will play an international friendly match against Burkina Faso on 10 August at a venue yet to be announced. It will be only their fifth match of 2011.

Bafana were initially scheduled to play Nigeria, but the Nigerian Football Federation made a dramatic about-turn, snubbing the deal they had signed with South African Football Association (Safa).

Safa director of communications Morio Sanyane has confirmed that they have signed a deal with the Burkina Faso Football Association.

"The South African Football Association has signed a deal with the Burkina Faso Football Association that will see Bafana Bafana take on Burkina Faso in an international friendly match on Wednesday, 10 August 2011," Sanyane said.

"The venue and time of kick-off will be announced at a later stage."

Cup of Nations preparation

The match is preparation for South Africa's away trip to Niger in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in September.

South Africa are top of Group G and unbeaten. They have eight points from four matches, while Niger, who have won two and lost two are in second place with six points from their four outings.

Burkina Faso is ranked 37th in the Fifa World rankings, and is in fourth position in Africa.

Due to a lack of activity, while other African teams have been in action, South Africa dropped nine places in the Fifa rankings and is now ranked seventh in Africa.

Despite the drop in the standings, it has been a pretty good year for Bafana Bafana so far. In the four matches they have played, they beat Kenya 2-0, Egypt 1-0, and Tanzania 1-0. They also drew 0-0 with Egypt in Cairo.

BuaNews

Nelson Mandela was admitted to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg on Wednesday afternoon for what have been called routine tests – sparking much activity among local and international journalists and on social networking websites.

"We can confirm that Mr Mandela is at Milpark hospital undergoing routine tests," the Nelson Mandela Foundation in a statement. "He is in no danger and is in good spirits."

According to media reports, various family members and VIPs have been to visit Mandela since his admittance.

Local and international media have been camped outside the hospital awaiting news of how he is doing. Social networking sites have also been abuzz.

The African National Congress (ANC) has called on South Africans to remain calm. "Please, let's not press panic buttons unnecessarily," ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu told the eNews television channel on Thursday morning.

Mandela's "routine tests" came a day after Archbishop Desmond Tutu told journalists in Cape Town that Mandela was frail.

"I saw him last week," Tutu was quoted as saying. "He was all right; I mean he's 92, man, you know. And he's frail."

Source: BuaNews

There was a 14% increase in traveller movements in and out of South Africa in December 2010 compared to the previous year, Home Affairs Deputy Minister Fatima Chohan said on Monday.

Up until December 30, there were 3 503 416 travel movements in and out of the country, which is a 14% increase over the 3 078 026 movements recorded in the same period in 2009, she said in a statement.

On 30 December 2010 there were 110 254 traveller movements for the day in and out of the country.

The highest volume of traveller movements on December 30 was recorded at OR Tambo International Airport with 21 993 travellers.

This was followed by Beit Bridge with 16 611 travellers, Maseru Bridge with 11 765 and Ficksburg with 10 984 travellers.

"On behalf of Minister [Nkosazana] Dlamini-Zuma, and [the] government, I extend my appreciation to all officials for efficiently facilitating traveller movement at all our land, sea and air ports of entry. We express our conviction that all travellers to South Africa will indeed enjoy the hospitality of our people and country," said Chohan.

Sapa

A delegation led by Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies and comprising representatives of around 30 companies is in Brazil to promote South Africa as an investment destination and to facilitate South African involvement in preparations for the 2014 Fifa World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

The delegation will represent South Africa at an Investment and Trade Initiative from 17 to 20 November.

According to Davies, the Initiative will focus on strengthening trade and economic relations between the two countries, and facilitating the involvement of South African companies in the 2014 Fifa World Cup and 2016 Olympics programme.

With South Africa handing over its role as host of the Fifa World Cup to Brazil, the programme features knowledge-sharing, particularly relating to reviews of 2010 World Cup infrastructure projects, including airport infrastructure and the construction of stadiums.

The 2014 Fifa World Cup "presents immense opportunities for South African entities to forge partnership in various infrastructure projects," Davies said in a statement this week. "South Africa, having organised and staged a successful 2010 World Cup, has a legacy to transfer to Brazil."

The Initiative would also serve as a platform to showcase South African goods and services and promote South Africa as an investment destination, Davies said.

The relationship between South Africa and Brazil has evolved strongly over the past 10 years.

Close political and economic ties have been forged bilaterally through a joint bi-national commission), trilaterally through the India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) alliance, as well as through relations between the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur).

SAinfo reporter

South Africa is to spend billions of rands on massive upgrades of five of the country's major public hospitals, using the experience gained in building stadiums for the 2010 Fifa World Cup in implementing the projects.

"We will put massive investment – it will be more than what the country spent during the soccer World Cup," Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told reporters at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban on Monday.

Task teams had been put in place to start planning the rebuilding projects at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital, Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in the Eastern Cape, Dr George Mukhari and Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospitals in Gauteng, and the Limpopo Academic Hospital.

In the case of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, renovation and expansion work began years ago and is far advanced. Located on the outskirts of Soweto, Johannesburg, the hospital is the biggest on the continent, covering 0.7km² and serving approximately 3.5-million people.

Motsoaledi said the government had identified infrastructure development as key to transforming health care delivery in South Africa. "This was because of an honest introspection that informed us that we have not done much in the past 16 years," he said.

Hospitals had been chosen as flagship projects in fast-tracking infrastructure development in public health, in part because they provided referral services to mainly rural communities.

Motsoaledi said that one of the problems that had led to deterioration in some state hospitals – Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in particular – was that the department had used doctors to manage infrastructure projects.

Motsoaledi said the government wanted to use the experience gained in building the 2010 Fifa World Cup stadiums in implementing these projects.

Engineers would provide strategic management of these massive projects, including developing norms and standards for clinics and big hospitals.

Motsoaledi also warned that provinces that underspent on their infrastructure budgets would have them taken away. This was in light of a report showing that the provinces have been underspending on their infrastructure budgets over the past five years.

Source: BuaNews

27 September 2010

Addressing a media briefing in Johannesburg on Thursday following a 2010 Local Organising Committee board meeting, Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke said the fund would be jointly managed by Fifa and the South African Football Association (Safa).

"This will be a perfect opportunity for Safa to bring other investors on board for the future who will also contribute to this trust," Valcke said, adding that he could not yet divulge the size of the fund.

Local Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan declared his support for the trust fund, saying that South Africa would continue to benefit from hosting the Fifa World Cup for a long time to come.

"The people who came to South Africa had a great experience, and I'm told that up to 93 percent of them said they will definitely come back to the country to visit."

Jordaan said plans were afoot to ensure that the stadiums constructed for World Cup were used extensively in the coming decades. "We are in a position where we can make bids for other major international events, and we will do so.

"Durban is already talking about bidding for the Olympics, and they have the infrastructure already," Jordaan said. "All they need to do is to make a few adjustments to meet such requirements.

"After the World Cup, Soccer City hosted one of the biggest rugby matches in this country, and the same applies to other stadiums. These will continue to be national assets."

Valcke said the resounding success of the 2010 Fifa World Cup had set a new benchmark against which future global showpieces would be judged.

BuaNews