Cape Town - Up to ten thousand people were evacuated from their homes as fires continued to ravage South Africa's Western Cape region on Thursday, fanned by a ferocious winter storm.

Johanesburg - South Africa's economy unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter of this year, pushing the continent's most advanced economy into its first recession since 2009, according to official statistics released Tuesday.

Johanesburg - South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, said Saturday its former leader Helen Zille faced being suspended over a tweet in which she said colonialism brought benefits to the country.

Ennerdale - The piles of stinking rubbish are growing, running water and electricity are scarce. In Ennerdale, public anger over the failures of post-apartheid South Africa has reached boiling point, exploding into a wave of violent protest.

Johanesburg - South Africa's President Jacob Zuma faced further opposition at a meeting of his party's top leadership Sunday but managed to sidestep a no-confidence vote after a turbulent three-day gathering.

Pretoria - Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Pretoria on Saturday, angered by a rise in violence against women and children in South Africa, including killings and sex attacks.

Cape Town - When an emergency call comes in from one of South Africa's most crime-ridden neighbourhoods, ambulances do not rush straight to the scene but to a police station first to request an armed escort.

Johanesburg - The former chief executive of South Africa's state-owned power utility is to return to the post, officials said Friday, less than five months after he resigned over a corruption scandal that rocked the government.

What's been described as an ;amazing haul' of ancient human remains has been discovered in an important cave site in South Africa. The remains are of the species Homo naledi.

Mothibistad - Primitive hominids may have lived in Africa at the same time as humans, researchers said Tuesday, in new findings that could change the understanding of human evolution.

Johanesburg - A South African court Monday granted bail to a man charged with conspiracy to assassinate top politicians including President Jacob Zuma in an apparent bid to enforce a change of government.

Durban - African countries are becoming increasingly repressive and causing more people to leave their homes, British charity Oxfam said this week, as Germany warned of the destabilising effect migration is having on the continent.

Durban - Africa's flagship business and political summit being held in Durban this week has been overshadowed by a bitter fight exposing deep divisions at the heart of South Africa's ruling ANC.

Durban - The famine ravaging South Sudan and its neighbours could claim six million lives, a charity warned Friday, as the international community struggles to raise the $4.4 billion needed to avert a full-blown disaster.

Johanesburg - South Africa's former finance minister Pravin Gordhan, who was dramatically fired by President Jacob Zuma, has warned that the ruling ANC party could lose power in the next election.

Cape Town - In a case that has gripped South Africa, the 22-year-old son of a wealthy family pleaded not guilty Monday to slaughtering his parents and brother in a frenzied axe attack.

Johanesburg - South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa called Sunday for an independent probe into suspected corruption in the upper echelons of power.

Stellenbosch - Looking out at his 50-hectare (124-acre) estate in a valley nestled below the Helderberg mountains, winemaker Ken Forrester beams with pride in his achievements over 20 years in the business.

Cape Town - In a case that has gripped South Africa, the 22-year-old scion of a wealthy family goes on trial in Cape Town on Monday, accused of slaughtering his family in a frenzied axe attack.

Johanesburg - At least 19 children were killed in a bus crash outside the South African capital Pretoria on Friday, emergency services said, after many were trapped inside the burning vehicle.