South Africa’s Business Event Celebrates 20 Years of Democracy

The South Africa National Convention Bureau (SANCB) is celebrating South Africa’s 20 years of democracy at EIBTM this year, by reflecting on the significant growth of the business events industry on the African continent.

South African Tourism, the official destination marketing organisation of South Africa, is also honouring the tenth anniversary of Meetings Africa, an event dedicated to showcasing Africa’s diverse offering of services and products.

The tenth edition of Meetings Africa, hosted by

Oscar Pistorius trial: Murder verdicts ruled out

The judge in the Oscar Pistorius trial has ruled out murder charges, but has left it to Friday to announce whether he is guilty of culpable homicide.

Judge Thokozile Masipa said the prosecution had failed to prove the Olympic athlete killed his girlfriend deliberately in the toilet after a row, prompting tears from Mr Pistorius.

But she said he acted too hastily and his conduct was clearly negligent.

Adjourning the trial, she said a reasonable person would not have fired.

Judge Masipa had earlier described Mr Pistorius as an evasive witness but said this did not mean he was guilty.

Clearing him of murder charges, she said

General Motors South Africa closes plant due to strike

General Motors has halted production at its main South African plant because of the strike by the country's National Union of Metalworkers.

The US car giant has not been able to access component parts for its cars.

GM told the BBC that its production line was down, but that it has enough cars to sell over the next two weeks.

The current strike is targeted at the steel and engineering sector, which makes products for industries such as mines, automotives and telecoms.

"We undertook contingency planning to

South Africa to miss 2014 GDP growth target

South Africa will probably miss this year’s economic growth target of 2.7 percent, with a five-month mining strike hurting everything from government revenue to exports, Nhlanhla Nene, its finance minister, said.

The economic outlook “has moderated,” Nene told reporters Tuesday in the capital, Pretoria.

Recent forecasts by the IMF and others show “the economy is not going to grow as fast as we had anticipated,” he said.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted an annualised 0.6 percent in the first three months of the year, as mining output dropped 25 percent, the most in

Selling Mandela: From t-shirts to TV shows, how Madiba became a brand

He has not formally appeared in public for years, and recently he's been battling illness inside a Pretoria hospital. But former South African president Nelson Mandela is still a beloved icon across the world, an international symbol of courage, strength and hope.

The 95-year-old Nobel laureate is also one of the world's most recognizable figures. More than just a man, he has become a global brand -- one that's estimated to be worth millions of dollars. Ever since Mandela was released from prison, where he had endured 27 years for fighting apartheid, many South Africans have felt like they'd like to "own" a little piece of him.

As a result, the smiling image of Madiba, as