The South African government recently announced that tourist arrivals over the past year rose by 15 percent, one of the highest growth rates in the world. In fact, tourism in South Africa has been growing by leaps and bounds for the past five years and is set to surpass gold as one of the country's top foreign exchange earners.

South Africa has one of the world's highest rates of HIV infection. New research, led by Brown University professor Mark Lurie, shows that the movement of workers between urban and rural areas played a key role in the spread of the epidemic. Results are published in AIDS.

One of the most technically accomplished male dancers of his generation, Magongwa has now accepted the honour of a promotion to "Choreographer- in- Residence "with Ballet Theatre Afrikan. Named by the Mail and Guardian as one of the "Top 100 Young South African's to Watch" during 2006, he has indeed delivered on this promise.

Medical ethics and other experts say tough isolation measures, involuntary if need be, are justified to contain very deadly, highly-contagious and drug-resistant mutant strains of tuberculosis and to prevent "a potentially explosive international health crisis" brewing most dangerously in South Africa.

South Africa made diplomatic history this month by taking its seat for a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council, and the country hopes to become an influential member of the world community, just over a decade after the end of the former apartheid regime.

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey opens a girls' academy in South Africa and former South African President Nelson Mandela Attends Ceremonial Program.

iChip Corporation to distribute the full VeriChip product line in South Africa

The following is a transcript of remarks by President Bush and President Mbeki of South Africa in Photo
Opportunity:

South Africa is marking the 10th anniversary (Dec. 10) of the signing of its constitution that formalized the demise of apartheid and the beginning of democratic rule. The charter has been described as one of the most progressive in the world, but it has also generated some controversies. VOA's Southern Africa Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from Johannesburg.