The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has defended its action of issuing some of its senior managers notices of suspension. The managers held a press conference yesterday calling for among others the reinstatement of former CEO Lucky Montana. The employees also protested outside Prasa's offices in Pretoria - claiming the company is in chaos since Montana's dismissal.

It seems there is no legal justification for the Justice and Correctional Services minister, Michael Masutha, to postpone the release of Oscar Pistorius on correctional supervision. Masutha indicated he will get legal opinion after the Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa handed a petition to him asking him to postpone Pistorius' release until the end of August, which is women's month. Pistorius served a tenth of his five year sentence for culpable homicide. The rest will be served under correctional supervision. Pistorius was jailed for shooting and killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp in 2013

At least 14 people have been killed in an accident involving a minibus taxi and a train at Shakaskraal near KwaDukuza on the Kwazulu-Natal north coast. It's believed that the taxi lost control and veered off the R102 onto the adjacent railway line, where it was hit by a moving train. EMRS spokesperson Robert Mackenzie says police are investigating

Two of South Sudan's warring factions have signed a peace agreement in the Ethiopian Capital Addis Ababa, hours before the expiry of a deadline for them to do so. Lead mediator Seyoum Mesfin says only the rebels and the SPLM, part of South Sudan's opposition signed the agreement. The government declined to sign, citing reservations to some of the clauses, but said it would sign in the next 15 days. South Sudan's civil war, which began in 2013, is estimated to have cost between 50-thousand and 100-thousand lives, including many civilians.

At least 27 people, including foreigners, are reported to have died after a bomb exploded close to the Erawan shrine in the centre of Thailand's capital, Bangkok. Reports say a second bomb has been found in the area and made safe. The Thai government says the attack was aimed at foreigners due to the Hindu shrine being a popular tourist destination. One of the witnesses, Richard Srikurecha, was near the shrine when the blast happened...

The World Bank's report on South Africa's economy says the country should address its current power crisis and labour relations as a matter of urgency. The report has also warned that South Africa will need to do a lot more to achieve the five percent annual growth envisioned in the National Development Plan. The report recommends that the country train the majority of its unemployed working age population. For more on this we are joined on the line by the author of the World Bank's report on jobs and South Africa's growing working age population, Catriona Purfield.

ESKOM's profits fell from 7.1 billion Rands the previous year to 3.6 billion Rands this financial year. The company says the losses were as a result of debt owed by municipalities, loss of industrial customers and delays in commissioning of the power plants. The utility also plans to borrow 20-billion Rand from the domestic market and international bond markets.

Filling stations in Gauteng will continue to run dry in the next few days, while the rest of the country remains unaffected by the fuel shortage. Fuel Retailers Association CEO Reggie Sibiya says unleaded petrol and diesel are affected. He says over 100 service stations have reported running dry. Sibiya says over and above the planned shutdown at the Engen Refinery in Durban, disruptions have occurred on production at SA Petroleum Refineries, also in Durban, leading to product shortages via pipeline. Sibiya says the situation seems to be improving, but the's not sure when it will be resolved.

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 170 countries to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. Unicef has found that breastfed babies have a six times greater chance of survival in the early months than formula-fed children. However, many women around the world face prejudice and stigma in public and work places in a bid to exercise this right.

The government is meeting with labour unions and mining companies in Pretoria to find a way of saving jobs. Mining minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi says the meeting will carry on until something is committed on paper. Ramatlhodi says he hopes to lift the suspension imposed this week on Glencore's Optimum coalmine if the mining giant meets government directives over jobcuts. The talks come as the National of Mineworkers rejected the Chamber of Mine's final wage offer. Amcu rejected the offer on Sunday. Solidarity says it will likely accept the offer.