Kwazulu/Natal, South Africa News

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, June 19 -- South African Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has raised the alarm over the use of drugs among the country's youth, saying that drugs pose a bigger threat to the future of the country than the AIDS pandemic.

EYE FOR TALENT: Choreographer Geeta Kapoor was so impressed by South African dancers she worked with for the SA Indian Film and Television Awards launch earlier this year, that she is considering holding workshops in India and opening a dance school in Durban.

Malusi Ndimande is a musician from Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal, who has done so much in his 34 years.

Holly Kavonic, a Durban artist living in the US, with her realistic oil paintings which are being snapped up by international collectors.

IN CELEBRATION of his birthday, popular underground artist Celestial Mic will host Born for the Mic, which will showcase some of the best artists in Durban.

Scott Wilson and Justin Lukach frequently say their travels are as much about the journey as the destination.

Denial should not stand in the way of the provision of sexual health services at schools, says Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

Child support grants can significantly reduce teenage girls' chances of contracting HIV, according to study results released at the sixth South African HIV conference in Durban this week.

As Nelson Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, thanked people from across the country, the continent and the world for their well wishes, South Africa's former president began his 11th day in hospital on Tuesday.

The shooting of a KwaZulu-Natal church leader as he was about to deliver his sermon was condemned on Tuesday.

The defection of IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi's sometime speech writer and two other members to the ANC on Tuesday came as no surprise, the IFP said.

The KZN Philharmonic Orchestra's Winter Symphony Season will see internationally-renowned violinist, Sarah Chang , performing in Johannesburg and Durban this month.

THE BARNYARD THEATRE: Presents Thank You For the Music. Music from Abba, the Bee Gees and Queen.

Four armed men might have thought twice before robbing a defenceless woman in her office at Club Marina in Ifafa, had they known they were unleashing a dragnet by local police and their crime-fighting partners.

A former Miss India SA, a campaigner for the pardoning of Schabir Shaik and human rights activist, has launched a political party.

FUNNYMAN Dusty Rich is spreading his wings and venturing to Joburg. Having rocked the local comedy circuit for years, the hilarious entertainer will have his hands full over the next few months as he takes on the City of Gold.

Bafikile Buhlalu took part in a campaign against the use of whoonga in Chesterville, near Durban.

Lwazi Xaba captures the arrest of a woman alleged to be using children to beg on the streets for her benefit.

MINISTER of Basic Education Angie Motshekga was all dolled up when she took centre stage at an Equal Education Youth Day march yesterday.

Against the backdrop of a prolonged slump that has brought financial paralysis to much of the Western world, experts have identified Africa as having many of the world's fastest-growing economies.