Johannesburg - Disaffected members of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) loyal to ousted former president Thabo Mbeki announced plans to form a splinter ANC faction that would challenge the party in upcoming general elections.

Addressing a press conference in Johannesburg, former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota, flanked by his former deputy Mluleki George and other ANC members, said the ANC, under Jacob Zuma's leadership, had become mired in tribalism and disregard for the rule of law.

Johannesburg - More than 20 people were feared to have died in when a bus crashed into a bridge in South Africa's north-eastern Mpumalanga province, police said Tuesday evening.

The accident took place near the border with Swaziland. The cause of the crash and the exact number of passengers and fatalities were still unknown as police had yet to reach the scene of the accident.

Johannesburg - United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday condemned the brutal slaying of a Somali family in South Africa and urged the government to take measures to protect foreigners from xenophobic attacks.

Sahra Omar Farah, her two teenage sons, one of whom was deaf and her 12-year-old daughter were stabbed to death on Friday in a frenzied attack at a small store run by fellow Somalis in rural Eastern Cape province.

Johannesburg - Nine people, including four children, died when their light aircraft crashed in mountains in north-east South Africa, police said Monday.

The plane was travelling from Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, near the renowned Kruger National Park, towards the central city of Bloemfontein, when it disappeared Sunday in bad weather.

Rescue workers on Monday found the bodies of the pilot and two families, each with two children, in a mountainous area of Mpumalanga province, which borders Mozambique.

Johannesburg- Two weeks after former South African president Thabo Mbeki was forced by his party to resign, his ouster continued to make waves Sunday, with respected Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu threatening to boycott upcoming general elections over the move.

"I would be sufficiently unhappy not to vote," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and renowned anti-apartheid activist told the Sunday Times, South Africa's biggest selling newspaper, in an interview.

Johannesburg - South Africa's petrochemical giant Sasol on Friday announced it would appeal a hefty fine imposed on it by the European Commission for participating in a cartel in the paraffin wax business.

While making clear it was not quibbling with the Commission's finding of anti-competitive behaviour, Sasol questioned how the European Union's executive arm had concluded that it was the ringleader in the 10-company "paraffin mafia".

Sasol also questioned whether the 318-million-euro (445 million dollars) fine was appropriate.