As the number of young people in South Africa increases and access to the Internet improves, so too will access to the kind of resistance we’re witnessing in Egypt and Tunisia, writes guest blogger Khadija Patel.

South Africans who seek to participate in influential global decision-making organisations, whether political, sporting or economic, must be encouraged and supported by the government to ensure they achieve those objectives, which in turn will benefit the country.

At a press briefing in Pretoria on 21 January, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma broke his silence on the current situation in Côte d’Ivoire. At the briefing that concluded a two-day state visit by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, president Zuma indicated that ‘there were some discrepancies in the manner in which the [Ivorian] election had come to the final pronouncement of the vote.’

South Africa’s government called for calm today as beloved former President Nelson Mandela spent a second day in the hospital. Spokesmen for Mr. Mandela’s foundation said the elderly liberation fighter had gone to hospital for a “routine checkup,” but South Africans have been following news of his health closely nonetheless, and crowds have gathered outside of the Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg where Mandela is seeking treatment.

SA will, in the coming months, approach fellow members of the Bric bloc Russia and China to train local diplomats in commercial diplomacy. Diplomats trained in commerce and economics are indispensable in negotiating favourable trade and investment agreements with other countries . Russia, and more particularly China, have been aggressively pursuing trade deals abroad .

The Cultural Development Trust (CDT) is hosting a theatre production from Brazil, Favela-Força from 7 to 19 December 2010. The theatre production consisting of five actors plus the art director is visiting South Africa as part of a cultural exchange programme between CDT and IBISS Brazil, a non-profit organisation that works with youth in the Favelas (townships in Rio de Janeiro).

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) confirms the appointment of Mr Clayson Monyela as the Deputy Director-General for the Branch Public Diplomacy as announced by Cabinet after a meeting held in Pretoria on 24 November 2010.

The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) headquarters in Gaborone was officially inaugurated by heads of state and government during the Summit held in Botswana at the weekend, the presidency said on Sunday.