Johannesburg  - The wife of South Africa's newly appointed Intelligence Minister Siyabonga Cwele is being investigated for international drug trafficking following the arrest of an alleged South African drug mule in Brazil, a Johannesburg-based newspaper reported Sunday.

The Sunday Times newspaper said Sheryl Cwele has been linked directly to the unemployed 31-year-old mother who was arrested in Sao Paulo in June 13, 2008 when a
9-kilo block of raw cocaine was found in her suitcase while en route to Johannesburg.

She is being held in Brazil's Penitenciaria Feminina Da Capital prison, awaiting charges.

Johannesburg  - Four years after his ascension to the throne of St Peter, Pope Benedict XVI embarks on his maiden visit as pontiff this week to Africa, the continent where the Catholic Church is growing the fastest.

The pope's six-day visit takes him to Cameroon and Angola to meet with political and church leaders, lead young Catholics in prayer at two mass rallies and visit charities working with some of the world's poorest people.

Johannesburg  - The filmaker who will direct the biopic of former South African president Nelson Mandela has described his recent meeting with the anti-apartheid icon as "inspirational."

British director Tom Hooper, who will direct the film adaptation of Mandela's best-selling autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, and the film's South African producer Anant Singh met the 90-year-old anti-apartheid icon in Johannesburg last week, Singh's company said in a statement Friday.

Johannesburg - Over 8,000 firearms have gone missing over the past three years from South African police supplies, the government revealed in parliament this week according to the South African Press Association (SAPA).

In response to a question from the opposition, the ministry for safety and security said police had lost, stolen or misplaced 8,286 pistols, shotguns, rifles and revolvers, SAPA reported.

Of these, under 900 had been recovered.

Johannesburg  - An armed gang walked into a church north of Johannesburg during a service and shot a man in the face, South African police said Thursday.

The South African Press Association quoted the police as saying that nine armed attackers - eight men and a woman - entered an evangelical church in the Randburg district during Wednesday evening service and robbed the worshippers of mobile phones and cash.

They then took the caretaker to his room and shot him in the face after stealing his DVD and mobile phone, police said.

Johannesburg, Mar. 4 : Former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson, who had criticized cricket teams for canceling their Pakistan tours due to security fears, now concedes "everything has changed" after the terror attack on Lankan cricketers in Lahore.