THE US Agency for International Development pledged on Tuesday $250-million in development aid to South Africa for the next five years. The money will be used to stimulate job creation, strengthen the country’s justice system, improve access to health, education and housing for its people and fight the spread of HIV/Aids, the US embassy and the South African foreign ministry said in a joint statement. Some $10,5-million dollars has been earmarked for reconstruction work in parts of South Africa devastated by flooding earlier this year. The aid agreement follows a meeting this month of officials from Usaid and the South African government to review existing development programmes. Usaid has been supporting development efforts in South Africa for the past 15 years and has donated $1,1-billion over that period.