<![CDATA[BusinessDay]]>https://www.businessday.co.zaSat, 07 Nov 2026 17:36:59 +0000en1hourly1<![CDATA[Odegaard seals narrow win for Arsenal, Tottenham revival ends at Leeds]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/soccer/2026-11-07-odegaard-seals-narrow-win-for-arsenal-tottenham-revival-ends-at-leeds/https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/soccer/2026-11-07-odegaard-seals-narrow-win-for-arsenal-tottenham-revival-ends-at-leeds/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 17:28:57 +0000Arsenal banked another three points in the defence of their Premier League title as their trademark persistence once again paid off in a 1-0 home win over stubborn Hull City on Saturday.

It was not fluent or convincing but Martin Odegaard’s poacher’s goal in the 72nd-minute earned Mikel Arteta’s side a sixth league win by a single-goal margin this season.

Arsenal moved to 27 points from 10 games, six clear of second-placed Manchester City who will try to bounce back from consecutive defeats at Nottingham Forest later on Saturday.

Tottenham Hotspur’s recent revival came to a halt as they went down 1-0 at Leeds United for whom Noah Okafor struck the winner 97 seconds after coming off the bench at Elland Road.

There was controversy, though, with Leeds fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men in the first half when Jayden Bogle escaped a red card for a dangerous tackle on Mathys Tel.

Fulham and Newcastle United shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage -- Jacob Murphy giving the hosts a late lead only for Rodrigo Muniz to equalise.

Arsenal showed last season a champions knack for picking up wins even without hitting top gear and it was very much in evidence against a Hull side who provided a stern test.

Captain Odegaard had not scored since September but was on hand to snaffle a rebound after Noni Madueke’s shot had been saved by Hull keeper Konstantinos Tzolakis.

Tottenham were seeking a fourth successive win but faded against Leeds and Okafor drove home a low shot from the edge of the area in the 79th minute.

That proved enough for Leeds to end a five-match winless league run and move above Tottenham into eighth place with 14 points. Tottenham have 12 points.

Tottenham fans were furious that Bogle was spared any punishment for his rash lunge on Tel which resulted in the Tottenham winger being forced off with an ankle injury -- the VAR check on the challenge taking four minutes.

Visiting manager Roberto de Zerbi played down the controversy, however.

“I’m sorry for the result, but first of all I’m sorry for the performance in the second half,” the Italian said. “We didn’t play like a top team, we played without the right spirit, the right character, the right physicality in the duels.”

Reuters

]]>Chris Radburn<![CDATA[New Zealand outclass Scotland to maintain unbeaten record]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/rugby/2026-11-07-new-zealand-outclass-scotland-to-maintain-unbeaten-record/https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/rugby/2026-11-07-new-zealand-outclass-scotland-to-maintain-unbeaten-record/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 17:27:04 +0000New Zealand kept up their unbeaten record against Scotland, blowing away their hosts in the second half as they won 43-21 in imperious style in their Nations Championship at Murrayfield on Saturday.

There were 10 tries as both sides showed elements of their running game but errors and yellow cards also impacted on the outcome, with Scotland looking rusty and the All Blacks finishing strongly.

Veteran back Beauden Barrett scored two tries to bring his test tally to 50 with Wallace Sititi, Ethan de Groot, Peter Lakai, Josh Moorby and Asafo Aumua also crossing the line for the Kiwis and Damian McKenzie kicking four conversions

Hooker Ewan Ashman notched a hat-trick of tries for Scotland in the first half, all converted by Finn Russell.

The win keeps New Zealand alongside South Africa, who thumped Italy earlier on Saturday, on 20 points at the top of the Southern Hemisphere standings but defeat for Scotland comes a heavy blow to their hopes of topping the Northern Hemisphere section.

“We played our rugby in the first half but we probably left points out there. We were nowhere near accurate enough second-half, and we couldn’t stick with them, it’s really disappointing,” said Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu.

The first of seven first-half tries came in the fourth minute as All Blacks’ attacking intent was signalled straight away with a penalty opportunity spurned and a clever decoy from the resultant lineout allowing Sititi to burst over.

But there was an immediate response from the hosts after Kyle Rowe’s long kick earned them a 50-22 and, from the resultant lineout, Ashman scored.

Two tries in four minutes put the All Blacks 10 points clear in the 20th minute with De Groot bursting over after scrumhalf Cam Roigaard took a quick tap penalty and Lakai scored from a lineout maul to make it 17-7.

Yellow cards for Lakai and Sititi meant New Zealand were effectively down to 14 men for the rest of the half with Ashman scoring twice more to complete his treble but in between Barrett crossed for his first try.

There was a three-point difference at the break with Scotland still holding out hopes of ending their 121-year winless streak against New Zealand, who have now won 32 of 34 meetings between the sides with two draws.

But the All Blacks stepped up a gear to score three more tries in a second half littered with stoppages as Scotland made many errors and had their captain sent to the sin bin.

Josh Moorby’s 48th-minute try in the corner was followed two minutes later by Barrett’s second score and substitute Aumua burst through to claim the last of the All Blacks’ 19 unanswered second-half points in the 67th minute.

The gulf in class was all too evident after the break with New Zealand looking much more cohesive, having had an eight-match tour of South Africa and two Bledisloe Cup matches against Australia since July when Scotland last played.

“It’s pleasing, we had a tough tour in Africa, came back and played some pretty impressive rugby against Australia. We love playing this style of rugby, keeping the ball on the park,” said All Blacks’ man of the match Quinn Tupaea.

]]>Ross Setford<![CDATA[LIVE UPDATES | Cape Town becomes first metro with majority control]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-05-live-updates-cape-town-becomes-first-metro-with-majority-control/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-05-live-updates-cape-town-becomes-first-metro-with-majority-control/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 20:10:09 +0000November 7 2026, 17:03

IEC orders recounts in five wards as it deals with 197 election objections

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has ordered recounts in five wards as it continues to process objections lodged by political parties and candidates after the 2026 local government elections.

IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said the commission had received 197 objections by 3pm on Saturday.

Of these, 54 had been dismissed, while others had been withdrawn.

After 99% of the votes counted, the ANC has the most votes nationally at 30.8%, with the DA lying second on 24%.

“Two [objections] have been upheld. In other words, these two have been found to have an impact or to be material to the outcome of the result,” Moepya said.

IEC orders recounts in five wards as it deals with 197 election objections

November 7 2026, 17:02

November 7 2026, 16:42

WATCH | ‘We will not beg for mayorship’: Mbalula says ANC performance in polls ‘catastrophic’

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has described the party’s performance in the 2026 local government elections as a “catastrophic outcome”, despite the ANC still leading nationally with just over 30% support.

Mbalula said the ANC was aware that the election results would be difficult, with internal polling having suggested the party could receive at least 34% support.

“We knew this outcome was coming,” he said.

He added that the party would not rush into coalition negotiations as it assessed the results across municipalities.

WATCH | ‘We will not beg for mayorship’: Mbalula says ANC performance in polls ‘catastrophic’

November 7 2026, 16:26

November 7 2026, 16:10

WATCH LIVE | The Political Arena looks at the results as they sit at 99%

Arena Holdings’ journalists are coming to you live from the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s results centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Johannesburg, to unpack the election results as they come in and discuss what they mean for municipalities.

WATCH LIVE | The Political Arena looks at the results as they sit at 99%

November 7 2026, 15:56

November 7 2026

WATCH | ANC SG Fikile Mbalula says coalition negotiations are not a priority for the party at the moment, adding that the organisation doesn’t mind being in opposition. Mbalula also admitted that the 2026 LGE results have been catastrophic for the ANC.

November 7 2026, 15:30

Mbalula says the 2026 LGE results reveal a larger political message

November 7 2026, 14:14

WATCH LIVE | IEC updates the media on progress of vote counting

November 7 2026, 12:55

Malema says EFF’s 2026 LGE performance a setback, not a defeat

The EFF leader Julius Malema has described his party’s performance in the 2026 local government elections as a “setback” but not a “defeat”.

This, he said, is something the party will have to take stock of and use the lessons to prepare for the upcoming national and provincial elections in 2029.

The EFF support dropped from 10.3% in the 2021 local polls to 6.2% in 2026.

“We knew from the onset that these elections would not be a walk in the park,” said Malema.

“We knew we were going into a battle, and with that comes scars, but scars do not represent defeat; they represent the survival and bravery of revolutionaries who had the courage to fight and were ready to die with their boots on.”

Malema said that the EFF has lost 612 326 votes nationally and lost its 3rd place position, which is now occupied by the Jacob Zuma-led MK Party.

He, however, remained adamant that the EFF remains a “people’s movement despite this setback”.

“We will take stock as an organisation of our performances ward by ward, municipality by municipality and province by province. We will reflect on where we improved, where we maintained our votes and where we experienced setbacks and take the necessary steps for correction,” said Malema.

“A setback is not a defeat; it is an opportunity which gives us a moment to reflect on how to better present ourselves and our message of service delivery to the people.”

Malema said that the results of these local polls will result in a delay in the path of ensuring there’s reliable service delivery and dignity for poor people.

“We are more resolute than ever, and we’ll use these elections and their outcome to prepare for the upcoming national and provincial elections to be held in 2029. The EFF will not hide from the national picture, and we will not make excuses,” said Malema.

‘We’re down but not out,’ says Malema

November 7 2026, 12:47

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MK Party wants eThekwini election results frozen over alleged IEC system failures

The uMkhonto weSizwe Party has demanded that the IEC immediately freeze the capturing of election results in disputed voting districts and wards in eThekwini, alleging systemic failures, discrepancies in results and irregularities in the counting and verification process.

In a formal objection submitted to the commission on Friday, November 6, the party accused the IEC of presiding over serious failures at its eThekwini Results Operations Centre (ROC), claiming that a system breakdown during the live results-capturing and data-transmission process had disrupted data streams and altered visible audit trails.

MK Party wants eThekwini election results frozen over alleged IEC system failures

November 7 2026, 08:20

November 6 2026, 19:43

Zille favours ActionSA or ANC coalition in Joburg

Democratic Alliance Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille says her preferred coalition options in the city are ActionSA or the ANC, arguing that a two-party government would be easier to manage than a broad coalition involving several smaller parties.

In an interview with TimesLIVE, Zille said preliminary election results suggested the DA could form a two-party coalition with either ActionSA or the ANC, although she cautioned that the final outcome would depend on the results and negotiations.

“I have been looking at the numbers. Before the final results are in, we could do a coalition with two parties in a two-party coalition with ActionSA or ANC,” she said.

Zille favours ActionSA or ANC coalition in Joburg

November 6 2026, 18:35

I despise the DA, but will work with them, says PA’s McKenzie after defeat

The Patriotic Alliance has signalled that it is willing to work with the Democratic Alliance in coalition governments despite party leader Gayton McKenzie’s repeated criticism of the blue party.

The submission came on Friday after the party lost its founding Eldorado Park Ward 18, in Johannesburg, to the DA.

Just after 5pm on Friday, the PA showed 2% of voter support nationwide and 1% of support in Gauteng.

McKenzie said the PA’s approach to coalitions would be guided by the needs of communities rather than personal animosity. “We don’t like the DA, let me be frank. I actually despise them, but we will work with them because it’s not about me.

I despise the DA, but will work with them, says PA’s McKenzie after defeat

November 6 2026, 18:02

Five things to know: What voters had to say about their voting experience

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) asked voters, in a survey, for their opinion on how well the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) managed the election.

The results of the Election Satisfaction Survey found high confidence in the voting process, but a gradual decline in trust in the IEC.

South Africans who voted in the 2026 local government elections largely rated the electoral process as free, fair and professionally run.

The survey interviewed 13,198 voters at 300 voting stations across all nine provinces.

Five things to know: What voters had to say about their voting experience

November 6 2026, 17:20

IEC worker describes ‘inhumane’ conditions endured to count your vote

As the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) reports that the 2026 local government election results are being captured and processed significantly faster than in 2021, the election staff working behind closed doors are revealing the human cost of ensuring that every vote is counted.

Luzuko Simani, who served as a deputy presiding officer (DPO) at the Jan van Riebeeck Primary School voting centre in Cape Town, unpacked the gruelling, long hours required during the counting process, conditions he described as “inhumane”.

IEC worker describes ‘inhumane’ conditions endured to count your vote

November 6 2026, 17:00

WATCH | The Political Arena team talks to political leaders about LGE results

November 6 2026, 16:13

November 6 2026, 16:05

UDM shakes up Eastern Cape politics in historic vote as ANC loses majority

For the first time since 1995, the ANC has lost majority power in the second-largest metro in the Eastern Cape, Buffalo City municipality, after the UDM made inroads in a historic local municipality election result.

The local government results from the metro show a threat to the ANC’s long-standing dominance in the province ahead of the 2029 national and provincial elections.

The ANC, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, held its last election campaign rally in the metro at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane, two days before this week’s elections. As the party would have it — the rally was the last it had as the majority party in KuGompo City (formerly East London).

UDM shakes up Eastern Cape politics in historic vote as ANC loses majority

November 6 2026, 15:55

‘Fearmongering is not democracy,’ says FF Plus national chairperson Wouter Wessels

Freedom Front Plus national chairperson Wouter Wessels has criticised the level of fear mongering displayed in this current election campaign, saying it is a practice far removed from democracy.

Instead, he believes voters should be allowed to associate with and campaign for whomever, without being threatened to do so.

“It also comes back to the politics of fear, with some parties saying it is a two-party race and that the vote shouldn’t be divided, so people are confused. Then other parties say if you don’t vote for us, if you vote for someone different then you are going to lose your grant, you will lose your RDP house and all those things are fear mongering and it is not good for democracy.”

Stop the fearmongering, it’s not democracy: FF Plus chair

November 6 2026, 15:45

November 6 2026, 14:56

WATCH | ActionSA wants to end ‘revolving door’ of Tshwane mayors

ActionSA says it will push for Dr Nasiphi Moya to remain executive mayor of Tshwane for another five years as the party prepares for coalition negotiations after the local government elections.

The party’s secretary-general, Michael Beaumont, said ActionSA would negotiate with parties willing to commit to a shared programme of government focused on service delivery, stability and accountability.

Beaumont said the party wanted to end the revolving door of mayors in the capital and would not support candidates with a track record of corruption or failure.

WATCH | ActionSA wants to end ‘revolving door’ of Tshwane mayors

November 6 2026, 14:30

Ex-MP Ndlozi explains why he didn’t vote in local government elections

Former EFF member of parliament Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has revealed that he did not vote in the recent 2026 local government elections, citing his dissatisfaction with the state of black political parties in South Africa.

South Africans headed to the polls this week to cast their ballots in the municipal elections. Out of 29.2-million registered voters across 23,696 voting stations nationwide, about 14.5-million citizens cast their votes.

Ex-MP Ndlozi explains why he didn’t vote in local government elections

November 6 2026, 14:28

WATCH | SACP and Afrika Mayibuye make inroads in municipal elections

The SACP and Afrika Mayibuye Movement (AMM) are emerging as new contenders in the local government elections, recording pockets of support in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

The two parties have attracted attention with their electoral performance, particularly the SACP, which broke away from its longstanding electoral alliance with the ANC to contest the elections independently.

Speaking to Sowetan on the sidelines of vote counting at the National Results Operation Centre in Midrand on Friday, SACP national spokesperson Mbulelo Mandlana said the party was pleased with its performance.

WATCH | SACP and Afrika Mayibuye make inroads in municipal elections

November 6 2026, 13:14

November 6 2026, 12:45

November 6 2026, 12:33

WATCH | Jacob Zuma says MK Party open to coalition talks

Former president Jacob Zuma says the MK Party is open to coalition talks.

Speaking at the Durban high court on Friday — where he came to support his daughter, former MK Party MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla — Zuma gave his trademark laugh as he answered questions about the party’s performance in Wednesday’s elections.

WATCH | Jacob Zuma says MK Party open to coalition talks

November 6 2026, 11:53

November 6 2026, 12:00

WATCH LIVE | The Political Arena speaks to Helen Zille and what the early results mean

November 6 2026, 11:11

November 6 2026, 09:44

WATCH LIVE | The Political Arena team unpacks trends on the election results

November 6 2026, 09:40

DA gains in five metros — Hill-Lewis says talks must put residents first

DA federal leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has called on political parties to put aside their election differences and prioritise stable local government, as coalition negotiations loom across the country following Wednesday’s municipal elections.

Addressing the media at the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC’s) national results centre in Midrand on Friday, Hill-Lewis said political leaders had a responsibility to rise above the divisions of the election campaign and form governments capable of turning around struggling municipalities.

He said the emerging results suggested that about 150-160 councils, representing roughly two-thirds of the country’s local municipalities, would require coalition governments.

DA gains in five metros — Hill-Lewis says talks must put residents first

November 6 2026, 08:55

WATCH LIVE | DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis briefs media

November 6 2026, 08:50

20 suspects nabbed for election related offences in Limpopo

Limpopo police have arrested 20 suspects for election related offences since the commencement of the 2026 Local Government Elections.

According to police, a total of about 33 cases relating to election-related incidents have been registered across Limpopo.

The offences include contravention of the Electoral Act 73 of 1998, fraud, common assault, malicious damage to property and pointing of a firearm.

20 suspects nabbed for election related offences in Limpopo

November 6 2026, 08:43

Frustration and action shift power in KZN

KwaZulu-Natal has shifted.

In its first local government election, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) has emerged as the province’s leading party in early counting.

The African National Congress (ANC) has fallen to second place in a province it once dominated.

By Thursday, with 30% counted, the IEC put the MK Party on 33%-34%, the ANC on 25%, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on 22% and the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 10%-12%.

Frustration and action shift power in KZN

November 6 2026, 08:30

Gauteng urban voters break with historical political loyalties as hung councils loom

With Gauteng’s metropolitan municipalities appearing unlikely to produce outright winners, an analyst has described voters in the country’s economic hub as increasingly different from those elsewhere.

With about half of the votes counted and declared by Thursday night, Johannesburg and Tshwane had three parties each polling more than 20% of the vote — a rarity in many municipalities across the country.

Wade Manning, executive director of Defend Our Democracy, said voters in Johannesburg were increasingly prioritising local issues over traditional political loyalties.

Gauteng urban voters break with historical political loyalties as hung councils loom

November 6 2026, 08:15

Ntuli casts doubt on ANC-DA deal for Johannesburg mayoralty, takes swipe at Zille

ANC head of elections Mdumiseni Ntuli has cast doubt on a possible deal between the ANC and the DA that could see Helen Zille elected as Johannesburg mayor, suggesting her campaign rhetoric had left a sour taste among ANC leaders.

In an interview with The Political Arena at the IEC Results Centre on Thursday, Ntuli, who is also the ANC’s chief whip in parliament, said some within the party would be uncomfortable working with the DA following what he described as Zille’s arrogance during the campaign.

“A number of us will be very uncomfortable with the display of arrogance of Helen Zille. I’m talking about Johannesburg. This thing that she is the messiah, she is going to travel all the way from Cape Town to fix Johannesburg.

Ntuli casts doubt on ANC-DA deal for Johannesburg mayoralty, takes swipe at Zille

November 5 2026, 21:54

WATCH | ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba outlines the conditions his party wants met before entering into a coalition with another party.

 

November 5 2026, 21:39

WATCH | ANC’s Nomvula Mokonyane says the results show the party is being renewed and that voters still have confidence in the ANC.

November 5 2026, 20:45

Northern Cape leads election results capture as IEC says more than 60% processed

The Northern Cape is leading the capturing of results in the 2026 local government elections with 87% of results captured as the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) continues its counting, verification and auditing processes countrywide.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission was pleased with the steady progress being made with more than 60% of the results captured by 5pm.

Northern Cape leads election results capture as IEC says more than 60% processed

November 5 2026, 21:00

WATCH | ATM national chairperson Mandisa Mashiya says the party will not consider entering into coalitions with parties it considers corrupt or those whose principles do not align with its own.

November 5 2026, 20:42

DA leads Western Cape as coalitions loom in councils

The DA is maintaining its dominance across much of the Western Cape, but early results from the 2026 local government elections point to a number of closely contested municipal councils where no party has secured an outright majority.

With 50% of the province’s 1,623 voting districts counted, the DA had secured 53.4% of the provincial vote, followed by the ANC on 14%, the PA on 11.1% and the Freedom Front Plus on 5.4%.

DA leads Western Cape as coalitions loom in councils

November 5 2026, 19.01

DA takes majority control of at least four councils in Western Cape, 13 hung still and counting

The DA has secured majority control of at least four out of 24 local municipalities in the Western Cape after the counting and declaration of votes was concluded in at least 17 local councils across the province by 6pm on Thursday.

Western Cape IEC Chief Micheal Hendrickse said that at that time, there were at least 13 hung councils in the province, which means they would have to be governed by coalition arrangements.

DA takes majority control of at least four councils in Western Cape, 13 hung still and counting

View Live Election Results 🗳️

November 5 2026, 17:40

November 5 2026, 17:24

WATCH LIVE| The Political Arena team breaks down the LGE results as they trickle in

November 5 2026, 17:20

November 5 2026, 17:11

DA’s victory projection sparks backlash as rival parties urge patience

The Democratic Alliance’s projection of securing about 59% of the vote in the City of Cape Town has drawn mixed reactions from rival political parties, with some accusing the party of prematurely declaring victory before the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) had completed its counting process.

On Thursday the DA held a mini celebration outside the IEC results centre in Century City, where Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced that the party was claiming victory in the metro based on its election projections.

DA’s victory projection sparks backlash as rival parties urge patience

November 5 2026, 17:08

‘We won’t be in bed with corrupt people’: ATM draws hard line on coalition deals

The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has set strict boundaries regarding potential coalition governments, stating it will not get into bed with corrupt individuals or parties.

This comes as the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) continues counting and verifying votes after Wednesday’s local government elections. Final results are expected to be announced in the coming days.

With 43.3% of voting districts currently processed, the ATM sits outside the top 10 parties nationally, holding roughly 0.9% of the vote. The ANC and DA continue to lead the national tally.

‘We won’t be in bed with corrupt people’: ATM draws hard line on coalition deals

November 5 2026, 16:52

NOVEMBER 5 2026, 14:55

WATCH | The DA celebrates a major milestone, claiming one million black votes as it overtakes the EFF. Ashor Saraupen weighs in on the party’s growing support, election gains, and coalition prospects.

November 5 2026, 14:46

November 5 2026 14:02

ActionSA eyes coalition roles as early Tshwane results show gains

ActionSA says it is encouraged by early local government election results in Gauteng, as it appears to be on course to strengthen its position in the City of Tshwane and increase its influence ahead of the 2029 national and provincial elections.

By lunchtime on Thursday, the DA led in Tshwane with 30.6% of the vote, while ActionSA was second at 22.8%.

ActionSA national spokesperson Michael Beaumont said the party was gaining momentum in several wards and had made significant inroads in areas previously dominated by the ANC, which is currently sitting at 21.9%.

ActionSA eyes coalition roles as early Tshwane results show gains

November 5 2026, 13:20

WATCH LIVE | The Political Arena team breaks down the early election results

November 5 2026, 13:05

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IEC reports faster results processing as Zille happy with DA performance

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says the 2026 local government election results are being processed at a faster pace than during the previous municipal elections, with 18 municipalities having completed the results process by 9am on Thursday.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission had received 23,444 results slips, representing 35.5% of the 66,073 expected results from local municipalities, metros and district councils across the country’s 23,000 voting stations.

“Of these, 22,983 results slips, representing 34.8%, had been captured into the results system, while 16,791, or 25%, had undergone independent auditing.”

IEC reports faster results processing as Zille happy with DA performance

November 5 2026, 10:43

November 5 2026, 10:00

WATCH LIVE | IEC updates media on early vote-counting

November 5 2026, 09:44

WATCH LIVE | The Political Arena team looks at the numbers trickling in

November 5 2026, 09:20

KZN voter turnout tops national average at 48.7 percent

KwaZulu-Natal’s preliminary voter turnout stood at 48.7%, above the national figure of 45.8% on Thursday morning.

Provincial electoral officer Ntombifuthi Masinga said the figures remained provisional, with only 18% of the province’s results captured and 12% audited.

The turnout figures put KZN 2.9 percentage points ahead of the national average, but Masinga said that outstanding results could change the picture.

KZN voter turnout tops national average at 48.7 percent

November 5 2026 09:14

21% of the votes have now been counted. The ANC is currently leading, having received 1.34 million votes, followed by the DA with 1.27 million and the MKP currently has 240,000 votes.

November 5 2026 09:00

10% of votes captured in Gauteng and the DA is leading with 39.26% followed by ANC with 18.55% and ActionSA at 15.17%.

November 5 2026 08:52

A lot of pink spots on the KZN map this morning, with Jacob Zuma’s MKP taking an early lead of 32.6%, followed by ANC with 23.99%. The IFP is closely behind with 21.95%. Only 11% of votes have been captured.

November 5 2026, 08:48

Woman arrested at Mugoboya voting station for disrupting voting

A 25-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly disrupting the voting process at Mugoboya voting station in the Mopani district on Wednesday.

The woman is expected to appear before the Lenyenye magistrate’s court on Friday.

She was arrested following an incident in which she allegedly attempted to take photographs and record a video while casting her vote. The presiding officer informed her that such conduct was prohibited by law and would not be permitted.

Woman arrested at Mugoboya voting station for disrupting voting

November 5 2026 08:42

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November 5 2026, 07:21

Local Municipal Elections 2026 : Leading parties
Local Municipal Elections 2026 : Leading parties

Party % Support Seats Votes
ANC 31.76% 120 862,877
DA 31.23% 81 848,677
MKP 5.13% 4 139,382

Local Municipal Elections 2026 - % Support Comparison
Local Municipal Elections 2026 - % Support Comparison
  • Counting is at 15% complete
  • For all your live results visit the IEC.

November 5 2026, 07:00

Youth unemployment tops concerns as Atteridgeville, Saulsville residents vote

The communities of Atteridgeville and Saulsville cast their votes in the local government elections on Wednesday, hoping their preferred candidates will address unemployment and create more job opportunities for young people.

When TimesLIVE visited several voting stations in the area, residents expressed concern about the high levels of youth unemployment, saying many young people remain without opportunities, with some turning to drugs as a coping mechanism.

Youth unemployment tops concerns as Atteridgeville, Saulsville residents vote

November 5 2026, 05:00

Youth stay away from polls as townships turn quiet while suburbs queue to vote

Thousands of young people appeared to have turned their back on the local government elections in townships such as Nyanga, Langa and Khayelitsha, with some opting to treat election day as a public holiday rather than exercise their right to vote.

While some voting stations in these communities were relatively quiet, with mostly elderly residents turning out, long queues could be seen at several polling stations in the suburbs, highlighting a stark contrast in voter participation across the city.

Youth stay away from polls as townships turn quiet while suburbs queue to vote

November 5 2026, 05:00

SOWETAN | Big day for democracy as millions cast votes

Yesterday, millions of South Africans descended on polling stations to vote for change in the local government elections, much as they did in the first democratic elections in 1994.

Although much of the public debate in the coming days will focus on voter turnout and the outcome, the significance of the voters who showed up at voting stations should not be minimised. Like those who turned up in 1994 to usher in the first democratic government, this year’s local government election is about more than platitudes and numbers.

Given the growing dissatisfaction with the state of municipalities and the delivery of basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation, yesterday’s voting was also about the maturity of our democracy. Voter registration has trended upward, even when turnout in some elections has been inconsistent.

SOWETAN | Big day for democracy as millions cast votes

November 5 2026, 05:00

Young and old come out for change

From first-time voters hoping to secure jobs and safer communities, to pensioners determined to see long-promised basic services delivered, young and old voters went to the polls on Wednesday with one common demand: change.

In Hammanskraal, Midrand, Johannesburg and the Vaal, voters said their ballots represented an opportunity to influence the future of communities struggling with unemployment, crime, poor roads, water shortages and failing municipal services.

For 24-year-old Puseletso Mafuma, voting for the first time in Temba, Hammanskraal, was an emotional milestone that made her feel her voice finally mattered. “I feel relieved that finally, I get to choose which party rules. It feels like I have a say, you know. It feels like my voice is finally getting heard,” she said.

Young and old come out for change

November 5 2026, 04:45

EDITORIAL | Thank you, your vote made a difference

As South Africans flocked to churches, schools and community centres yesterday to make their mark in a quest for improved service delivery and a better life, another election played out on the other side of the world that has the potential to move the needle down at the bottom of Africa.

Despite being in another country thousands of kilometres away, the US midterm elections have had repercussions across the world. The landslide Democrat victory has shifted the balance of power and effectively made President Donald Trump a lame duck for his remaining two years in office.

EDITORIAL | Thank you, your vote made a difference

November 5 2026, 04:45

Change in the air as election fever sweeps eThekwini

ANC exile-era struggle songs replaced protest chants in Durban’s CBD on Wednesday where ironically a flash mob of singing MK Party supporters shimmied down Diakonia Avenue, in almost anticipatory celebration.

Minutes later, not to be outdone or written off, a group of ANC-clad supporters waved the party’s flag, singing and ululating to drum up support along the street where voting stations were set up at the Durban Music Centre and YMCA Park.

There snaking queues of voters waited patiently, determined to put an end to the rot, crime and water crisis in the volatile economic hub, which has courted xenophobic civil unrest in the past two month.

Change in the air as election fever sweeps eThekwini

November 5 2026, 04:30

EXPLAINER | How the IEC’s dispute resolution system works

South Africa’s electoral dispute resolution system gives political parties several avenues to challenge alleged irregularities, report administrative failures and seek action against breaches of election rules. But the processes are not interchangeable and parties must use the correct legal channel and meet the applicable deadlines if they want their complaints to be considered.

As South Africans voted in Wednesday’s local government elections, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) must ensure that complaints are dealt with in accordance with the law.

EXPLAINER | How the IEC’s dispute resolution system works

November 5 2026, 04:30

WATCH | ‘What’s the point of voting?’ ask people who boycotted elections

While millions of South Africans made their way to voting stations to cast their votes on Wednesday, residents of Ga-Chokoe outside Mokopane in Limpopo boycotted the elections over a dispute concerning municipal ward demarcation.

Mahlora Primary School, which was designated as a voting station, was empty for most of the day as residents refused to cast their ballots.

Only the police and IEC officials could be seen inside the school. There weren’t even party agents outside. The roads were empty as residents decided to stay home. This followed a community meeting where it was decided that no-one would vote.

WATCH | ‘What’s the point of voting?’ ask people who boycotted elections

November 5 2026, 04:30

SA voter turnout threatens to redraw political map

More than 40% of South Africa’s registered voters had cast ballots by 5pm in municipal elections on Wednesday, with three hours of voting remaining, as the contest threatens to further weaken the ANC and reshape coalitions governing the country’s biggest cities.

About 12-million people had voted by that point, up from 3.5-million at 10am, according to preliminary figures released by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in a briefing on Wednesday night. Gauteng recorded the highest number of votes at about 3-million, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 2.5-million and the Western Cape at 1.5-million.

SA voter turnout threatens to redraw political map

November 4 2026, 21:58

ANC says two members attacked in KZN while on way to vote

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal says two of its members were injured and taken to hospital after an alleged attack in Abaqulusi, while police say the incident was not politically motivated.

The party alleged on Wednesday that IFP supporters assaulted its voters on their way to vote in Siyaphambili voting district in ward 4 of Abaqulusi local municipality.

ANC says two members attacked in KZN while on way to vote

November 4 2026, 20:47

When voting closes: IEC explains next steps and results declaration

With voting in Wednesday’s election drawing to a close, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has outlined the processes that follows, from the counting of ballots at voting stations to the verification and eventual announcement of the results.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said all ballot papers would be counted at the voting stations.

When voting closes: IEC explains next steps and results declaration

November 4 2026, 20:20

SA voter turnout threatens to redraw political map

More than 40% of South Africa’s registered voters had cast ballots by 5pm in municipal elections on Wednesday, with three hours of voting remaining, as the contest threatens to further weaken the ANC and reshape coalitions governing the country’s biggest cities.

About 12-million people had voted by that point, up from 3.5-million at 10am, according to preliminary figures released by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in a briefing on Wednesday night. Gauteng recorded the highest number of votes at about 3-million, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 2.5-million and the Western Cape at 1.5-million.

SA voter turnout threatens to redraw political map

November 4 2026, 19:51

WATCH | ‘No water, no vote’: East Rand residents skip polls over three-day outage

Several residents in eSindane, Tsakane, on the East Rand, stayed away from voting stations on Wednesday, saying they had gone three days without water and felt neglected by those seeking their votes.

Residents said the water outage, which began on Monday morning, had left them struggling with basic household needs, including cooking, bathing and doing laundry, while intermittent electricity supply added to their frustrations.

WATCH | ‘No water, no vote’: East Rand residents skip polls over three-day outage

November 4 2026, 19:16

MK supporters celebrate early in eThekwini

ANC exile-era struggle songs replaced protest chants in Durban’s CBD on Wednesday, where a flash mob of singing MK party supporters shimmied down Diakonia Avenue in almost anticipatory celebration.

MK supporters celebrate early in eThekwini

November 4 2026, 19:11

Water crisis takes centre stage in municipal election battle

Political leaders cast their votes countrywide on Wednesday as the battle for control of South Africa’s 257 municipalities intensified, with service delivery failures, particularly persistent water shortages, emerging as a big election battleground.

Water crisis takes centre stage in municipal election battle

November 4 2026, 18:59

WATCH | Old people standing in queues say they didn’t know about special votes

Some elderly voters who were approved for special votes turned up at polling stations in Kathorus (Katlehong, Thokoza, Vosloorus), Ekurhuleni, with election observers reporting confusion over the process and concerns about people trying to use their age to skip queues.

An observer said several senior citizens who were expected to vote on Monday or Tuesday had instead arrived on election day.

WATCH | Old people standing in queues say they didn’t know about special votes

November 4 2026, 18:52

IEC assures voters they will not be turned away if they arrive before 9pm

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has assured voters that they will be allowed to cast their ballots even if voting is extended beyond the official 9pm closing time, provided they arrive at their registered voting stations before the deadline.

This comes as voting enters its final hours in the 2026 local government elections, with preliminary figures showing that 12-million voters had cast their ballots across the country by 5pm on Wednesday.

IEC assures voters they will not be turned away if they arrive before 9pm

November 4 2026, 18:51

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‘Vote for dignity,’ urges EFF Joburg mayoral candidate Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng

EFF mayoral candidate for Johannesburg Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng has urged voters to exercise their democratic right despite the despondency.

“Voting is the single most fundamental civic duty and we are only asking for people to do it every four years,” she said before entering her allocated voting station in Parkmore, north of Johannesburg.

‘Vote for dignity,’ urges EFF Joburg mayoral candidate Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng

November 4 2026, 18:21

Tumisho Masha under fire for posting marked ballot paper

Tumisho Masha has found himself in legal hot water.

As celebrities flooded the timeline to share images of their inked thumbs to show their participation in the 2026 local government election on Wednesday, Tumisho took to his social media, not only posting his thumb but also the alleged ballot paper revealing he voted for ActionSA.

Tumisho Masha under fire for posting marked ballot paper

November 4 2026, 18:12

Zuma casts vote, satisfied with voting process

MK Party president Jacob Zuma is confident his party will win the local government elections, saying he believes South Africans have recognised it as a party capable of taking over the country and governing it well.

Zuma was speaking after casting his vote on Wednesday at Ntolwane Primary School in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, where he arrived wearing an MK Party T-shirt bearing his image and sporting his trademark smile.

Zuma casts vote, satisfied with voting process

November 4 2026, 18:10

RECORDED| IEC briefs media on progress of local government elections

November 4 2026, 18:08

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November 4 2026, 17:23

Kingsol Chabalala confident DA will unseat ANC in Emfuleni

The DA’s mayoral candidate in Emfuleni municipality, Kingsol Chabalala, said his vote signals the beginning of the end of what he describes as years of chaos, poor governance and failing service delivery in Emfuleni.

Speaking after casting his vote on Wednesday, Chabalala said residents deserved a municipality that worked for all communities.

Kingsol Chabalala confident DA will unseat ANC in Emfuleni

November 4 2026, 17:23

KwaLanga residents want action on toilets, housing and unemployment

Unemployment, stalled housing projects and poor basic services remain among the concerns residents hope will be addressed by those elected to power.

Young people in KwaLanga in the Western Cape have raised concerns about voter apathy among their peers, saying many are failing to recognise the power of their vote despite living with unemployment and poor service delivery.

KwaLanga residents want action on toilets, housing and unemployment

November 4 2026, 17:17

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No water, no vote: some Bronkhorstspruit residents skip election

A 32-year-old man from Zithobeni, in Bronkhorstspruit, chose to collect water from a borehole at Dan Kutumela Secondary School rather than cast his vote on Wednesday.

Bronkhorstspruit recently made headlines after more than 800 people fell ill following water contamination linked to the lack of chlorine at a water treatment plant.

No water, no vote: some Bronkhorstspruit residents skip election

November 4 2026, 16:57

WATCH | What voters want from their local leaders

Service delivery, reliable infrastructure and accountable local government are among the issues facing South African voters.

Sunday Times journalist Yoliswa Sobuwa joins Business Day TV to discuss voter sentiment, the issues emerging from the ground and what communities want from their municipalities.

WATCH | What voters want from their local leaders

November 4 2026, 16:55

WATCH | What coalition talks could mean for South Africa’s metros

With several of South Africa’s major municipalities facing the prospect of hung councils, the local elections could usher in another round of coalition governments.

Jonathan Moakes, director at the SABI Strategy Group, joins Business Day TV to examine the political dynamics shaping these potential alliances and the challenges parties may face in reaching agreement.

WATCH | What coalition talks could mean for South Africa’s metros

November 4 2026, 16:49

Electoral Court dismisses Bongani Cibi’s bid to contest municipal elections

The Electoral Court has dismissed Bongani Wellington Cibi’s application challenging his exclusion from the local government elections, finding that he missed mandatory deadlines and failed to identify a reviewable decision by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

In a judgment handed down on Tuesday, judge Lebogang Modiba ruled that Cibi’s inability to contest the elections resulted from the operation of the law rather than unlawful conduct by the commission.

Electoral Court dismisses Bongani Cibi’s bid to contest municipal elections

November 4 2026, 16:48

November 4 2026, 16:34

WATCH | Limpopo voters boycott elections

While millions of South Africans made their way to different voting stations to cast their votes on Wednesday, residents of Ga-Chokoe outside Mokopane in Limpopo boycotted the elections over a dispute concerning municipal ward demarcation.

Mahlora Primary School, which was designated as a voting station, was empty for most of the day as residents refused to cast their ballots.

WATCH | Limpopo voters boycott elections

November 4 2026, 16:30

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‘Councillors must prioritise voters,’ says Mashatile

ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile has called on councillors who are victorious in the election to put voters first.

Speaking on the sidelines of his voting station in Kelvin, Johannesburg, he said the pleas of residents must be heard and acted upon after the election.

‘Councillors must prioritise voters,’ says Mashatile

November 4 2026, 16:25

WATCH | South Africans head to the polls

South Africans are making their voices heard in a pivotal municipal election. Business Day’s Luyolo Mkentane joins Business Day TV with the latest developments, the mood on the ground and the key stories emerging from voting stations.

WATCH | South Africans head to the polls

November 4 2026, 16:24

WATCH | What South Africa’s local elections mean for the political landscape

South Africa’s local elections could have implications well beyond municipal government, with the results set to shape the balance of power between political parties and the prospects for coalition governments.

Political analyst Sipho Seepe joins Business Day TV to unpack the political dynamics and what the results could signal for the country’s future.

WATCH | What South Africa’s local elections mean for the political landscape

November 4 2026, 16:21

WATCH | The big issues shaping South Africa’s municipal elections

From service delivery and unemployment to political accountability and local economic development, South Africans are voting against a backdrop of deep public frustration and rising expectations.

Sowetan’s deputy editor Thabiso Thakali joins Business Day TV to discuss the issues shaping the elections and what voters are demanding from their local leaders.

WATCH | The big issues shaping South Africa’s municipal elections

November 4 2026, 16:17

WATCH | What’s at stake in South Africa’s municipal elections?

South Africa’s municipal elections are a critical test for the country’s political parties.

Political analyst Daniel Silke unpacks the key issues driving the vote, the changing political landscape and what the outcome could mean for local government.

WATCH | What’s at stake in South Africa’s municipal elections?

November 4 2026, 15:55

WATCH LIVE | The Political Arena team is at the IEC results centre

Polling stations open, opinions open wider.

The Political Arena is live as SA heads to the ballot box for the 2026 Local Government Elections.

Expect real-time conversations, sharp analysis and the latest scoops from our political journalists.

November 4 2026, 15:26

Taxi drivers divided as some skip voting to make money on the road

For some taxi drivers, election day was another working day, with earning money to support their families taking priority over standing in queues to vote.

Mandla Madonsela, 41, said he had decided not to vote because he could not afford to spend time in queues when he could be making money on the road.

Taxi drivers divided as some skip voting to make money on the road

November 4 2026, 15:24

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November 4 2026, 14:50

Thumbs up! Langa Mavuso, Lady Du and other celebs cast their votes

From chart-topping singers to media personalities and comedians, Mzansi’s stars hit the polling stations on Wednesday to cast their votes in the 2026 local government elections.

Thumbs up! Langa Mavuso, Lady Du and other celebs cast their votes

November 4 2026, 14:48

Young and elderly voters queue at Wits amid water, electricity challenges

Young voters at a sports hall at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg on Wednesday raised concerns about the irregular supply of water and electricity.

Siam Tanda Mashekila, 25, said she was proud to see young people coming out in numbers to vote, but remained unsure whether political parties would deliver on their promises.

Young and elderly voters queue at Wits amid water, electricity challenges

November 4 2026, 14:46

Songezo Zibi frustrated by voting station distance

Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi has raised concerns about his designated voting station and that of his son being located up to 5km away, despite a voting station situated right outside his home.

Millions of South Africans are heading to the polls on Wednesday for the 2026 local government elections. Voting stations opened at 7am and are set to close at 9pm.

Songezo Zibi frustrated by voting station distance

November 4 2026, 14:40

Universal ballot templates aid braille voters in 2026 election

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has reiterated measures to ensure visually impaired voters can cast their ballots independently and privately during the 2026 local government elections.

IEC deputy chief electoral officer Masego Sheburi said the commission uses universal ballot templates (UBTs) to assist braille-literate voters in marking their ballots.

Universal ballot templates aid braille voters in 2026 election

November 4 2026, 14:26

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IEC investigates theft of unused ballot papers at eThekwini voting station

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has opened a case of theft after unmarked and unused ballot papers were stolen from a voting station in KZN.

Speaking during a media briefing on Wednesday, IEC deputy chief electoral officer Masego Sheburi said the ballots were stolen from the Mnyameni Secondary School in Kwanyuswa, Botha’s Hill, outside Durban, where they were being kept for validation.

The commission said the station had sufficient materials to continue operating, apart from the voters’ roll.

IEC investigates theft of unused ballot papers at eThekwini voting station

November 4 2026, 14:13

Short queues, big demands: Kagiso voters want water, jobs and decent streets

Voters in Kagiso, ward 7, were in and out quickly today as voting started on time at the Mandisa Shiceka School of Specialisation.

For 18-year-old Keorapetse Thobani, it was his first time voting and he was nervous.

“But they helped me,” he said.

Short queues, big demands: Kagiso voters want water, jobs and decent streets

November 4 2026, 14:12

November 4 2026, 14:02

Thokoza voters doubt election will bring change

High crime levels, substance abuse and youth unemployment are among the many concerns weighing on Thokoza residents as they cast their votes.

Speaking to Sowetan, many said they hoped the next local government would deliver meaningful change rather than more promises.

Thokoza voters doubt election will bring change

November 4 2026, 13:54

3.5-million South Africans voted in first three hours, says IEC

More than 3.5-million South Africans had cast their ballots by 10am on Wednesday as voting got under way across the country for the 2026 local government elections.

Voting opened at 7am and is expected to close at 9pm with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reporting that 98% of the country’s 23,996 voting stations had opened by the regulated time.

3.5-million South Africans voted in first three hours, says IEC

November 4 2026, 13:50

November 4 2026, 13:48

Older voters in Ekurhuleni urge youth to make their mark for SA’s future

Elderly voters making their way to the polls at Etshanini Public Space in ward 112, Ekurhuleni, urged the younger generation to take an active role in shaping the country’s future.

Older voters in Ekurhuleni urge youth to make their mark for SA’s future

November 4 2026, 13:36

Don’t let service delivery issues stop you from voting: Limpopo premier Ramathuba

Limpopo premier Phophi Ramathuba says the government does not have to wait for elections to be over before addressing challenges affecting communities, pointing to interventions in several municipalities across the province.

Speaking to Sowetan after casting her ballot on Wednesday morning at Mokopane Primary School in the Mogalakwena local municipality, Ramathuba acknowledged that residents continued to face challenges, including unemployment, water shortages and poor roads.

Don’t let service delivery issues stop you from voting: Limpopo premier Ramathuba

November 4 2026, 13:35

No water, no voter: taps as dry as early turnout in Orlando East, Soweto

No water. Almost no voters. A double crisis defined the early part of election day in Orlando East as residents went to the polls with dry taps and empty voting stations.

At voting stations in Orlando East on Wednesday morning, the halls were almost empty. For many, the message in the dry water pipes matched the mood at the ballot box.

No water, no voter: taps as dry as early turnout in Orlando East, Soweto

November 4 2026, 13:17

Khayelitsha voters voice dismay over crime and poor service

For a month, Pamela Bheshula, 64, says she has been without water because of a leak in her yard.

She arrived at Sivuyiseni Primary School, a voting station in Mandela Park, Khayelitsha, accompanied by two friends.

Khayelitsha voters voice dismay over crime and poor service

November 4 2026, 13:16

Election day glitches: a cop with political posters, a drunken voter and a collision with a cow

A police officer was removed from a KwaZulu-Natal voting station on Wednesday morning after she arrived in a vehicle branded with posters from a political party, according to police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda.

The sergeant was removed from her Mphithini-area voting station post, in Donnybrook, with the possibility of internal disciplinary processes being instituted following her alleged unprofessional conduct.

Election day glitches: a cop with political posters, a drunken voter and a collision with a cow

November 4 2026, 13:01

WATCH LIVE | IEC briefs media on progress of local government elections

November 4 2026, 12:52

‘Voting changes situations’: Ekurhuleni voters seek jobs and better services

Unemployment was a key concern raised by Ekurhuleni residents as they cast their votes in Wednesday’s local government elections.

At Endulwini voting station in Thembisa, residents said they hoped their votes would bring better services, more job opportunities and improvements in their communities.

‘Voting changes situations’: Ekurhuleni voters seek jobs and better services

November 4 2026, 12:51

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‘My voice is finally getting heard’: First-time voters share hopes

Young voters have called for more job opportunities and safer communities, saying casting their ballots gave them a sense of hope and a chance to shape the future of their city.

A relieved 24-year-old Puseletso Mafuma said voting for the first time made her feel that her voice mattered.

‘My voice is finally getting heard’: First-time voters share hopes

November 4 2026, 12:32

November 4 2026, 12:26

Ramaphosa votes in DA stronghold of Hyde Park

President Cyril Ramaphosa voted in Hyde Park on Wednesday, casting his ballot in the Johannesburg suburb where he lives rather than in Soweto, where he grew up and usually voted.

Electoral Commission (IEC) rules require people to vote at the station where they are registered.

Ramaphosa votes in DA stronghold of Hyde Park

November 4 2026, 12:25

IN PICS | Political leaders cast their votes

Leaders from across the political spectrum joined millions of South Africans at polling stations on Wednesday as the country headed to the polls for the local government elections.

IN PICS | Political leaders cast their votes

November 4 2026, 12:23

November 4 2026, 12:11

Zille vows swift action on Joburg water crisis

Helen Zille said should she be elected mayor of Johannesburg, her immediate priority would be addressing the water challenges confronting South Africa’s economic and financial heartland.

Zille vows swift action on Joburg water crisis

November 4 2026, 12:08

November 4 2026, 12:05

Buffalo City mayor joins queue after residents refuse to let her skip voting line

Buffalo City metropolitan municipality mayor Princess Faku was forced to join the queue like other voters after residents at a voting station in Gonubie refused to allow her to skip the line.

Buffalo City mayor joins queue after residents refuse to let her skip voting line

November 4 2026, 12:05

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ANC T-shirt, broken ID keep these Nyanga voters from casting ballots

“I would rather go home and drink because now I am being sent from pillar to post.”

These were the words of Zuko Jada, 42, who was turned away from Mvula Primary School, a voting station in Nyanga, after arriving to cast his ballot wearing an ANC T-shirt.

ANC T-shirt, broken ID keep these Nyanga voters from casting ballots

November 4 2026, 11:53

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WATCH | ‘Fake’ ID disrupts voting at Rabie Ridge

Police had to be called at a Midrand voting station after a squabble broke out when a voter produced an alleged fake ID.

According to an eyewitness, the man walked in and produce the suspected ID. The security was called to ensure the voters are safe at Kanana Primary School in Midrand.

WATCH | ‘Fake’ ID disrupts voting at Rabie Ridge

November 4 2026, 11:21

November 4 2026, 11:14

Emfuleni residents jump over running sewage on way to polling station

Some residents of Emfuleni local municipality in the Vaal had to jump over sewage running down their streets as they made their way to polling stations on Wednesday.

The municipality has been plagued by service delivery challenges such as open sewage, pothole-riddled roads and uncollected rubbish.

Emfuleni residents jump over running sewage on way to polling station

November 4 2026, 11:11

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Pensioners turn out in numbers at Hammanskraal voting stations

Pensioners outnumbered younger voters at several polling stations in Hammanskraal, Tshwane, on Wednesday morning.

Many elderly residents went to voting stations very early to cast their ballots in the hope the next local government administration would address the area’s longstanding service delivery challenges.

Pensioners turn out in numbers at Hammanskraal voting stations

November 4 2026, 10:32

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IN PICS | South Africans head to the polls

Voters headed to the polls on Wednesday to elect municipal councillors across the country in a major test for the governing ANC after losing its national majority in 2024.

Water shortages, electricity failures, crime, unemployment and poor municipal services are central election issues.

The election could reshape local political alliances and influence the country’s political direction ahead of the 2029 national elections.

IN PICS | South Africans head to the polls

November 4 2026, 10:04

IEC outlines election day dos and don’ts

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has reminded political parties and municipal councillors of the legal regulations surrounding campaigning as the country heads to the polls today.

Voting stations opened nationwide at 7am and are scheduled to close at 9pm.

According to the IEC, voting has commenced smoothly across the country, with all stations successfully opening and no major glitches reported.

IEC outlines election day dos and don’ts

November 4 2026, 10:00

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ANC wants clear majority in Joburg, says mayoral candidate Loyiso Masuku

The ANC in Johannesburg has set terms for its coalition negotiations, saying that as much as they want an outright majority, should the council be split, they would want to work with political parties that are obsessed with service delivery.

This is according to ANC regional chair and mayoral candidate Loyiso Masuku, who said that her political party wanted Johannesburg residents to give them a clear majority.

ANC wants clear majority in Joburg, says mayoral candidate Loyiso Masuku

November 4 2026, 09:06

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Votes in local polls expected to further weaken ANC grip

South Africans vote in municipal elections on Wednesday, with anger over corruption, crime and failing public services threatening to deal another blow to the ANC.

The party dropped below 50% support for the first time in the 2021 municipal elections, and could plunge below 40% this time, according to polls.

With no other party large enough to take its place, many cities in South Africa are heading for unsteady coalition governments that have been partly blamed for failing to deliver basic services, including water and electricity.

Votes in local polls expected to further weaken ANC grip

November 4 2026 08:04

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November 4 2026 07:58

Hostel voter calls for action against gun crimes

The Saulsville hostel voting station near Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, is a few metres away from the hostel block where there was a mass shooting in an illegal tavern late in 2025 in which 12 people were killed.

Long-time resident Pheyi Ngobese pleaded for action against crime in the area.

Hostel voter calls for action against gun crimes

November 4 2026 07:58

Cost of living is top concern for Saulsville voters

As local government elections kick off this morning, at the Motsweding combined school voting station in Saulsville, west of Pretoria, voters had begun lining up at 5am.

Madumetja Mothabele was eager to cast his vote.

“I woke up at 4am and arrived at 5am. I wanted to be here early and I became number one in line. We want service delivery and lights, and our rent is very expensive,” he said.

Cost of living is top concern for Saulsville voters

November 4 2026 07:51

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ELECTION DAY: Sowetan wants to hear from you!

Send us a voice note, videos and images on 071-556-4784.

November 4 2026 7:00

KZN parents urge voters to ‘behave’ at school stations

Vee Gani, head of the Parents Association of KwaZulu-Natal, has urged voters to “behave” peacefully at school voting stations and protect facilities children depend on.

Gani said voters should take disputes to Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) officials respectfully, warning violence could leave schools damaged and disrupt learning during matric exams.

KZN parents urge voters to ‘behave’ at school stations

November 4 2026 6:50

November 4 2026 6:46

‘Your vote, your voice’: South Africans urged to turn out for local government elections

The government has encouraged South Africans to exercise their right to vote in the local government elections on November 4.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) concluded its two-day special voting process on Tuesday, with a total of 1,425,942 special votes cast across Monday and Tuesday ahead of the main election day.

‘Your vote, your voice’: South Africans urged to turn out for local government elections

November 4 2026 6:00

Low turnout, coalition chaos looms as voters lose faith

The battle for control of SA’s municipalities is expected to end in another round of coalition horse-trading, with more hung councils projected and growing numbers of disillusioned voters potentially staying away from the polls.

There is a lot at stake as millions head to cast their ballots on Wednesday, experts say.

Political analyst Tessa Dooms warned that the elections were likely to produce more coalition governments than ever before, with smaller parties and independent candidates potentially holding the balance of power in municipalities across the country.

“In 2021, we ended up with about 70 hung municipalities where coalitions needed to be formed,” she said. “In 2026, it’s estimated that we will have many more hung municipalities that will have coalitions.”

Low turnout, coalition chaos looms as voters lose faith

November 4 2026 5:30

GHALEB CACHALIA | DA’s diversity faces test beyond the candidate bus

The DA has an appealing proposition for South Africa. It is the country’s most diverse political party with a substantial black following, united not by race but by shared values. The rainbow, it seems, has acquired a corporate colour scheme.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with political diversity. Nor is there anything inherently suspicious about a party organising transport to rallies, feeding its activists or training aspiring public representatives. Politics requires organisation and sandwiches do not, in themselves, constitute a constitutional crisis.

But there is a more interesting question than how many black faces a party can assemble for a photograph. That question is: does racial diversity in the ranks translate to diversity of thought, genuine participation in decision-making and an equitable distribution of political power?

GHALEB CACHALIA | DA’s diversity faces test beyond the candidate bus

November 4 2026 5:00

Agoa fallout exposes ANC-DA foreign policy rift

The US’s decision to withdraw South Africa’s Agoa benefits has exposed divisions between the ANC and DA over the country’s foreign policy, with the governing party alleging an attempt to influence voters as the ANC faces mounting electoral pressure.

The ANC, on the one hand, has questioned the timing of Washington’s decision to withdraw South Africa’s preferential trade benefits from January 2027, suggesting it could be an attempt to intimidate voters and pressure the government to abandon its transformation agenda.

Agoa fallout exposes ANC-DA foreign policy rift

November 3 2026 21:11

Tshwane residents hope their vote will bring clean water, electricity and roads

On Tuesday, it had been two weeks since Gritah Ntuli, 62, had seen a water tanker in the Maheights informal settlement in Bronkhorstspruit, Tshwane, where she lives.

Whenever she needed water to bath or do laundry, she would take her family’s clothes to the stream and wash them there, while also collecting bath water for the whole family.

For drinking and cooking water, she has to reach into her pocket and buy it.

Tshwane residents hope their vote will bring clean water, electricity and roads

November 3 2026 20:14

Political intolerance and protests among threats facing Western Cape elections

Political intolerance, intra- and inter-party conflict, criminal activity and protests have been identified as some of the threats facing voting stations in the Western Cape ahead of Wednesday’s local government elections.

Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Sizakhele Dyantyi said 33 of the province’s 1,633 voting stations had been classified as high-risk, while the remainder were categorised as medium- and low-risk.

Political intolerance and protests among threats facing Western Cape elections

November 3 2026 20:06

IEC warns political parties to stop campaigning at midnight ahead of polling day

Political parties, independent candidates and their supporters have until midnight on Tuesday to campaign ahead of the 2026 local government elections, with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) warning that all campaigning must stop before voters head to the polls on Wednesday.

IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya reminded political parties and candidates that the electoral timetable prohibits campaigning after midnight, including door-to-door canvassing, demonstrations and rallies.

IEC warns political parties to stop campaigning at midnight ahead of polling day

November 3 2026 20:04

IN PICS | Special voting continues for millions in local elections

More than 2.5-million voters were approved to cast special votes ahead of the local government elections, with the two-day voting process taking place on Monday and Tuesday.

The second day of special voting got off to a slow start at some voting centres in Johannesburg, where elderly voters were among those expected to cast their ballots.

IN PICS | Special voting continues for millions in local elections

November 3 2026 19:07

IEC concludes special voting as 1.4-million South Africans cast ballots ahead of election day

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has concluded its two-day special voting process with more than 1.4-million voters having cast their ballots ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

The special voting process, which took place on November 2 and 3, provided an opportunity for approved voters who would otherwise be unable to visit voting stations on election day to cast their ballots in advance.

IEC concludes special voting as 1.4-million South Africans cast ballots ahead of election day

November 3 2026 18:55

IEC assures South Africans of credible elections amid attempts to ‘impugn’ the polls

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has assured South Africans that it has done everything possible within its powers to deliver credible local government elections.

This comes as the electoral body says it has picked up attempts from some quarters to malign the integrity of the elections a day before millions of South Africans head to the polls.

November 3 2026 18:13

Five things you need to know from IEC’s election briefing

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has warned against the spread of unsubstantiated election-fraud claims, saying they are fuelling misinformation on social media.

It also reported incidents of intimidation, disruptions and attempted tampering with election materials.

Five things you need to know from IEC’s election briefing

November 3 2026, 18:07

IEC assures South Africans of credible elections amid attempts to ‘impugn’ the polls

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says it can assure South Africans that it has done everything possible within its powers to deliver credible local government elections.

This comes as the electoral body says it has picked up attempts from some quarters to malign the integrity of the elections a day before millions of South Africans head to the polls.

More than 29-million potential voters will have an opportunity to make their preferred choice among the 136,790 candidates, representing a total of 546 political parties across the country.

November 3 2026, 16:30

“Sibagadile, we are watching them closely,” says MKP’s Bongani Baloyi on IEC

Umkhonto weSizwe’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate Bongani Baloyi has issued a stern warning, saying that his party is closely guarding the local elections.

“Sibagadile (We are watching them closely). Our position is to operate from a level of distrust and that’s why we’ve deployed all sorts of mechanisms to protect interest and to protect our vote.”

Baloyi’s party was among those that questioned the integrity of the electoral commission in the previous election, where MKP claimed to have been robbed of votes and their intended two thirds majority.

‘Sibagadile, we are watching them closely,’ says MKP’s Bongani Baloyi on IEC

November 3 2026, 16:25

KZN election officer fired for using party-branded car to carry ‘sensitive’ election material

A KwaZulu-Natal presiding officer was dismissed on Tuesday for transporting sensitive election material in a party political branded vehicle.

In an update on special votes on Tuesday, Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) provincial electoral officer Ntombfuthi Masinga said the presiding officer from Hammarsdale was seen boarding an e-hailing taxi branded in party colours.

“On investigation, it was established that the e-hailing taxi did belong to the presiding officer concerned and was driven by her son,” she said.

KZN election officer fired for using party-branded car to carry ‘sensitive’ election material

November 3 2026, 16:15

IEC cannot confirm reports of dress-code restrictions at KZN voting station

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says it has no information to report on allegations of a strict dress code being enforced at the Dlamini Tribal Court voting station in eDumbe, northern KwaZulu-Natal, where women were reportedly turned away for wearing trousers.

The allegations emerged during the second day of special voting for the 2026 local government elections after reports by the SABC that women, including an SABC journalist, had been prevented from entering the voting station because they were wearing pants.

IEC cannot confirm reports of dress-code restrictions at KZN voting station

November 3 2026, 16:10

Mokonyane rejects ANC blame for Gauteng water crisis

ANC deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane has rejected attempts to blame the party for the water crisis gripping parts of Gauteng, arguing that the problem lies with an unreliable water supply system and the various entities responsible for its management.

Mokonyane said the crisis should not be placed at the ANC’s doorstep as residents head to the polls in the local government elections, insisting it was a national problem requiring interventions beyond individual municipalities.

Mokonyane rejects ANC blame for Gauteng water crisis

November 3 2026, 16:05

34 election misinformation complaints as candidates, supporters face arrests: IEC

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has warned political parties and their supporters against spreading unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, saying misleading social media posts are threatening the integrity of the local government elections.

Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission’s information integrity hub had identified increasing attempts to undermine confidence in the electoral process, particularly through social media platforms.

November 3 2026 16:03

EXPLAINER | What voters can expect at polling stations

As South Africans head to the polls on Wednesday for the 2026 local government elections, voters can expect a series of steps before casting their ballots.

From presenting the correct identification document to ensuring ballot papers are valid, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has outlined a process aimed at making voting easier while safeguarding the integrity and secrecy of the ballot.

IEC assistant manager Mmakgabo Ramatlhodi said voters will first encounter a queue walker who helps manage queues and direct voters at polling stations.

EXPLAINER | What voters can expect at polling stations

November 3 2026, 16:00

November 3 2026 15:25

Why Rustenburg is one of the most hotly contested municipalities

Rustenburg’s economic significance makes it one of the most important municipalities to watch in Wednesday’s local government elections, but attention is focused on major metros, says political analyst Prof André Duvenhage.

Duvenhage, from North-West University, warned that sluggish economic growth, poor service delivery and deteriorating infrastructure continue to undermine municipalities such as Rustenburg in the North West.

“We have major challenges. One of the biggest is the failure to create sustained economic growth and development. Statistics show that over the past decade growth has remained below 1%,” he said.

Why Rustenburg is one of the most hotly contested municipalities

November 3 2026 14:30

WATCH | Shortly after casting her vote in Mogale City, ANC’s Nomvula Mokonyane addressed key issues, including the water crisis in Johannesburg and across the country, as well as the decision by US President Donald Trump’s administration to remove South Africa from AGOA beneficiary status.

November 3 2026, 13:25

Police arrest Limpopo voter for taking photo of marked ballot

A 32-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly photographing his marked ballot paper at a voting station in Limpopo, with police searching for a second suspect accused of the same offence.

Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Hlulani Mashaba said the incidents occurred at Chuchekani Primary School voting station in the Humulani settlement in Lulekani on Monday.

Mashaba said the first incident was reported at about 10am when a 32-year-old voter allegedly photographed his ballot paper after voting. The presiding officer confronted him and informed him that photographing a marked ballot paper was against electoral rules.

Police arrest Limpopo voter for taking photo of marked ballot

November 3 2026, 12:30

‘People must vote or nothing will be done’

For some elderly voters at the Joubert Park Lapeng Child and Family Resource Centre in Johannesburg, voting is more than a right; it is a tradition and an opportunity to help secure a better future for the next generation.

Speaking to TimesLIVE, Sowetan’s sister publication, John Masuku, who lives in Hillbrow, said he was voting because he wanted to see improvements in his community, particularly the condition of the roads.

He said the roads and robots where he stays don’t work, and he finds it hard to cross a busy road. “I’m voting because I need the roads to be fixed. I’m old now, and sometimes I can’t cross the road alone because they are always busy, so I ask my grandchildren to help me cross,” he said.

‘People must vote or nothing will be done’

November 3 2026 12:11

MALAIKA MAHLATSI | Years of Joburg rot is now rubbish on our pavements

On Tuesday morning, one day before millions of South Africans head to the polls to cast their votes in the 2026 local government elections, I walked through the streets of my neighbourhood in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg.

Every street was lined with overflowing bins and half-open refuse bags. Flies and insects have congregated on driveways and entrances to complexes, estates and business premises.

The stench, including from the uncollected waste of numerous restaurants located in the neighbourhood, is paralysing. One day before elections, in the middle of a debilitating heatwave, the northern suburbs of Johannesburg resemble dystopian slums.

MALAIKA MAHLATSI | Years of Joburg rot is now rubbish on our pavements

November 3, 2026, 12:O8

Two arrested in Limpopo for allegedly removing election posters, burning political party T-shirt

Limpopo police have arrested two suspects in two separate cases involving election-related offences, including the alleged unlawful removal of election posters and intimidation.

Two arrested in Limpopo for allegedly removing election posters, burning political party T-shirt

November 3, 2026, 11:40

WATCH LIVE | IEC briefs media on first day of special voting

The Electoral Commission of South Africa is briefing the media on Tuesday about day two of special voting.

WATCH LIVE | IEC briefs media on first day of special voting

November 3 2026, 11:10

November 3 2026, 10:35

WATCH | The morning has been quiet at the Joubert Park, Lapeng child and family resource centre, where elderly voters are expected to cast their special votes, with no long queues.

November 3 2026 08:00

GCINA MTENGWANE | When democracy multiplies parties but not purpose

On Wednesday South Africans will face the most crowded local election ballots in the country’s democratic history.

About 546 political parties are contesting. That is about 60% higher than the 325 parties that took part in 2021. Nearly 137,000 candidates are competing for just over 10,500 council seats. These numbers express a constitutional right to form and join political parties.

They also reflect a citizenry that has grown restless with the established order.

GCINA MTENGWANE | When democracy multiplies parties but not purpose

November 2 2026 16:10

THE POLITICAL ARENA | Voter anger or apathy: Will South Africans turn out to demand change?

With South Africa’s November 4 local government elections just days away, voters face a critical choice: how to hold political parties accountable for failing services, and whether changing their vote can reshape the country’s metros.

In this episode of The Political Arena, Business Day political editor Hajra Omarjee is joined by Sowetan editor Sibongakonke Shoba, TimesLIVE and Sunday Times digital politics editor Lizeka Tandwa, and Sunday Times senior political reporter Kgothatso Madisa to examine voter apathy, shifting political loyalties and the battle for control of local government.

November 2 2026 15:40

IEC has over 700 cases of election-related disinformation

The spread of misinformation and disinformation has emerged as a growing concern ahead of South Africa’s local government elections, The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has received more than 700 complaints about election-related disinformation as voters prepare to go to the polls on Wednesday.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said some complaints involved content circulating on social media platform X, including photographs manipulated using AI. However, he said the incidents had not significantly disrupted the electoral environment.

IEC has over 700 cases of election-related disinformation

November 2 2026 15:19

Ballot boxes stolen as special voting begins in KZN

Ballot boxes and a training module were reported stolen from Amahlongwa Community Hall in Zambeni, the IEC said in its KwaZulu-Natal special voting update on Monday.

The IEC said replacement election material was delivered and the voting station was operational.

Ballot boxes stolen as special voting begins in KZN

November 2 2026 13:10

RECORDED | IEC briefs media on first day of special voting

The Electoral Commission of South Africa is briefing the media on Monday about day one of special voting.

November 1 2026, 18:02

Surprise! You’re an EFF candidate

The EFF has been dealt an embarrassing court blow after the Electoral Court found that the party nominated a man as its ward councillor candidate without his consent.

The court ruled that Sivuyile Jacquin Tshikila was not an EFF candidate in Ward 03 in the Raymond Mhlaba local municipality in the Eastern Cape. It ordered the IEC to ensure voters could not cast their ballots for him during the local government elections on Wednesday.

The judgment comes a few weeks after the ANC won a court fight for the inclusion of its 181 candidates whose names were not submitted by the party to the IEC for elections.

Surprise! You’re an EFF candidate

November 1 2026 17:50

‘The ANC is still mighty’ | Ramaphosa vows party will defy critics at polls

President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed suggestions that the ANC is on a downward spiral, telling supporters in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape that the party is gaining momentum ahead of Wednesday’s local government elections.

Addressing supporters at the party’s final push to win over voters at the Siyanqoba rally at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium on Sunday, Ramaphosa said the ANC would use the November 4 elections to prove its critics wrong.

“We are three days away from a very important election. Many people are saying the ANC is on its downward spiral. What I am seeing here is that the ANC is going higher and higher, and on November 4 we are going to show those that say ANC is going to lose,” he said.

‘The ANC is still mighty’ | Ramaphosa vows party will defy critics at polls

November 1 2026, 17:45

‘We will take them out’ | Ramaphosa threatens to remove underperforming councillors and mayors

President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that ANC councillors and mayors who fail to serve communities or misuse public funds will be removed from their positions, saying the party wants ethical, capable and accountable leaders in local government.

Addressing supporters at the ANC’s final rally ahead of elections at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, Ramaphosa said the party expects its elected representatives to prioritise service delivery, responsible spending, and economic development rather than treating political office as a personal entitlement.

“We want to place emphasis on making sure that we get accountable and capable and ethical people who are going to be elected because we want municipalities that are properly run municipalities that use public money responsibly and municipalities that will also maintain infrastructure and support economic development,” he said.

‘We will take them out’ | Ramaphosa threatens to remove underperforming councillors and mayors

November 1 2026, 17:40

Zuma returns to stage, promises MK Party will ‘take back our country’

MK Party president Jacob Zuma told thousands of supporters who braved extreme heat at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu on Sunday that the MK Party will soon take over the land and lead many municipalities.

“In a few days we will be taking back our country,” Zuma said.

“In a few days we will be taking over our land. We will be in charge of many municipalities. No matter what other people can say and do, we are ready.”

Zuma, 84, was addressing the MK Party’s final Sithatha Omasipala rally ahead of Wednesday’s local government elections.

Zuma returns to stage, promises MK Party will ‘take back our country’

]]>YASANTHA NAIDOO<![CDATA[Orlando Pirates notch up fourth straight win over Sekhukhune United]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/soccer/2026-11-07-orlando-pirates-notch-fourth-straight-win-over-sekhukhune-united/https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/soccer/2026-11-07-orlando-pirates-notch-fourth-straight-win-over-sekhukhune-united/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 15:14:31 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

You can clock it because Orlando Pirates have registered a four-peat against Sekhukhune United this season.

The defending champions booked a place in the semifinal stage of the Carling Knockout Cup with this 1-0 win, their fourth victory over United in all competitions so far.

Pirates beat United in their two MTN8 semifinals, in the first round of the Betway Premiership and now they have eliminated them from this competition.

It could be worse for United in the coming months as they are still to face each other in the second round of the league and there is the possibility of meeting in the Nedbank Cup.

Pirates have now recorded six successive wins in all competitions and coach Abdeslam Ouaddou would be hoping they keep this momentum after the Fifa international break.

Though they progress to the next stage, Ouaddou will not be happy that they squandered numerous scoring opportunities, especially in the second when they controlled the match.

They return to action on November 28 when they visit Tanzanian side Simba SC in Zanzibar for the opening match of the Champions League group stages where they will be looking for a good start.

It is going to be an interesting match because Simba SC boasts familiar faces in coach Steve Barker and players Neo Maema and Rushine de Reuck.

For United and their coach Papi Zothwane, they must use the forthcoming international break to work on some of their weaknesses.

United’s next match is on November 29 and by then Zothwane probably would have worked on some of the issues that have left them sitting in the middle of the table.

Ouaddou tinkered with his starting line-up by leaving regulars Nkosinathi Sibisi and Thalente Mbatha out of the match-day squad and surprisingly fielding Oswin Appollis, who has seen little action this season on the bench.

Appollis entered the field after 65 minutes to replace Mpho Phadime and Pirates increased the tempo of the match even though they could not add to the scoreboard.

Sipho Chaine, Lebone Seema, Deon Hotto, Thapelo Mokobodi, Simphiwe Selepe, Tshepang Moremi, Simphiwe Masilela and Yanela Mbuthuma were the only regular players who started the match.

In the absence of some of the regulars, Sbangani Zulu, Gamphani Lungu and Mpho Phadime benefited and they repaid faith shown in them with reasonable performances.

Zothwane showed intentions for the match by starting with two strikers Chibuike Ohizu and Bethuel Muzeu to put pressure on Seema and Zulu at central defence but the ploy didn’t work.

After the opening 30 minutes spell with not many clear scoring chances, Pirates took the lead through exciting attacker Phadime who capitalised on a defensive mistake by a United defender in the box.

For the opening goal, Pirates midfielder Mokobodi cleverly took a quick and short free-kick to Moremi, who delivered a cross to Phadime to find the back of the net.

In the closing stages, Ouaddou introduced more younger players in Sifiso Luthuli, Matome Mmolai and Neo Rapoo as they continued with their mission to defend their trophy.

]]>Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix<![CDATA[IEC orders recounts in five wards as it deals with 197 election objections]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-07-iec-orders-recounts-in-five-wards-as-it-deals-with-197-election-objections/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-07-iec-orders-recounts-in-five-wards-as-it-deals-with-197-election-objections/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 15:01:56 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has ordered recounts in five wards as it continues to process objections lodged by political parties and candidates after the 2026 local government elections.

IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said the commission had received 197 objections by 3pm on Saturday.

Of these, 54 had been dismissed, while others had been withdrawn.

After 99% of the votes counted, the ANC has the most votes nationally at 30.8%, with the DA lying second on 24%.

“Two [objections] have been upheld. In other words, these two have been found to have an impact or to be material to the outcome of the result,” Moepya said.

He explained that the commission had ordered an audit in one case, while recounts had been ordered in five wards.

“Recounts have been ordered for five wards,” Moepya said.

The wards affected are Ward 257 in the City of Tshwane, at the Village Montessori School voting district; Ward 102 in the City of Tshwane, at PAC Projects; Ward 119 in Emalahleni, at Elly Park Fire Station; Ward 4 in Thabazimbi Local Municipality, at Shalom Church Centre; and Ward 12 in Breede Valley Local Municipality, at Christian Life Ministries.

Moepya said recounts would be conducted in the presence of political party agents and undertaken by IEC staff.

“Objections may lead to instances where the commission says, this situation, let us be clear about what the outcome should be. Let us order a recount,” he said.

The IEC chairperson stressed that all results remained provisional until the commission had finalised its consideration of objections.

“Results [are] provisional until all objections have been determined by the commission,” Moepya said.

“That provisional result may change as a consequence of the determination.”

He added that seats allocated in provisional results could also change if the commission upheld an objection.

“Seats that are assigned in the provisional results may change because of the decision of the commission in determining an objection,” Moepya said.

The commission said results processing had been completed in the Free State, Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

Results processing was still under way in Gauteng, North West and KwaZulu-Natal.

Moepya said the IEC expected to conclude the remaining processes on Saturday evening.

“We are likely to finish [this] evening. I must indicate this is when we are pushing to conclude,” he said.

The commission plans to announce the final results of the 2026 local government elections on Sunday at 6pm.

Sowetan

]]>Refilwe Kholomonyane<![CDATA[WATCH | IEC updates the media on progress of vote counting]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-07-watch-iec-updates-the-media-on-progress-of-vote-counting/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-07-watch-iec-updates-the-media-on-progress-of-vote-counting/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 13:36:18 +0000The Electoral Commission of South Africa will provide an update on the progress of the vote counting after the 2026 local government elections.

The IEC announced that about 99% of the process had been completed by Saturday morning.

TimesLIVE

]]>YASANTHA NAIDOO<![CDATA[WATCH | ‘We will not beg for mayorship’: Mbalula says ANC performance in polls ‘catastrophic’]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-07-watch-we-will-not-beg-for-mayorship-mbalula-says-anc-performance-in-polls-catastrophic/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-07-watch-we-will-not-beg-for-mayorship-mbalula-says-anc-performance-in-polls-catastrophic/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 14:42:27 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has described the party’s performance in the 2026 local government elections as a “catastrophic outcome”, despite the ANC still leading nationally with just over 30% support.

Mbalula said the ANC was aware that the election results would be difficult, with internal polling having suggested the party could receive at least 34% support.

“We knew this outcome was coming,” he said.

He added that the party would not rush into coalition negotiations as it assessed the results across municipalities.

“As we speak, there are no formal talks under way. We expect that such discussions will begin soon and the ANC will approach them in good faith,” Mbalula said.

“We will be open to arrangements that put people first and that stand squarely on our constitution, with clear and honest priorities agreed in advance and with no secret carve-outs for the benefit of one party or another.”

Mbalula said the ANC was not desperate to secure mayorships or senior positions through coalition deals.

“But we will not negotiate with anyone with a cap in their hand, begging. We are not in the business of begging for mayorship or any other positions,” he said.

“It is people first that we are going to look at, and there will be a national doctrine that will be followed.”

He said the ANC would consider a range of options, including coalition governments, confidence-and-supply arrangements or remaining in opposition.

“That is not the only option we are looking at. There’s also an option to remain in opposition. There is an option of confidence and supply,” Mbalula said.

“We will analyse every municipality carefully and therefore determine in this doctrine what options are before the ANC.”

The ANC’s national executive committee is expected to meet this week to reflect on the election results and determine the party’s approach going forward.

Mbalula said the party’s priority would be rebuilding trust with communities through service delivery rather than political deals.

“We are not in the business of cutting deals. We are in the business of serving our people, and if anyone has not heard what the people are saying through this election, then we are lost,” he said.

“Water, electricity, refuse, safety and care for the vulnerable do not pause for politics, and we will not allow them to.”

The ANC secretary-general also confirmed that the party had called for a recount in Gauteng and was still awaiting the outcome.

This as is the IEC revealed that by 3pm on Saturday it had received 197 objections.

]]>Thapelo Morebudi<![CDATA[WATCH | The Political Arena looks at the results as they sit at 99%]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-07-watch-the-political-arena-looks-at-the-results-as-they-sit-at-99/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-07-watch-the-political-arena-looks-at-the-results-as-they-sit-at-99/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 14:09:52 +0000

Arena Holdings’ journalists are coming to you live from the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s results centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Johannesburg, to unpack the election results as they come in and discuss what they mean for municipalities.

Sowetan

]]>Freddy<![CDATA[IN PICS | Party leaders at the IEC results centre]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-07-in-pics-party-leaders-at-the-iec-results-centre/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-07-in-pics-party-leaders-at-the-iec-results-centre/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 14:14:06 +0000EFF leader Julius Malema, MK Party leader Jacob Zuma and ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula were among the political representatives at the IEC Results Centre in Midrand.

ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane walking with ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula at the results operations centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand Picture: Masi Losi
ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane walking with ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula at the results operations centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand Picture: Masi Losi
IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa with other prominent IFP members addresses the media at the National Results Operations Centre at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand Johannesburg. Picture: Freddy Mavunda © Business Day
IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa with other prominent IFP members addresses the media at the National Results Operations Centre at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand Johannesburg. Picture: Freddy Mavunda © Business Day
November 07, 2026.ActionSA Leader Herman Mashaba and Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) Leader Corne Mulder at the National Results Operations Centre at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand Johannesburg. Picture: Freddy Mavunda © Business Day
November 07, 2026.ActionSA Leader Herman Mashaba and Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) Leader Corne Mulder at the National Results Operations Centre at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand Johannesburg. Picture: Freddy Mavunda © Business Day
07/11/2026. ActionSA leader, Herman Mashaba with ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe at the the results operations centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. Picture: Masi Losi
07/11/2026. ActionSA leader, Herman Mashaba with ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe at the the results operations centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. Picture: Masi Losi
07/11/2026. The leader of the EFF, Julius Malema, briefs the media at the NROC, a day before the final reults of the elections are announced. Picture: Refilwe Kholomonyane
07/11/2026. The leader of the EFF, Julius Malema, briefs the media at the NROC, a day before the final reults of the elections are announced. Picture: Refilwe Kholomonyane
07 November 2026. EFF leader Julius Malema arrives at IEC National results operation centre in Gallagher convention centre. Picture: Thapelo Morebudi.
07 November 2026. EFF leader Julius Malema arrives at IEC National results operation centre in Gallagher convention centre. Picture: Thapelo Morebudi.
07/11/2026 Mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba speaking about ActionSA's successes in the local government elections at the ROC, Gallagher Centre in Midrand. Picture: Mukovhe Mulidzwi
07/11/2026 Mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba speaking about ActionSA's successes in the local government elections at the ROC, Gallagher Centre in Midrand. Picture: Mukovhe Mulidzwi
07/11/2026 Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe spotted at the results centre at the Gallagher Convention Centre. Picture: Mukovhe Mulidzwi
07/11/2026 Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe spotted at the results centre at the Gallagher Convention Centre. Picture: Mukovhe Mulidzwi
07/11/2026 Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe speaking with SACP comrades at the results centre at the Gallagher Convention Centre. Picture: Mukovhe Mulidzwi
07/11/2026 Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe speaking with SACP comrades at the results centre at the Gallagher Convention Centre. Picture: Mukovhe Mulidzwi
Former president Jacob Zuma during the MK Party media briefing at the IEC Provincial Results Operations Centre, based at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban. Photo: SANDILE NDLOVU
Former president Jacob Zuma during the MK Party media briefing at the IEC Provincial Results Operations Centre, based at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban. Photo: SANDILE NDLOVU
07/11/2026. ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula looks at his ipad before addressing the media at the results operation centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand Picture: Masi Losi
07/11/2026. ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula looks at his ipad before addressing the media at the results operation centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand Picture: Masi Losi
ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe talks to ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba and ActionSA spokesperson Lerato M-Ngobeni at the results operationS centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. Picture: Masi Losi
ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe talks to ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba and ActionSA spokesperson Lerato M-Ngobeni at the results operationS centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. Picture: Masi Losi
EFF leader Julius Malema arrives at IEC National results operationS centre in Gallagher convention centre. Picture: Thapelo Morebudi.
EFF leader Julius Malema arrives at IEC National results operationS centre in Gallagher convention centre. Picture: Thapelo Morebudi.

TimesLIVE

]]>SANDILE NDLOVU<![CDATA[Sensational Feinberg-Mngomezulu leads Springboks past Italy with 26 points]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/rugby/2026-11-07-sensational-feinberg-mngomezulu-leads-springboks-past-italy-with-26-points/https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/rugby/2026-11-07-sensational-feinberg-mngomezulu-leads-springboks-past-italy-with-26-points/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 13:56:58 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

The Springboks humiliated Italy 66-7 in Turin in the Nations Championship.

The Boks led 45-0 at the break.

The bonus-point win consolidated the Springboks’ position at the top of the southern hemisphere table.

The Boks play France in Paris on Friday and complete their league matches against Ireland in Dublin a week later.

The finals weekend will be played at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham in the last week of November.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus picked his strongest available 23 against an Italian side missing several regulars.

And it showed, with the Boks winning their first scrum within the first minute, their first lineout within two minutes and getting their four-try bonus point within 25 minutes.

Springbok flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was sensational. He thrived behind a dominant set piece and South African aerial game, scored the most magnificent opening try and was faultless off the kicking tee in the first half, converting six tries and an early penalty.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu, halfback partner Morne van den Berg and wingers Ethan Hooker and Kurt-Lee Arendse feasted on the Italians, but the demolition job began up front.

The Boks, led by Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese and Siya Kolisi, were in total control at the set piece, in the collisions and in every facet.

It was among the more clinical opening halves produced by the Springboks in some time. They were near perfect.

The opening five minutes of the second half was in contrast, with the Boks making more mistakes in those five minutes than they did in the opening 40.

This prompted a response from Erasmus, who introduced all six forward replacements in the 45th minute. The reward was immediate: popular tighthead prop Wilco Louw scored a converted try to take the Boks past 50 points.

The match was over within 20 minutes and the Boks could not match their first-half intensity.

Italy, who had won a scrum penalty in the 42nd minute, scored their first points on the hour when lock Federico Ruzza scored and replacement back Tommaso Allan converted.

The Boks finished strongly, adding two more converted tries in the final 10 minutes. Hooker got the final try of the match and Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted a perfect 10 from 10 off the tee.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored 26 points, but the Player of the Match award went to Van den Berg, whose kicking game, work rate and passing were of the highest quality.

Boks inside centre Damian de Allende, despite playing just an hour, made the most carries (16), with Arendse making the most line breaks (3).

Salmaan Moerat, picked to start at lock, was a late withdrawal. Lood de Jager started and Franco Mostert played the final 35 minutes as a replacement lock.

Scorers

Springboks: Tries – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morne van den Berg, Malcolm Marx (2), Damian Willemse, Siya Kolisi, Wilco Louw, Paul de Villiers and Ethan Hooker. Conversions – Feinberg-Mngomezulu (9) Penalty – Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Italy: Try – Federico Ruzza. Conversion: Tommaso Allan.

TimesLIVE

]]>Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse/Shutterstock<![CDATA[WATCH | ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula briefs media at IEC results centre]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-07-watch-live-anc-secretary-general-fikile-mbalula-briefs-media-at-iec-results-centre/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-07-watch-live-anc-secretary-general-fikile-mbalula-briefs-media-at-iec-results-centre/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 12:13:38 +0000ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula is briefing the media at the IEC results centre on Saturday.

TimesLIVE

]]>Thapelo Morebudi<![CDATA[‘We’re down but not out,’ says Malema]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-07-were-down-but-not-out-says-malema/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-07-were-down-but-not-out-says-malema/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 11:40:34 +0000

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EFF leader Julius Malema has described his party’s performance in the 2026 local government elections as a “setback” but not a “defeat”.

He said this was something the party would have to take stock of, using lessons from the local government elections to prepare for the national and provincial polls in 2029.

[Battle] scars do not represent defeat — they represent survival and [the] bravery of revolutionaries who had the courage to fight

Julius Malema, EFF leader

EFF support dropped from 10.3% in the 2021 local polls to 6.2% in 2026.

“We knew from the [outset] that these elections [would] not be a walk in the park,” said Malema.

“We knew we were going into a battle, and with that comes scars. But scars do not represent defeat — they represent survival and [the] bravery of revolutionaries who had the courage to fight and were ready to die with their boots on.”

Malema said the EFF lost 612,326 votes nationally, as well as its ranking as the third-biggest party in the country — a position now occupied by the Jacob Zuma-led MK Party.

However, he was adamant the EFF remained a “people’s movement despite this setback”.

“We will take stock as an organisation of our performances ward by ward, municipality by municipality, and province by province. We will reflect on where we improved, where we maintained our votes, and where we experienced setbacks, and [we will] take the necessary steps for correction,” said Malema.

“A setback is not a defeat — it is an opportunity that gives us a moment to reflect on how to better present ourselves and our message of service delivery to the people.”

Malema said the results of the local polls would place obstacles in the path towards ensuring reliable service delivery and dignity for poor people.

“We are more resolute than ever, and we’ll use these elections and their outcome to prepare for the upcoming national and provincial elections to be held in 2029.

“The EFF will not hide from the national picture, and we will not make excuses,” he said.

TimesLIVE

]]>Mukovhe Mulidzwi<![CDATA[Environmental groups embrace AI, even as they warn of data centre impacts]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-07-environmental-groups-embrace-ai-even-as-they-warn-of-data-centre-impacts/https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-07-environmental-groups-embrace-ai-even-as-they-warn-of-data-centre-impacts/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 10:00:00 +0000Environmental groups worldwide are using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse climate data, track forest fires and count endangered wildlife — embracing a technology they also warn is driving a surge in electricity demand, water use and greenhouse gas emissions.

The contradiction is forcing these organisations to justify their AI use in carrying out missions to combat climate change or protect natural resources.

“We recognise that AI can come with environmental costs, and we need to be thoughtful about how we use it,” said Ali Swanson, AI lead at the US NPO Conservation International. “But at a time when the climate and biodiversity crises are becoming more urgent, AI can help us move faster and make better use of the information we’re collecting.”

The group recently started using AI to assess hotspots detected by satellites and send real-time alerts to community forest patrols about potential wildfires in remote and environmentally sensitive parts of Cambodia.

Reuters interviewed 15 major environmental, conservation and development organisations about their AI use. All said they used the technology in some form and expressed concern about the environmental impact of the data centres powering it. The centres, filled with servers, can require vast amounts of electricity, along with water for cooling.

It’s a global dilemma for individuals, governments and industries balancing AI’s benefits with its enormous risks. The tradeoffs will probably grab attention at the UN’s COP31 climate conference this month, when host Türkiye will call on governments, businesses and other institutions to sign a pledge outlining principles to ensure AI is developed and deployed sustainably.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres wants major AI companies to publicly disclose their systems’ environmental impacts.

Researchers at the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health estimate the global data centre footprint could more than double by 2030, reaching a size about twice that of Jakarta, the Indonesian megalopolis.

The International Energy Agency, meanwhile, estimates global data centres will consume about 945TWh of electricity annually by 2030, producing the equivalent of more than 300-million tonnes of carbon dioxide. That’s double current consumption and about equal to Japan’s annual electricity use.

The agency also projects that global data centre water consumption will increase from about 560-billion litres in 2023 to about 1.2-trillion litres annually by 2030.

Technology giants including Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet’s Google have reported rising emissions linked in part to data centre expansion, raising questions about their ability to meet their own long-term climate goals.

Amazon said its AI products were among the most sustainable due to the company’s purchases of low-carbon energy and its efforts to use power and water efficiently.

Microsoft and Google didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Breakthroughs once thought impossible

Many of the organisations that spoke to Reuters believe AI’s benefits currently outweigh its costs because the technology is enabling work that was previously difficult, expensive or impossible.

Kenya’s Save the Elephants, a partner of the Wildlife Conservation Network, said it is using machine learning to improve population surveys and study elephant communication.

Frank Pope, the group’s CEO, said an aerial survey of Kenya’s largest protected area last year generated about 200,000 images that took nine people nine months to review manually. AI models trained on Nvidia’s GeForce graphics platforms can now complete similar analyses in hours.

“The results have been eye-opening,” Pope said. “We found that human surveys were missing about a third of the elephants, roughly half of zebras and giraffes, and three-quarters of oryx populations.”

More accurate wildlife data can help secure financing for conservation, he said.

“Ultimately, these tools make nature measurable and therefore investable,” he said. “That’s a critical transformation if we’re going to conserve biodiversity at scale.”

At the institute founded by the late conservation icon Jane Goodall, researchers are using AI to digitise decades of field notes about chimpanzee behaviour in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park.

The project was once expected to take 13-15 years because the records were written by hand using the local Kiha language and scientific shorthand.

Thanks to a tool developed with Amazon Web Services, the notes can now be scanned, translated and structured in minutes, slashing the time needed to about two years, said Lilian Pintea, the Jane Goodall Institute’s vice-president of conservation science.

During her lifetime, Pintea said, Goodall supported the use of AI to advance conservation science, provided people remained firmly in control of how it was used.

“AI technology should be seen as tools which are human-centred,” Pintea said.

Limiting the environmental impact

Some organisations are experimenting with ways to limit the environmental impact of their AI use.

The World Resources Institute, a research group that uses AI to accelerate its climate and environmental analyses, said it limits resource-intensive applications such as generating videos and images while caching AI query results so identical searches don’t need to be reprocessed.

The US-based Nature Conservancy has adopted a similar approach. It uses AI to analyse video captured on commercial fishing vessels for information on how many fish of different species they catch. But instead of uploading huge numbers of videos to centralised data centres, it has installed AI-powered digital cameras to process information aboard the vessels, reducing energy use and data-transfer requirements, said Vienna Saccomanno, a senior scientist at the organisation.

“It takes a lot of engineering to make computation on the edge possible,” she said. “This was worth it to reduce our carbon footprint and deliver these sustainability insights.”

Greenpeace International said it, too, uses some AI tools, mainly because software platforms it relies upon include AI features.

It’s imposing internal guidelines emphasising transparency, human oversight and “intentional” AI use, the group said. But it would prefer to sidestep the technology due to its environmental impacts and is pushing back hard on the data centre buildout.

“While other organisations are asking how to use AI responsibly, Greenpeace is asking whether it’s necessary to build all these massive data centres in the first place,” said Katrin Xueying Wu, a climate and energy campaigner with the organisation.

Other groups now see AI as vital to effective environmental activism.

“It’s our job to save the planet. If we can do that more effectively and efficiently with the limited resources we’ve got by using AI, then we have to seriously engage in that possibility,” said Stuart Butchart, chief scientist at UK-based BirdLife International.

“If we don’t do it, then we’re sort of being derelict in our duty.”

Reuters

]]>Thomas Mukoya<![CDATA[MK Party wants eThekwini election results frozen over alleged IEC system failures ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-07-mk-party-wants-ethekwini-election-results-frozen-over-alleged-iec-system-failures/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-07-mk-party-wants-ethekwini-election-results-frozen-over-alleged-iec-system-failures/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 07:58:29 +0000The MK Party has demanded that the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) immediately freeze the capturing of election results in disputed voting districts and wards in eThekwini, alleging systemic failures, discrepancies in results and irregularities in the counting and verification process.

In a formal objection submitted to the commission on Friday, the party accused the IEC of presiding over serious failures at its eThekwini results operations centre (ROC), claiming that a system breakdown during the live results-capturing and data transmission process had disrupted data streams and altered visible audit trails.

The objection, signed by MK Party acting secretary-general Lindiwe Makubu and addressed to IEC commissioner Titi Pitso, raises concerns about what the party describes as severe arithmetic and physical mismatches between results captured on the commission’s electronic leaderboards and certified physical results slips.

The party alleges that figures entered electronically at the ROC deviate systematically from the figures recorded on Form NP041 results slips, which it says were completed and counter-signed by its party agents at individual voting stations.

It wants the commission to place an immediate technical lock on all disputed system entries and results processing in affected voting districts and wards in the eThekwini metro until an open audit has been conducted.

The objection comes as the IEC continues with the verification and capturing of results after the November 4 local government elections, with the accuracy and credibility of the results process under scrutiny.

IEC spokesperson Kate Bopela said the matter was in the hands of the commissioners.

“What we do as an organisation is that commissioners directly respond to political parties,” she said.

The MK Party further alleges that failures occurred during the physical verification, reconciliation and sorting of ballots between November 2 and 4.

It also takes issue with public statements by the IEC accusing the party of failing to deploy agents at various voting stations, arguing that these allegations were used to mask localised system failures and breaks in the chain of custody.

The party says the alleged failures have undermined its constitutional right to effective oversight of the electoral process.

In its demands, the MK Party wants the IEC to provide a transparent forensic technical explanation of the network glitch experienced at the eThekwini ROC, including a verification log of all data packets allegedly altered during the downtime.

It is also demanding access for an independent forensic systems analyst, appointed by contesting parties, to examine the commission’s data processing backend, source code operations and physical ballot reconciliations.

The party has further called on the commission to publicly withdraw what it describes as defamatory remarks accusing it of failing to deploy election agents, arguing that the statements prejudiced its public standing while the electoral dispute remained active.

Its most consequential demand is that the IEC postpone the final announcement and gazetting of municipal election results until all the alleged discrepancies, quarantine requests and verification disputes raised in its objection have been resolved.

The objection was lodged in terms of section 65 of the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act.

The MK Party also submitted an application for condonation should its objection be processed concurrently with or after the statutory 5pm deadline on Friday.

It argues that the alleged anomalies are ongoing and could not have been fully quantified before the deadline because the verification process at the ROC was still under way.

The party warned that refusing to consider its objection before the official declaration would cause what it described as irreparable constitutional injury to the electorate.

However, the four-page objection does not identify the specific voting districts or wards affected, quantify the alleged discrepancies or attach the results slips and technical evidence needed to independently establish the claims.

The allegations have not been independently verified.

TimesLIVE

]]>Sandile Ndlovu<![CDATA[Zambia sees steady growth and smaller budget deficit next year]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/world/africa/2026-11-07-zambia-sees-steady-growth-and-smaller-budget-deficit-next-year/https://www.businessday.co.za/world/africa/2026-11-07-zambia-sees-steady-growth-and-smaller-budget-deficit-next-year/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 07:00:00 +0000Zambia will aim to keep economic growth around 5% in 2027 while halving the budget deficit, which swelled this year on fuel tax cuts and higher-than-projected spending, its finance minister said on Friday.

The government will aim to reduce the fiscal deficit to not more than 3.0% of GDP from 5.9% this year, finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said in his budget speech.

This year’s deficit ballooned because of fuel tax cuts to cushion the impact of the Iran war on households and businesses, as well as spending on maize purchases for the country’s food reserves.

Economic growth in 2026 was projected at 5.3% last month.

Zambia emerged from a prolonged debt crisis after becoming Africa’s first Covid-19-era sovereign default in 2020.

In October it secured staff-level backing from the International Monetary Fund for a new $1.5bn (R24.81bn) programme.

Musokotwane said Zambia’s copper output was projected at 930,000 tonnes this year, up from about 890,000 tonnes in 2025, and that there would be a stable and predictable fiscal regime for mining companies.

Zambia aims to more than triple copper output to 3-million tonnes by 2031.

Reuters

]]>NAMUKOLO SIYUMBWA<![CDATA[Trump administration ends California balloting lawsuit]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-07-trump-administration-ends-california-balloting-lawsuit/https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-07-trump-administration-ends-california-balloting-lawsuit/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 06:30:00 +0000The Trump administration on Friday withdrew its lawsuit that attempted to block California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters whom federal officials alleged were probably non-US citizens.

The justice department filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in the case after the midterm elections that saw the Democrats win by comfortable margins in all of California’s statewide contests and most of its congressional races.

On Monday, the day before the election, the Supreme Court rejected a bid to temporarily block California from counting the ballots on the justice department’s list.

The department had argued in previous filings that it needed quick action from federal courts because the contested ballots could not be separated from all other votes once they were accepted. The department again pointed to that reasoning in Friday’s notice of dismissal, writing that “the relief the US sought is no longer available” now that votes have been tallied.

US district judge David Carter had appeared sceptical of the department’s lawsuit, expressing concerns that the request could disenfranchise and confuse legitimate voters, calling it a “monumental change” to election procedures when voting was already under way.

Reuters

]]>Evelyn Hockstein<![CDATA[Kolisi welcomes homecoming of Bok stars, pays tribute to Andrews]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/rugby/2026-11-07-kolisi-welcomes-homecoming-of-bok-stars-pays-tribute-to-andrews/https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/rugby/2026-11-07-kolisi-welcomes-homecoming-of-bok-stars-pays-tribute-to-andrews/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 06:11:15 +0000South Africa captain Siya Kolisi welcomed the return of several senior Springboks from Japan to domestic clubs and paid an emotional tribute to former Sharks teammate Hyron Andrews before his funeral on Saturday.

Hooker Malcolm Marx, flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit, flyhalf Manie Libbok and loose-forward Kwagga Smith are all returning to South Africa, strengthening the local game in the build-up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

“I think it’s good for the Springboks,” said Kolisi before their Nations Championship clash with Italy in Turin on Saturday.

“Just think about the young guys coming through who will have the opportunity to learn from players such as Pieter-Steph, Kwagga and all those guys.

“That’s really huge, and those South African derbies are going to be something else. All the teams are getting stronger and bringing in quality players.

“The URC (United Rugby Championship) is going to be on fire.”

South Africa are on a high after they won a bruising series against New Zealand 3-1 and now have another tough run of games.

They play France and Ireland after Saturday’s match against Italy before completing a run of four successive weekends with the Nations Championship finals.

“We’re good to go. We’re used to doing this,” Kolisi said.

“It’s never hard for us to get up for a game. We’re excited to finish strongly, and we’re playing in a new competition, which is also something to be excited about.”

Kolisi also paid tribute to Andrews, who died at the Lions team hotel last month, aged 31.

Andrews played alongside Kolisi at the Sharks franchise in Durban.

“I think it’s starting to sink in for a lot of us because it feels like we were with him just the other day,” Kolisi said.

It’s never hard for us to get up for a game. We’re excited to finish strongly, and we’re playing in a new competition, which is also something to be excited about

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi

“I played with him, and I know there are guys who were very close to him, so I know how tough it has been for them.

“But when you think about his wife, who is like family to us, we saw her at games all the time. She supported him throughout everything and travelled all around the world to support Hyron. And now there are the two kids as well.

“I can imagine how tough it is for us and his friends, but I can’t imagine what it’s like for her and the kids.

“I really have no words. Hyron was an amazing human being. I don’t think anybody can say anything bad about him.”

Reuters

]]>Phakamisa Lensman<![CDATA[Sappi calls for state protection from cheap imports]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-sappi-calls-for-state-protection-from-cheap-imports/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-sappi-calls-for-state-protection-from-cheap-imports/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

Recent tariff measures are an encouraging sign that the government is taking the plight of South African manufacturers more seriously, Steve Binnie, CEO of paper and packaging giant Sappi, says. But he warns that trade protection alone will not be enough to restore competitiveness.

Instead, Sappi wants policymakers to tackle deeper structural problems, including inefficient ports, failing rail infrastructure, rising electricity costs and regulatory delays.

His comments come after the International Trade Administration Commission (Itac) introduced measures aimed at protecting domestic paper producers from a surge in imports.

Presenting Sappi’s annual results, Binnie welcomed the government’s response but said the benefits of tariffs would be limited unless broader industrial reforms followed.

“We have been pleasantly surprised at the speed of the response,” he said.

The latest intervention includes a provisional 21% safeguard duty on imported A3 and A4 office paper, following an application by Mondi South Africa supported by Sappi. The company has also sought protection for newsprint imports, arguing that foreign producers are increasingly targeting the South African market.

Binnie said some overseas manufacturers sell paper in South Africa at lower prices than in their home markets, making it difficult for local producers to compete.

The tariffs will not materially change Sappi’s group earnings but the company believes they send an important signal that the government recognises the challenges facing domestic manufacturers.

“It’s important because it goes to underpinning and supporting the whole value chain, whether that is on copy paper, containerboard or tissue products,” said a Sappi manager during the briefing.

The company is not calling for permanent protection.

“We’re not asking for forever protection, but we need time to respond to these shocks and changes to the system,” Binnie said.

Asked what government could do beyond tariffs, Binnie pointed to logistics: “The first, and probably the most immediate one, is the port.”

The issue is more than theoretical for Sappi. Congestion at the Port of Durban delayed about 38,000 tonnes of dissolving wood pulp shipments during the fourth quarter, pushing sales into the new financial year and weighing on earnings.

“I know there are plans to invest in more equipment at the port, as a lot has become old and inefficient,” Binnie said.

Rail infrastructure is another concern: “The rails are a mess and we have to transport everything by road, adding to our costs.”

The company wants the government to speed up approvals in the forestry sector and create a more predictable operating environment for long-term investment.

Energy is another key challenge. Although Sappi generates about 65% of its own power, it relies on Eskom for about a third of its electricity.

“We need to reduce that because Eskom costs have just continued to rise,” Binnie said.

Sappi’s South African operations face mixed conditions. Demand for containerboard used in packaging remained robust during the quarter, supported largely by agricultural exports, particularly citrus. However, volumes were affected by low inventories and production disruptions at the company’s Ngodwana mill.

Binnie said the longer-term outlook for packaging is positive despite pressure on local consumers.

“The big opportunity for us is in export markets,” he said.

South African citrus exports, one of the key drivers of packaging demand, have been growing 6%-8% annually and are expected to continue expanding in the next few years.

Most of that growth is linked to exports to Asia, China and Europe rather than the US. As a result, uncertainty around the US’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) is unlikely to have a significant impact on Sappi.

“I think it’s about 5% that is exposed to the US market,” Binnie said. “There could be a small impact but it’s not that material in the bigger picture for us.”

Demand for dissolving wood pulp, one of Sappi’s most important export products, remains strong, supported by global textile markets. Pulp prices improved by $22 a tonne during the quarter to about $920.

Yet profitability in South Africa is under pressure from factors largely outside the company’s control. The stronger rand has reduced export competitiveness, while elevated oil prices and geopolitical tensions continue to increase fuel, chemical and logistics costs.

“It’s difficult for South African manufacturers who export their products,” Binnie said. “When the rand strengthens the way it has, it effectively increases your cost base relative to your global competitors.”

Business Times

]]>Supplied<![CDATA[Price cuts on the cards as TFG adapts to tough times ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-price-cuts-on-the-cards-as-tfg-adapts-to-tough-times/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-price-cuts-on-the-cards-as-tfg-adapts-to-tough-times/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

TFG is reviewing its menswear prices to attract cash-strapped shoppers while accelerating store closures and expanding its Bash online platform as it prepares for another difficult trading period amid mounting pressure on household finances.

The owner of Foschini, Markham, Jet, Sportscene and Totalsports is lowering entry-level prices after spotting signs that consumers are trading down to cheaper clothing, particularly in menswear, where it holds a leading market position.

CEO Anthony Thunström said the group was not banking on an imminent recovery in consumer spending and would instead focus on cutting costs, improving store profitability and growing online sales.

“We are seeing evidence of buying down in the segment, and as a result, we will be sharpening our opening price points and pricing architecture,” Thunström said at the group’s interim results presentation.

Menswear turnover fell 1.5% in the six months to September, while gross profit dropped 4%. The division was also hit by shipping delays and congestion at Durban port because of its heavier reliance on imported merchandise.

The pricing review underscores growing pressure on clothing retailers as rising fuel costs and weak consumer confidence force households to become more selective about spending. “To be honest, we don’t know when the cycle will bottom out and turn,” said Thunström.

TFG’s outlook has been further clouded by a weak start to the second half. African sales declined 0.7% in October after a volatile first six months. Thunström said trading in the first week was in line with expectations, with momentum expected to build towards Black Friday.

However, delayed shipments through Durban port remain a concern. TFG expects the backlog to clear only around February, potentially affecting stock availability during the festive season.

While cancelling some late orders to avoid excess inventory, the retailer is also rebuilding stock buffers to protect availability during peak trading periods.

Alongside tighter inventory management, TFG is shrinking its physical store footprint.

The group closed 120 stores in the first half and plans to shut another 60-80 before year-end, taking total closures to between 180 and 200 stores.

We’re using the combined capabilities of both channels to acquire customers, increase engagement ... and improve the productivity of the retail infrastructure that we already own

CEO Anthony Thunström

Almost half of those already closed were in distressed central business districts, where consumer traffic has shifted towards malls and convenience retail formats. The closures released R190m in working capital, and TFG estimates about 20% of sales from closed outlets will migrate to nearby stores or Bash.

More than 95% of employees affected by the closures were moved elsewhere in the business.

The group removed R257m in costs during the first half and targets a further R222m in the second half. The programme is expected to generate annualised cost savings of about R854m and an annualised profit benefit of roughly R540m.

A key beneficiary of this strategy is Bash, which is becoming one of TFG’s most important growth engines. Online sales surged 53.3% to R2.2bn in the first half, bucking weakness in traditional retail.

The growth comes as buy now, pay later (BNPL) gains traction among shoppers, particularly online. CFO Ralph Buddle said demand for TFG Money remains strong at about 4-million applications a year, but applications fell 10% in the first half, partly as more consumers turned to BNPL options.

The number of accounts on TFG’s books declined 1.9%, while credit sales fell 2.4%, representing 25.8% of TFG Africa sales. Buddle said BNPL was absorbing some of that activity and helping drive online sales, particularly among younger consumers who use the product as a budgeting tool. Thunström said the payment option has proved especially popular on Bash.

TFG attracted 449,000 first-time online customers during the period, with more than 40% placing their first digital orders through Bash Store while visiting a physical outlet. The platform now operates across more than 3,200 stores.

“We’re not building an e-commerce business to sit alongside a traditional store network,” Thunström said. “We’re using the combined capabilities of both channels to acquire customers, increase engagement ... and improve the productivity of the retail infrastructure that we already own.”

Despite weak consumer demand, TFG Africa grew turnover 3.8% to R19.7bn, supported by market-share gains and stronger sportswear sales.

Internationally, however, conditions remain challenging.

Operating profit fell 26.5% in the UK and 28.3% in Australia as weak consumer confidence and promotional trading weighed on performance. The UK business is also recovering from an October cyberattack that disrupted online trading, while TFG is restructuring underperforming brands in both markets.

Thunström said acquisitions were off the table for now, with surplus cash likely to be directed towards further debt reduction or enhanced shareholder returns through dividends and share buybacks.

Business Times

]]>Supplied <![CDATA[EU brings tide of help for local ports ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-eu-brings-tide-of-help-for-local-ports/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-eu-brings-tide-of-help-for-local-ports/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

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Ambassadors from EU members and the head of the union’s investment bank will meet Transnet executives this month to discuss the possibility of a range of agreements aimed at improving port efficiency and enabling the logistics SOE to participate in the nascent regional blue economy, says the EU ambassador to South Africa, Kristian Schmidt.

Schmidt told Business Times that the president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Nadia Calviño, would be in South Africa to sign the accord with Transnet.

“So there will be significant loans and agreements signed that speak to this logistical dimension. So the EU is certainly interested in working with South Africa on port management. Specific ports in Europe can come in and give capacity-building [assistance] on port management.”

Schmidt was speaking on the sidelines of this week’s BlueInvest Africa Summit in Cape Town, where delegates sought to explore investment opportunities and funding for start-ups in the blue economy.

The EU, which is re-evaluating trade relations with Africa in the face of growing trade protectionism and fragmentation globally, estimates that the blue economy represents €900bn (R16.6-trillion) in annual turnover for it, a figure that could double in the coming years. The AU puts turnover for the continent from the maritime economy at close to $300bn (R5-trillion).

Schmidt said he would lead a delegation of EU ambassadors to Durban in the coming weeks to discuss the crime risks that come with increased maritime traffic.

“Ports are opportunities, but they’re also challenges. So whether you talk of smuggling, drug trafficking, globally, European ports as well, we have huge challenges here. So port management is a big issue. And we have experience that we are willing to share. And we have already agreed with your government that we should share cooperation on maritime security.

“Because that increased traffic is going to bring risks: the Mexican cartels and other things that will follow. More than that, Durban is not just the port of South Africa; it is the port of Southern Africa.”

The director-general of the EU Commission for maritime affairs & fisheries, Charlina Vitcheva, told Business Times that Transnet had made great strides in addressing logistics bottlenecks at its ports and the EU could partner with the entity to accelerate the process.

Vitcheva said she was encouraged by remarks by the deputy minister of trade, industry & competition, John Steenhuisen, at the BlueInvest conference about developing smaller ports to create a network of ports that can serve different purposes in the region.

Ports are opportunities, but they’re also challenges. So whether you talk of smuggling, drug trafficking, globally, European ports as well, we have huge challenges here

Kristian Schmidt

“We are there to help you and not only for increasing the capacity. What is even more important is that there are new technologies, new logistics modalities that will become the standard very quickly. And the ones that will be able to operate under this new standard will be the front runners.”

Transnet told Business Times that it has been approached by the EIB regarding a possible visit, the details of which are still being finalised.

“At this stage, there are no agreements between Transnet and the EIB scheduled for signature. Transnet and the EIB have an established partnership, including a €350m loan facility and €16m grant support announced earlier this year.

“Any announcements regarding future cooperation initiatives or engagements will be communicated through the appropriate channels once confirmed.”

Steenhuisen said much had yet to be done to improve port efficiency, but the Durban Pier 2 public-private pilot project was “very exciting”.

“I would say that we have a huge opportunity now with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but also a long-term security opportunity to be able to provide that. But I don’t believe that our ports have put their best foot forward.

“I think we’re still suffering incredibly with constraints, and the harnessing effects they’ve had on our economic growth. The stone fruit industry lost almost R1bn in the last season just from port inefficiency.

“The blue economy is a fundamental opportunity for South Africa and Africa generally, both from an economic growth and jobs potential, but to be able to drill down into these opportunities, it’s going to require partnerships. The EU is a very important partner with us, but it’s also about attracting investment that we need to unlock that opportunity.”

Prof Zane Simpson, a director at the Stellenbosch logistics consultancy Gain Group, said in a recent report that South Africa had reason to be concerned about the cost of moving goods through its economy as its geography and economic structure made freight transport expensive even under favourable conditions.

“There is the expense South Africa has learned to live with: the additional cost of a logistics system that fails to perform as it should, so thoroughly absorbed into the ordinary business of moving goods that it is easy to lose sight of how much the economy is paying for it.”

Business Times

]]>Supplied<![CDATA[Redefine bets on office recovery, industrial demand ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-redefine-bets-on-office-recovery-industrial-demand/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-redefine-bets-on-office-recovery-industrial-demand/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

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Redefine Properties expects South Africa’s office market recovery to gather momentum over the next two years, while demand for industrial space and opportunities to repurpose ageing commercial properties are set to drive the next phase of growth.

The JSE-listed real estate investment trust (Reit) says the 2026 financial year marked a turning point, with its South African portfolio showing its strongest operating metrics in five years and management increasingly confident the office sector has moved beyond its post-pandemic slump.

“Earnings growth momentum is there, our balance sheet is materially stronger, and operating fundamentals are improving across the board,” said CEO Andrew König.

The optimism follows years of pressure on the office sector as hybrid working, weak economic growth and excess supply pushed vacancies higher and forced landlords to offer rental discounts to retain tenants.

Signs of recovery are now becoming more evident. Redefine reduced office vacancies to 9.5% from 13% a year earlier, outperforming the national average vacancy rate of 11.8%.

COO Leon Kok believes the improvement reflects both stronger demand and the quality of the portfolio. “All of our operating metrics are the best they have been since 2022, across occupancy, renewal reversions, retention rates and renewal success rates. The outcomes show that we have turned the corner and things are looking up.”

The recovery is particularly visible in Sandton, where Redefine’s office vacancies have fallen to about 4.5%, suggesting demand is returning to Johannesburg’s premier business district. However, management acknowledges that older and less competitive buildings continue to face challenges.

For Redefine, the immediate target is to reduce office vacancies further to about 7%, though rental growth is only expected to improve meaningfully from 2028 as excess space is gradually absorbed.

National office vacancies have declined from a peak of about 17% in mid-2022 to 11.8% in the third quarter of 2026, according to the South African Property Owners Association.

Independent property analyst Keillen Ndlovu said several structural factors are supporting the recovery. “Yes, it looks like the office sector has bottomed out,” he said.

The absence of major new office developments, the conversion of obsolete buildings into residential accommodation and greater certainty around hybrid working arrangements are helping rebalance the market, he added. “After several years of negative rental reversions, we’re probably seeing the last phase of major negative rental reversions.”

The decline in overall office vacancies has also been helped by older B and C grade buildings being taken off the market and converted to residential, Ndlovu said.

Markets like Cape Town and Durban were also boosted by increased demand for call centres (BPOs), and some of this is starting to spill over to Johannesburg.

Ndlovu said Redefine had positioned itself well by disposing of weaker office buildings before the Covid pandemic and continuing to improve the quality of its portfolio.

The company’s investment in greener and more energy-efficient properties has also helped to attract tenants increasingly concerned about operating costs.

While offices are recovering, industrial property remains Redefine’s strongest-performing segment and is likely to attract a growing share of capital allocation. The group’s industrial portfolio vacancy rate stands at just 2.8%, with positive rental reversions reflecting strong tenant demand and limited supply of modern logistics and warehousing facilities.

“Industrial continues to be the cornerstone of the South African portfolio’s performance, and it will continue to be the area we look to expand from a capital allocation point of view,” said Kok.

The growth of e-commerce, logistics networks and distribution infrastructure continues to support demand for industrial property, he said.

Beyond South Africa, Poland is expected to remain an important contributor to Redefine’s growth, particularly in retail and industrial properties. The country now contributes almost 29% of the group’s distributable income, strengthening its exposure to an economy expected to outperform much of Europe.

Ndlovu said Poland remained attractive because of its stronger economic growth, low unemployment and relatively liquid property market.

König said the war in Ukraine has had little impact on the Polish economy, other than bringing more skilled people into economic activity through consumer spending. “It is a handbrake on institutional investment activity, but from an operating point of view it hasn’t impacted us at all,” he said.

“The EPP portfolio is basically fully let, the property fundamentals are very positive, and we are probably more affected by the fuel price than by the situation in Ukraine.”

Business Times

]]>,Suppli<![CDATA[Just Share presses Sasol on climate transition plan]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-just-share-presses-sasol-on-climate-transition-plan/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-just-share-presses-sasol-on-climate-transition-plan/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

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Shareholder activist organisation Just Share is stepping up pressure for petrochemicals giant Sasol to take its transition “seriously” ahead of its annual general meeting on Friday, November 13.

In its report, Driving a credible and just transition at Sasol, released last week, Just Share has raised questions about the pace and credibility of the company’s plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

However, Sasol has maintained its commitment to climate change, saying it is leading a “deliberately pragmatic and value-led” approach.

Just Share’s report argued that Sasol has ambitious targets without yet demonstrating that it has a sufficiently detailed, funded, deliverable plan to achieve them. It highlighted Sasol’s 2021 plan of a 30% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 using a 2017 baseline. However, the report noted that by 2025 Sasol switched its direction towards saving cash, minimising capital expenditure, and ramping-up coal to liquids (CTL) production rates.

“Delivering the targets now requires accelerated emission abatement within the next four years. The company must achieve this at a time when Sasol appears to be placing less reliance on measures previously identified as important to its pathway, including boiler turndown and a shift from coal to gas,” says the report.

The report also argues that Sasol does not provide sufficient process-level detail, annual milestones or quantified contributions from individual abatement measures to demonstrate how this reduction will be achieved.

“The shift from the original 2021 emission reduction roadmap towards a lower-capital-intensity strategy, greater reliance on renewable energy and market mechanisms, and continued high utilisation of coal-based assets raises a fundamental question for investors: Is Sasol committed to structural decarbonisation of the underlying business?”

In its response to Business Times, Sasol insisted it stood firm on its 2030 commitments, saying it is making “measurable” progress, pointing to a net 15% reduction in group scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by the end of the 2026 financial year against the 2017 baseline.

The group also said locally it acquired 1.37GW in renewable energy, with 510MW already operational, while also eyeing having 2GW of renewable energy operational by 2030. “Our focus remains on delivering our 2030 target of reducing Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 30%, while ensuring that the actions we take are practical, sustainable and support the long-term competitiveness of the business,” it said.

Sasol said it understands the concern about the pace of the energy transition, but it believed progress should ultimately be assessed against measurable delivery rather than ambition alone.

“Our approach is deliberately pragmatic and value-led. We have to balance the need to reduce emissions with energy security, affordability, the competitiveness of our operations and South Africa’s broader socio-economic circumstances. This is particularly important given Sasol’s role in South Africa’s energy and industrial value chains,” the group said.

It said it was bolstering the financial and operational foundation of the business while progressing its transition. It pointed to the 2026 financial year in which Secunda achieved its highest annual production in five years, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) increasing by 17% to R61bn and net debt, excluding leases, declining to $3.3bn.

Sasol is a significant employer, supporting 500,000 jobs throughout the value chain and is one of South Africa’s largest taxpayers. It supplies some 30% of South Africa’s liquid fuel requirements, however, it is a massive polluter and is one of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters after Eskom.

Speaking during a panel discussion on the report, director of climate change engagement at Just Share Robyn Hugo said last week that a credible transition at Sasol matters.

This is because of Sasol’s footprint as the country’s largest private greenhouse gas emitter, while its operations are a major source of toxic air pollution, meaning that its decisions affect climate change, public health, industrial development, communities, and public finances. “We say that Sasol’s economic importance is a reason to take its transition more seriously. It’s not a reason to excuse any of the risks associated with its current business model,” said Hugo.

“In fact, the greater the consequences of a poorly managed transition, the more important it is to address those risks early. So its large economic footprint is actually a measure of the systemic value that’s at risk if the transition is delayed.”

She noted that a company can make a substantial economic contribution while also imposing costs that don’t appear anywhere on its income statement.

Sasol said that, as part of its commitment, it continues bringing renewable energy online and making progress on sustainable fuels and other lower-carbon opportunities.

“Our transition is not premised on pursuing projects at any cost. Capital is allocated selectively, with consideration given to project value, readiness and the enabling policy and market environment. This approach is intended to ensure that we reduce emissions while preserving the resilience and long-term sustainability of the business,” it said.

A report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) released in September estimated that Sasol costs 1,000 deaths per year through pollution linked to Sasol’s Secunda Operations, which accounts for 83.7% of Scope 1 and 2 emissions, followed by Sasolburg at 8.4%.

CREA also said industrial emissions from Secunda were responsible for a rotten egg smell for residents and, at times, travel as far as Johannesburg and Pretoria — 150km away — due to the transboundary nature of air pollution.

Business Times

]]>Siphiwe Sibeko<![CDATA[Push for local languages hopes to shape climate policy debates]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-push-for-local-languages-hopes-to-shape-climate-policy-debates/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-push-for-local-languages-hopes-to-shape-climate-policy-debates/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

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Thandile Zonke, a climate and energy campaigner and commissioner at the presidential climate change commission, is pushing to decode climate change terminology into vernacular languages to empower communities and influence policy.

Zonke told Business Times this week decoding climate change is important to the government’s plan to advance economic growth, industrial development, and employment creation.

“I think the challenge is that many people who are engaging around the climate crisis are doing so in what is their second or third language in South Africa. Many of the time, even your fourth language, and yet the majority of our communications around climate is happening in English. The majority of the policy documents that are being released are in English, and there’s no translation provided or even summaries for communities,” she said.

According to Stats SA, English was the fifth most spoken language in South Africa in 2022, accounting for 9% of the population. Zulu was the most widely spoken language at 24.4%, followed by Xhosa at 16.3%, Afrikaans at 10.6% and Sepedi at 10%.

Zonke said new terminology is emerging around climate change as investors increasingly monitor companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.

“You’ll see terminology like carbon bombs and carbon budgets. So how do you articulate that in vernacular, that’s going to actually resonate with communities in that same way?”

Terms may not necessarily find a direct translation, she said, and there is a need to engage with communities about what terminology they are already using in their daily expressions that would denote the urgency and violence associated with these.

Zonke contends that while not everything can be directly translated, it can be easy to miss the nuances and feelings that language can convey; hence a buy-in from the community is important.

Decoding terminology is crucial to ensure no-one is left behind in the energy transition. Using indigenous language to ensure people can participate in policy consultations advances the transition, she said.

“The objective is to try to make climate language legible or climate policy legible to people in the language that they use so they can get into these spaces where they can potentially interact with or make submissions to decision makers,” she said

There has always been a need to make climate change understandable to communities, and particularly in vernacular languages, given the difficulty people, and particularly campaigners, have in expressing themselves in English.

This is because the terms are technical and feel inaccessible, and Zonke’s vision is for communities to reach a point where they understand what the terms are and how they translate into their lives.

“The objective would be to see the terminology that communities create reflected back in decision makers, how they are expressing themselves in policy. I think that would be an indication that we’re moving in a direction where communities are actually able to influence the climate conversation.”

The plan is to host a series of imbizos across the country to get buy-in from communities to not only translate what’s happening in the climate crisis into vernacular but also integrate it into language. This will ensure a collective project where communities can own the language around climate change.

Zonke also plans to rope in language experts to the decoding process and secure the funding that can make a project like this possible.

“The just transition is happening. We don’t really have much of a say about how it happens, but our entry point into this is how just it is,” she said.

It is important that communities are at the table to define that language because they need to be able to communicate their needs and aspirations at the end of the day.

Zonke, as an activist, was one of the campaigners in the Wild Coast case against Shell’s seismic testing in the Wild Coast as part of Greenpeace Africa.

She described the case as precedent-setting because it not only affirmed the rights of communities to have to give prior and informed consent, but also affirmed that spiritual and cultural rights need to be considered in these types of exploration activities.

Business Times

]]>Rawpixel.com/Magnific<![CDATA[Africa’s capital markets fall short of needs]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-africas-capital-markets-fall-short-of-needs/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-africas-capital-markets-fall-short-of-needs/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000Africa’s corporate debt markets are far too small to match the continent’s economic weight and growing financing needs, the OECD said on Friday, with outstanding market-based debt totalling only $211bn (about R3.5-trillion) at the end of 2025.

The shortfall could undermine both economic growth and leaders’ efforts to expand local financing to protect companies and countries on the continent during periods of global market stress, when foreign lenders often pull ​back from markets perceived as risky, the OECD warned.

“Overall, capital markets remain underutilised as a source ​of long‑term finance — particularly when compared to other emerging-market economies — limiting their contribution to ⁠economic growth and resilience,” the OECD said in its Africa Capital Markets Report 2026.

The report’s estimates ​are based on bond and loan transaction records from the London Stock Exchange Group and private credit fund ​data from Preqin, covering all 54 African countries.

The corporate bond market, estimated at $35bn, is 44% smaller in inflation-adjusted terms than its 2015 peak, largely due to reduced activity in South Africa.

Companies across the continent issued no more than 20 bonds ​in 2025, 17 of them by financial firms. Six countries — Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria and South ​Africa — accounted for 80% of outstanding corporate debt.

Only 17% of corporate debt issued in 2025 was in local currency, limiting ‌borrowers’ ⁠ability to secure long-term financing without exposure to exchange-rate swings.

Economic and institutional hurdles are the main obstacles to developing bond markets in countries without them, the OECD said, adding that policymakers must take “a broad, whole-of-government approach”.

Regulatory quality, rule of law, exchange-rate stability and well-developed pension funds are among the factors most closely linked ​to deeper bond markets, the ​report said.

A more ⁠than 25% drop in aid provided by OECD donor countries to Sub-Saharan Africa underscored the need for deeper domestic capital markets, the OECD said.

African ​equity market capitalisation surged 49% in 2025, more than twice the gain in ​broader emerging ⁠markets. Four countries — South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco — accounted for 88% of the total.

At a round table on Friday, OECD director for financial and enterprise affairs Carmine Di Noia said Ethio Telecom’s listing on Ethiopia’s new ⁠securities exchange ​in May and the Kenya Pipeline Company’s recent IPO underscored the ​rise in investable assets beyond the traditional hubs.

He also said that three-quarters of large non-financial state-owned African enterprises remain unlisted, representing ​a large potential pool of assets.

The report found that market depth and liquidity remain highly concentrated. South Africa had significantly greater market depth, with a score of 98, compared with 61 for Morocco and Mauritius, and 51 for Nigeria. Scores were much lower in many other markets.

“The market-depth score provides an indication of the size and liquidity of a country’s capital markets relative to the size of its economy, with higher scores indicating greater market depth.”

The report said South Africa continued to show deeper capital market development, pointing to the listing of Optasia on the JSE.

In terms of sustainable finance, the report said South Africa remained the continent’s most advanced sustainable finance market, highlighting its progressive climate finance ecosystem, institutional investor base and regulatory framework. — Reuters

]]>Malwande Ndzimande<![CDATA[Don’t hold your breath for US shift towards SA]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-dont-hold-your-breath-for-us-shift-towards-sa/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-dont-hold-your-breath-for-us-shift-towards-sa/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

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The results of the US midterm elections this week, where the Democratic Party flipped the House of Representatives and the Senate, are unlikely to immediately translate into the largest economy softening its hostile approach to South Africa, analysts say.

The midterm results were a blow to US President Donald Trump and his Republican Party and are expected to frustrate remaining items in Trump’s second-term agenda.

Dawie Roodt, economist at Efficient Group, told Business Times that Trump’s power will be frustrated but not sterilised. “I don’t think it’s going to affect South Africa for some time; maybe eventually.”

The midterm results presented historic milestones, including the election of the first Democratic senator from Texas since 1988, James Talarico, the first Muslim senator Abdul Al-Sayed, and the first black female governor Keisha Lance-Bottoms.

While the results represent a setback for the Republicans, Trump still has more than two years in power. His second administration has presented domestic and international shocks, including the US-Iran war, trade tariffs, rising living costs and accelerated deportations of migrants.

Roodt said the Democrats will be confronted with a laundry list of urgent priorities on the domestic front and global challenges before mending fences with South Africa can be considered a priority. “They’ve got too many domestic issues to deal with. I don’t think South Africa is likely to be on the agenda for now. And in any event, remember, Trump still has a veto. So for now, no changes can be expected.”

The Trump administration’s decision to exclude South Africa from Agoa was a culmination of hostile positions it has taken against the country, including tough unilateral tariffs. Last year, the Republicans introduced the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act, proposing sanctions for ANC leaders.

Roodt acknowledged that the Democrats were likely to have more cordial dealings with South Africa and the ANC. “The Democrats in the US are probably going to be a little bit [friendlier] to the ANC government in South Africa. So from that point of view, it could be slightly good news for South Africa. But like I’ve said, I think there’s still a lot that can happen.

“For the next two years, Trump is still going to be president. And always remember that he’s still got a veto on all sorts of decisions. For now, don’t expect much.”

Azar Jammine, director and chief economist at Economatrix, told Business Times that the markets were responding positively to the midterm elections as the results were being associated with a possible end to the US-Iran war, falling oil prices and cooling inflation and interest rates.

There was a high likelihood that the US would elect a Democrat as president in the 2028 elections, he said, which was positive for South Africa in the long term. “Theoretically, it can only help South Africa that Trump’s power has been somewhat diminished, but he still holds some executive power.

He said it was unlikely that issues such as Trump’s termination of aid funding “will be foremost in the minds of members of Congress at the moment. As time goes by, attention will shift to restoring aid to South Africa and the region in the fight against Aids. But Trump will still have veto power”.

Redge Nkosi, founder and executive director at Firstsource Money, said the Democratic victory would benefit South Africa in a mid- to long-term basis, but an immediate change was not likely, especially with Trump’s veto power taken into consideration.

“Firstly, the American regime is essentially controlled by Trump with his executive orders. It seems to me that those will not come to an end. In fact, it will likely get worse.”

Business Times

]]>Umit Bektas<![CDATA[SA faces higher US trade costs after Agoa exit ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-sa-faces-higher-us-trade-costs-after-agoa-exit/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-sa-faces-higher-us-trade-costs-after-agoa-exit/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

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Losing access to the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) will raise the cost of doing business with the world’s largest economy, despite alternative systems governing trade between the two countries.

US President Donald Trump wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa this week, informing him that South Africa would be excluded from Agoa provisions starting next year.

The country’s exports to the US are now expected to be administered through the remaining trade provisions, namely the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) and the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO’s) most favoured nation (MFN) provisions.

Saul Levin, executive director of Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, told Business Times that while exclusion from Agoa does not terminate all trade between South Africa and the US, the act gave helpful provisions to exporters in strategic sectors.

“The removal of Agoa benefits is small compared to the earlier Trump tariffs. While the MFN rate, which we are now subject to, is not significantly higher, not being in Agoa does, however, raise the cost of doing business with the US and the cost of some South African goods in the US.”

The quantum of value in South African exports to the US that enjoy Agoa preferences amounts to about $1.6bn (R26.4bn) to $1.7bn. GSP benefits have largely been integrated into, or run alongside, Agoa. Bilateral trade reached $28.8bn in 2025.

SA's exports to the US
SA's exports to the US

Between 74% and 90% of total South African goods exported to the US are administered under MFN rules, making up the balance of South Africa’s roughly $16.5bn in annual US-bound exports.

Levin said it was clear from these and other actions that Trump did not consider South Africa a strategic partner, and it was unlikely that the country would be back in Agoa during his term.

“Since democracy, the US has worked closely with the South African government on many important issues — we don’t always agree, but there has been a strategic co-operation. The removal of South Africa from Agoa further contributes to that declining relationship and undermines the importance of the US working with one of the largest economies in Africa.”

Critical minerals aside, there is also less ambition in the current US administration towards Africa in general, and there are now 19 African countries excluded from Agoa, which undermines the overall usefulness of the measure, Levin said.

“Critical minerals are, however, an important consideration in US trade with South Africa and the region. Trade in these commodities, which is robust and considerable, is, however, largely by private companies and at this stage not impacted by bilateral relations or threats of retaliatory trade action.

The direct economic impact of removal from Agoa is limited, and our removal is not a surprise

Saul Levin, executive director of Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies

“The direct economic impact of removal from Agoa is limited, and our removal is not a surprise. Even prior to Trump, the concern had been that South Africa — as an upper-middle-income country — would graduate out of Agoa; previously, keeping South Africa in Agoa was therefore a strategic move on the part of the US.”

He said there would be some companies and products negatively impacted, and as of last year, the messaging from government and industry associations had been to encourage and assist exporters to diversify and find new markets.

A comprehensive bilateral trade agreement between the US and South Africa would be a good thing, but these agreements, if done properly, take time to negotiate and agree, he said.

In a statement responding to Trump’s announced intention to remove South Africa from Agoa, trade, industry & competition minister Parks Tau, said that while important, Agoa did not constitute the totality of the economic relationship between the two countries.

“In 2025, about 89% of South African exports to the US entered under ordinary WTO most favoured nation terms, while about 10% entered under Agoa, down from 28% in 2024. Agoa exports were valued at about $1.7bn in 2025, down from $4bn in 2024. Agoa exports represented about 1% of South Africa’s total global exports.”

Terry Gale, chair of Exporters Western Cape, said the outcome of the midterm elections in the US, where the Democratic Party won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate from Trump’s Republican Party, has opened a fresh opportunity for South Africa to avert its exclusion from Agoa.

“The stunning Republican defeat in the US midterm elections has changed the political landscape in Washington. For South Africa, it creates an opportunity to mount an urgent diplomatic effort to avert its exclusion from Agoa.”

Gale proposed that a mission to the US should carry a clear presidential mandate and be supported by credible representatives of business, organised labour and the government. “That mission must arrive with practical proposals. Washington has cited trade and investment barriers, corruption and national security and foreign policy concerns. South Africa should seek precise, measurable requirements for continued eligibility, address substantiated concerns within its constitutional framework and demonstrate how preserving the relationship serves American as well as South African interests.”

Business Times

]]>SUPPLIED<![CDATA[Policy consistency crucial to unleash Africa’s promise]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-policy-consistency-crucial-to-unleash-africas-promise/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-policy-consistency-crucial-to-unleash-africas-promise/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

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While Africa has the people and resources to become a global economic powerhouse, it needs to prioritise policy consistency and the rule of law if its potential is to be realised, says a top economist.

Standard Bank’s chief economist and head of research, Goolam Ballim, told the One Young World Summit in Cape Town this week that Africa was now relevant to the global economy amid political ructions, geopolitical tensions and trade fragmentation.

“In today’s world of re-shoring, on-shoring, or ally-shoring, or put differently, when nations are looking for paths to establish trade and supply chains on trust and predictability, Africa is slightly more relevant.

“In terms of commodities, Africa has abundant cobalt, platinum, lithium and a variety of other critical and rare earth minerals that are going to be essential for this century’s energy and advanced manufacturing.”

Amid questions over the debt sustainability of the US, the implications of China’s ageing population and the slowdown of development capital in Europe, analysts are assessing Africa’s young population as a key strategic advantage in the long term for growth.

According to the UN’s world population prospects report, nearly 60% of global youths are concentrated in just 10 countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mexico and the US.

Ballim said Africa needed to put in place the basic building blocks for growing economies and prosperous societies, such as infrastructure for basic services and the rule of law, with policy consistency as the backbone. “In terms of food security, 60% of the world’s still-available arable land is on the continent. In so many respects, Africa has an enormous amount of relevance.

“That relevance can remain theoretical. Theoretical in the sense that, for all of these things, this potential to translate into prosperity and meaning, Africa is devoid of the substructures that are necessary to monetise, to translate this potential into reality. This potential needs electricity. It needs skills. It needs technology. Regulation. The rule of law. Policymaking to make this all into a true transformation.”

Also at the summit, the chair of Anglo American South Africa, Nolitha Fakude, said Africa faced various challenges in its economic development strategy and ambition, but opportunities still abounded.

Fakude said geopolitics needed to be considered. “In some countries, one particular mineral is for economic development, when you say technology and digitisation. Others look at it for decarbonisation purposes because they want to make sure that we transition to a low-carbon economy by using some of these metals that are mined.”

She said as geopolitical tensions intensified around the world, Africa’s role in the global political community would become more pronounced as the region had the resources that feed the defence industry.

Rohitesh Dhawan, president and CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals, said South Africa had been growing as an economy because the mining sector, supported by banks, legal companies and manufacturers, needed multi-pronged support to create jobs that secured people’s dignity and rights.

“One thing that’s very hard for companies in general, but for my industry to say, is that I really feel we need help. We don’t have the answers in the mining industry for how to build an industry that can protect rights, protect the planet and grow at the pace it’s going to need. We need help. We need your help.”

He said mining companies know the value of every commodity but understand that the most precious thing they have is people.

Business Times

]]><![CDATA[Battle over prostate drug patent goes to Constitutional Court ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-battle-over-prostate-drug-patent-goes-to-constitutional-court/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-battle-over-prostate-drug-patent-goes-to-constitutional-court/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

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Japanese pharma giant Astellas and the University of California (UC) are going to the Constitutional Court to try to block local pharma group Eurolab and Dis-Chem from manufacturing and distributing Enzutix, a generic of the prostate cancer drug Xtandi.

In January 2023, Eurolab obtained approval from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority for the registration of Enzutix. When this came to the knowledge of the university — whose scientists developed the drug — it joined its commercial partner Astellas in trying to get an undertaking from Eurolab not to proceed for the life of the patent.

Eurolab rejected the request and went to the Commission of Patents, arguing on a legal technicality that UC had not been entitled to apply for a patent for Xtandi in South Africa in the first place. The commission agreed with Eurolab, and UC and Astellas appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

In March the SCA ruled in favour of UC and Astellas (which has a market capitalisation of about $40bn or R666bn) — but declined their application to interdict the sale of Enzutix pending the conclusion of the patent litigation.

The SCA said an interdict would not be appropriate because Enzutrix is a cheaper option than Xtandi, which, like many branded cancer medications, is financially out of reach for the average South African. According to Eurolab, one year’s supply of Xtandi costs nearly R361,000, while Enzutrix comes in at R299,407 — a difference of about R60,000.

In their papers in the Constitutional Court application, due to be heard this month, UC — which is also pursuing a multimillion-rand damages claim against Eurolab for patent infringement — and Astellas said about $1.5bn was spent developing Xtandi and Eurolab should not be allowed to use legal niceties to profit from their invention.

“Simply put, Xtandi is a groundbreaking drug, the development of which has significantly improved the lives of prostate cancer patients globally. It is in the public interest that research of this sort be incentivised through the grant of patents,” UC and Astellas argue.

“It is equally in the public interest that patents are not made vulnerable to attack on highly technical grounds that have nothing to do with the merits of the invention; in respect of which there is no dispute between the interested parties; and which are advanced by firms for the sole purpose of trying to justify having stolen a march on other generics companies (that were waiting for the patent to expire) by distributing a generic of Xtandi while the patent was still in force.”

It is equally in the public interest that patents are not made vulnerable to attack on highly technical grounds that have nothing to do with the merits of the invention

Affidavit by UC and Astellas

Xtandi was developed at UC with grant support from the National Institutes of Health and the US Army.

Eight UC academics, including Michael Jung and Charles Sawyers, are the brains behind Xtandi, which raked in ¥750bn (R93bn) in sales for Astellas in financial 2023. The drug, which Astellas describes as a medication used to treat men with prostate cancer that no longer responds to hormone therapy or surgical treatment, lowers testosterone levels, among other things.

Eurolab, citing the financial blow that a successful damages action by UC would deal it, plans to ask the Constitutional Court to rule that it did not infringe a Xanti patent.

“UC has instituted action for damages against Eurolab for patent infringement,” Eurolab says in an affidavit, which Business Times has seen. “The validity of the patent is determinative of that claim. If the SCA judgment stands, Eurolab faces potential substantial monetary liability based on a patent that the Commissioner [of Patents] and the minority found to have been improperly obtained.

“This is not an academic question. Eurolab’s commercial interests, i.e. their right to sell a generic oncology drug, are directly at stake.”

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men worldwide; prominent South Africans who had it include Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Prostate cancer affects one in 4 black Africans in South Africa and one in eight whites. According to a study published in the Health Journal, the disease accounts for 13% of male deaths in South Africa, with the total cost of treating 11,000 new cases in 2022 estimated at R2.1bn.

UC and Astellas warned that offshore inventors might shy away from South Africa if the country’s patent laws allow Eurolab to emerge victorious in the dispute.

“Most patents filed in South Africa do not originate from research carried out in this country. Merely to give the court some perspective in this regard, in 2025, 11,173 patents were filed in South Africa. Of those 11,173 patents, 8,910 (80%) were filed by foreign corporations.

“A very high percentage of patents owned by foreign corporations enter South Africa as PCT [patent co-operation treaty] national phase filings. The patent-in-suit followed that route.”

Business Times

]]><![CDATA[Gold Fields initiative aims to bridge skills and jobs gap]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-gold-fields-initiative-aims-to-bridge-skills-and-jobs-gap/https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-11-07-gold-fields-initiative-aims-to-bridge-skills-and-jobs-gap/Sat, 07 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

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With millions of young people searching for work and employers struggling to recruit candidates with the right expertise, mining giant Gold Fields has initiated a programme to bridge the gap between skills development and work.

The initiative, dubbed Siyakha Sonke (we are building together), is a 10-year programme to train young people to be work-ready, not only for the mining industry but throughout the mining value chain.

Launched 10 months ago, it comes as the official unemployment rate has increased by 0.9 percentage points to 33.6% in the second quarter from 32.7% in the first quarter of the year.

Benford Mokoatle, Gold Fields’ executive vice-president for South Africa, told Business Times that Siyakha Sonke aims to get young people ready to take up opportunities in sectors including manufacturing, renewable energy and agro-processing.

It is designed to take account of new skills that will be needed as technology develops and goes beyond mining to provide young people with training and connections to opportunities that will grow the economy.

Mokoatle said one of its focuses was making sure women, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups could play a meaningful role in the economy.

“We are trying to shift the focus from training for the sake of training to creating practical pathways from learning to employment,” he said. “That means bringing together employers, educational institutions and the government so we can build skills that are aligned with demand.”

Gold Fields operates South Deep, the mechanised gold mine near Westonaria, and initially Siyakha Sonke will be trialled in the West Rand. From there it will be scaled up and rolled out to the rest of the country.

In the first phase of the rollout in the next decade, governance structures and finalise priority training programmes will be set up. This will be followed by the launch of training and skills development programmes and partnerships with universities and colleges to ensure their courses are aligned with the skills required today and in the future.

Mokoatle said the plan is to expand the partnerships into key economic sectors.

“Technology and automation are changing the labour demand and are reshaping the required skills. Siyakha Sonke is therefore also aimed at strengthening the pathways between education and the practical experience employers need, while at the same time preparing people for the skills that are required in different industries and sectors.”

South Deep mine in October penned memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Sibanye-Stillwater, AngloGold Ashanti, Mienara, Phahama School of Specialisation and Westcol TVET College to support Siyakha Sonke. Additional partnerships are being explored and developed.

Asked how many jobs would be created, Mokoatle said it was too early to say. “I’d rather talk about the intent than the number of jobs that we want to create. We want to also create new, future jobs. We want this to go beyond the numbers.”

Business Times

]]>Picture: PHILIP MOSTERT<![CDATA[COMMENTARY: ANC faces tough choices after voter exodus in metros]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-commentary-anc-faces-tough-choices-after-voter-exodus-in-metros/https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-commentary-anc-faces-tough-choices-after-voter-exodus-in-metros/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 17:43:03 +0000

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The electorate has dealt the cards and now SA’s political leadership must play their respective hands. Across the country, ‘hung’ councils – where there is no outright majority – are now the norm: 70 hung councils in 2021, but already close to 100 in this election.

The negotiating teams of the main political parties have got their work cut out to reach power-sharing agreements in each of these local governments in time for the legal deadline of November 22.

Along with their negotiating strategies and tactics, and their ‘redline’ issues, they will have to make a choice on two preliminary matters. First, whether and to what extent to allow local politicians to handle the deal-making rather than control it from national leadership level. Second, to decide whether to offer ‘package deals’ where, for example, one party agrees to support the other’s mayoral candidate in one council in return for support for their’s somewhere else.

Both the ANC and the DA have opted to have national-level negotiating teams, which have already been formed and are primed for action – at least in the eight metros and other bigger councils - and for good reason: emotions may still be running high after a keenly fought local contest and personal relationships are more likely to get in the way of cool-headed negotiations (although the opposite can also be true; positive, trust-based relationships have enabled a diverse range of coalitions in smaller municipalities to succeed over the past five years).

This is not to say that these considerations do not also apply at national level. On a Political Arena panel discussion on Thursday, ANC NEC member Mdumiseni Ntuli said that he had colleagues in the ANC leadership who found the DA’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate, Helen Zille, arrogant for presenting herself as a “Messiah” to save the creaking city, with the clear implication being that this would make it less likely that the Government of National Unity (GNU) can be transposed into a ‘GLU’ – government of local unity.

Ntuli further indicated that the ANC would have to ask itself whether sharing power in the GNU with the DA had hurt its prospects at this election. This is a good question to pose, but the ANC’s leadership must be very careful not to jump to the wrong conclusions. If they are thinking clearly, they would be wise to accept a different logic: if ANC voters were really upset about being in bed with the DA then they are much more likely to have taken their votes to the MK Party or EFF. But, instead, support for both of these populist parties – as well as the Patriotic Alliance – has fallen since 2024. In the provincial ballot in 2024, the three parties secured 26%, but in this election it is currently projected to be around 17%.

The ANC has bled voters across the political spectrum – to the centre right (DA and ActionSA) and centre left (SACP), but far less to the extremes. Most likely, this happened because of the fundamental decline of the ANC as a fully functioning political and campaigning organisation and because of its myriad failures in government in city halls across the land on the bread and butter issues that matter most to residents.

If the ANC leadership concludes that it can course correct, and revive itself, by entering into partnerships with the MKP and EFF – although the feeble performance of all three mean that the arithmetic does not add up to 51% in any of the metros bar eThekweni – it would be making a grave mistake. It would constitute a decision that runs against the grain of the electorate’s choices.

Which takes us to ActionSA - the standout performers in this LGE, at least in Gauteng (it doesn’t get into double figures anywhere else in the country). ActionSA are the living proof that in coalition politics every percentage point matters. They are now in a position to play a powerful king-maker role in the Gauteng metros. Based on CSIR projections, ActionSA could provide the DA with a two-party solution in all three Gauteng metros – Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni – whereas because ANC support has shrunk so far, there is no such ANC plus ActionSA two-party option in any of those three metros.

The DA plus ActionSA deal is – on the numbers – the easier deal to do. However, the very difficult relationship between Herman Mashaba and certain DA leaders, especially Helen Zille, makes this a very difficult deal to do.

Which brings one back to the ANC-DA relationship. Assume the ANC leadership is thinking clearly, sustains its 2024 refusal to do business with the MK Party, and recognises that to get to 51% with ActionSA will require lots of other parties – an ABZ coalition (Anyone But Zille) – creating instability and complexity, then the obvious alternative is to extend the national ‘grand coalition’ with the DA to the metros. This will require leadership maturity and courage, both to overcome the loud nationalist anti-DA voices inside the organisation, especially in Gauteng, and the psychological barrier of having to accept being the smaller party in the partnership. This is what the business and investment world would like to see – and this important consideration should not be neglected.

There are two ways to sweeten the deal inside the ANC (as was the case in 2024). One is to adopt the GNU approach of adding a sprinkle of smaller parties so that it looks less like the ANC is beholden to the DA, even as the junior partner. The other is to entertain what one might call the ‘package’ approach identified as a preliminary negotiating consideration. It might be hard for the DA to accept that in order to achieve such an historic centralist-pact across the municipal sphere will require certain mayoral candidates who have worked hard to achieve pluralities in their cities to put their interests aside in favour of a greater good, but as with any major negotiation, there will have to be concessions and compromises made on all sides.

As this weekend’s crucial first round of negotiations get under way, political leaders will need to focus on what is in the best interests of the country, the economy, and the residents of municipalities that are crying out for stable and trustworthy governments to rebuild basic services and infrastructure.

  • Calland is visiting adjunct professor at the WITS School of Governance and Partner of the Paternoster Group, which has established a ‘City Risk Monitor’ that roots its political analysis of the LGE in the economic risk profile of municipalities in South Africa 

Business Day

]]>Koena Mashale<![CDATA[WATCH | Inside the National Results Operations Centre as votes are counted]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-06-watch-inside-the-national-results-operations-centre-as-votes-are-counted/https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-06-watch-inside-the-national-results-operations-centre-as-votes-are-counted/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 16:55:42 +0000With vote counting continuing after SA’s local government elections, Business Day TV crosses to the National Results Operations Centre for the latest developments, emerging results and an update on the country’s evolving political landscape.

Business Day

]]>Freddy Mavunda<![CDATA[WATCH | Stock Picks]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-06-watch-stock-picks/https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-06-watch-stock-picks/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 16:54:40 +0000Rowan Williams from Nitrogen Fund Managers and Neal Hoogwerf from Merchant West Investments take a look at the trading week that was and answer your stock-related questions.

Business Day

]]>Brendan McDermid<![CDATA[WATCH | What SA’s municipal election results mean for the country’s political future]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-06-watch-what-sas-municipal-election-results-mean-for-the-countrys-political-future/https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-06-watch-what-sas-municipal-election-results-mean-for-the-countrys-political-future/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 16:29:34 +0000South Africa’s local government election results are pointing to a significant shift in the country’s political landscape, raising important questions about the future of governance, coalition politics and the balance of power. Political analyst Richard Calland joins Business Day TV to unpack the emerging picture, what the results reveal about the electorate and what lies ahead for South Africa’s political parties.

Business Day

]]>YASANTHA NAIDOO<![CDATA[WATCH | Sappi’s annual loss widens as stronger rand and weak demand weigh]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-06-watch-sappis-annual-loss-widens-as-stronger-rand-and-weak-demand-weigh/https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-06-watch-sappis-annual-loss-widens-as-stronger-rand-and-weak-demand-weigh/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 16:10:31 +0000Sappi is facing a tough operating environment, with a stronger rand, rising costs and subdued global demand weighing on its financial performance. Business Day TV caught up with CEO Steve Binnie to unpack the results in detail.

Business Day

]]>Supplied<![CDATA[WATCH | What SA’s local election results mean for the country’s political future]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-06-watch-what-sas-local-election-results-mean-for-the-countrys-political-future/https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-06-watch-what-sas-local-election-results-mean-for-the-countrys-political-future/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 16:05:04 +0000South Africa’s local government elections are pointing to a significant shift in the country’s political landscape, with major changes emerging across the country’s metropolitan municipalities. The results could reshape who governs some of South Africa’s biggest cities and set the stage for a new round of coalition negotiations. Business Day TV sat down with Business Day editor-in-chief Luke Feltham for more insight.

Business Day

]]>Yoliswa Sobuwa<![CDATA[Russia using its own version of Starlink for strikes on Ukraine, Kyiv says]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-06-russia-using-its-own-version-of-starlink-for-strikes-on-ukraine-kyiv-says/https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-06-russia-using-its-own-version-of-starlink-for-strikes-on-ukraine-kyiv-says/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 15:47:54 +0000Russia is already using its new Rassvet satellite network - billed as a homegrown version of Starlink - for military communications over Ukraine, aiming to make its strike drones more accurate and harder to jam, says Ukrainian military intelligence.

Russia has launched 32 Rassvet satellites into orbit so far this year, in two batches in March and July, according to the main intelligence directorate of Ukraine’s ministry of defence (GUR). The Russian government said last month that Russia had launched more than 30 satellites.

That is a tiny fraction of the more than 10,000 satellites in the Starlink network, run by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the military version of which - Starshield - operates in Ukraine but not in Russia. Access to SpaceX systems, which Moscow does not have, has greatly helped Kyiv in the war against invading Russian forces.

Moscow plans further Rassvet launches by the end of 2026 to increase the network’s geographic coverage, bringing it gradually closer to a full low-orbit satellite communications system, GUR said in a written statement.

“Russia is using the ‘Rassvet’ satellite system over the territory of Ukraine for military purposes,” GUR spokesperson Andrii Yusov said in the statement.

“The constellation is currently insufficient to provide uninterrupted coverage of Ukrainian territory: communication is available intermittently when the satellites pass over the relevant areas.”

Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia’s Scientific and Expert Council warned of the risks posed by Starlink on Friday and urged a quicker deployment of the Rassvet system.

Renewed uncertainty over US support

Starshield has given Kyiv a major advantage in drone operations and battlefield communications.

Russian forces had been using grey-market ​Starlink terminals in Ukraine until Kyiv successfully lobbied SpaceX to disable ​them earlier this year, one of several factors that shifted ⁠battlefield momentum in Ukraine’s favour this year.

However, last month Ukrainian battlefield commanders unexpectedly saw speed limitations imposed on Starshield, hampering the military’s ability to intercept Russian attack ​drones and forcing the cancellation of some strike operations.

No explanation has been given for the temporary restrictions on Starshield, which came amid tensions with President Donald Trump’s administration over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries and have now been lifted.

While Russia’s territorial gains on the frontline have ground to a virtual halt this year, it has doubled down on strikes against Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure and cities, using a new generation of jet-powered drones that are harder to intercept.

In the longer term, this could increase the effectiveness of strike and reconnaissance UAVs and make it more difficult for electronic warfare and electronic intelligence systems to intercept them

Andrii Yusov, GUR spokesman

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly raised concerns about Russia’s attempts to build its own version of SpaceX’s network. President Volodymyr Zelensky last week imposed sanctions on 10 companies involved in developing Rassvet, including Bureau 1440 - the co-ordinator of the state-backed project.

Bureau 1440 has said it plans to create a constellation of more than 900 satellites by 2035.

Surveillance and strike drones

The GUR statement said that Rassvet may provide Russia with two-way data exchange with its unmanned aircraft over Ukraine, allowing surveillance drones to transmit data in real time and pilots to adjust the route of attack drones during flight, reducing dependence on a pre-programmed flight path.

That could allow drones to adjust to changes in target location, or evade air defences.

“In the longer term, this could increase the effectiveness of strike and reconnaissance UAVs and make it more difficult for electronic warfare and electronic intelligence systems to intercept them,” Yusov said.

Mykola Zientsev, a Kyiv-based security expert, said there were some signs that Rassvet was already having an impact on precision strikes by Russian jet-powered drones.

“In practical terms, Russia already possesses at least two high-quality satellite communications windows every day, each lasting more than an hour,” he wrote in a recent report. “That is enough to have operational consequences.”

GUR has published a list of 49 companies from Russia and Belarus that it says are involved in the project.

​​Maj-Gen Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of GUR, said in an interview with Ukrainian media in August that Russia was launching the Rassvet system much faster than originally planned and Ukraine was already discussing ways to counter it.

Ukraine said in August it had carried out a long-range missile attack against the Progress rocket and space centre in Russia’s Samara region, which produces rockets used to launch Rassvet satellites.

Denys Sienik, Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Washington, has urged the US to impose its own sanctions on Rassvet companies.

The US Treasury Department had no comment on Ukraine’s push for further sanctions.

Reuters

]]>Stringer<![CDATA[WATCH | The Political Arena team talks to political leaders about LGE results ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-06-watch-live-the-political-arena-team-talks-to-political-leaders-about-lge-results/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-06-watch-live-the-political-arena-team-talks-to-political-leaders-about-lge-results/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 15:00:57 +0000

With vote-counting in full swing, Arena Holdings’ senior political reporters are speaking to political leaders about what they think of the numbers they are seeing on the leaderboard.

TimesLIVE

]]>MASI LOSI<![CDATA[WATCH | The Political Arena speaks to Helen Zille ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-06-watch-live-the-political-arena-speaks-to-helen-zille/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-06-watch-live-the-political-arena-speaks-to-helen-zille/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 10:56:05 +0000

Arena Holdings’ journalists are coming to you live from the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) results centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Johannesburg, to unpack the election results as they come in and discuss what they mean for municipalities.

TimesLIVE

]]>Freddy Mavunda<![CDATA[UDM shakes up Eastern Cape politics in historic vote as ANC loses majority]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-udm-shakes-up-eastern-cape-politics-in-historic-vote-as-anc-loses-majority/https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-udm-shakes-up-eastern-cape-politics-in-historic-vote-as-anc-loses-majority/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 14:23:36 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

For the first time since 1995, the ANC has lost majority power in the second-largest metro in the Eastern Cape, Buffalo City municipality, after the UDM made inroads in a historic local municipality election result.

The local government results from the metro show a threat to the ANC’s long-standing dominance in the province ahead of the 2029 national and provincial elections.

The ANC, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, held its last election campaign rally in the metro at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane, two days before this week’s elections. As the party would have it — the rally was the last it had as the majority party in KuGompo City (formerly East London).

With 100% of the votes counted by Friday midday, the ANC stands at 41%, a fall from grace from the 59% vote in the 2021 elections.

When considering the party’s power in the metro in 2006, which was a dominating 81%, the ANC support base has been on a downward trajectory but had always won the majority vote.

The 2026 election have proven to be different, the municipality, for the first time, has joined the list of hung municipalities with no party winning an outright majority.

The ANC’s GNU partner, the UDM, did the most damage to it, going from 3,466 votes in 2021 to garnering 90,121 votes in the 2026 local government elections.

Buffalo City metro election results. Photo: IEC/Screenshot
Buffalo City metro election results. Photo: IEC/Screenshot

The figures reflect a historic election result for the UDM because since 2000, the party, led by Bantu Holomisa, had never attained more than 1% of the vote in the metro.

The trajectory drastically changed in this election, led by MP Nqabayomzi Kwankwa as mayoral candidate, getting 18% of the votes and beating the DA to the tag of a party with the second most votes.

One of the wards taken by the UDM was Scenery Park (ward 5), the township where the tragic Enyobeni Tavern incident in 2022 resulted in the devastating loss of 21 lives.

The UDM obtained 49.17% (4,794) there, with candidate Mbeko Nobatyi winning under the slogan “remove the ANC”. The ANC lagged with 32.56% (3,174).

Residents from the ward expressed discontent with the ANC’s candidate, Monica Goci, returning for another term as a councillor, and opted for Nobatyi, who had more favour with residents seeking change.

The township, situated metres away from the manufacturing zone, Wilsonia, has been experiencing power outages. Electricity troubles reached a boiling point in 2025, in which there were growing tensions over illegal electricity connections between RDP homeowners and informal shack dwellers.

As you enter the township, the roads are riddled with potholes — similar terrain to the drive into the city. Scenery Park, unlike some townships, has a police station and is only a few kilometres from eMpilweni clinic.

This is different from its neighbouring township, Reeston, which has no police station, struggles with water cuts and hardly has any tarred roads. Reeston remains under ANC control after the party obtained 52% of the vote there.

These elections have demonstrated that no political party can say it owns people

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa

Speaking to Business Day, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said the party benefited from ANC voters’ “protest vote” in the metro and that such discontent will lead to the UDM treading carefully in coalition talks.

“The voters this time around have made it clear that they are fed up with the ANC. I cannot take those people back to the ANC unless there is something we cannot solve; there are other parties,” he said.

He said UDM deputy Kwankwa will lead any coalition talks if the UDM were to enter such arrangements.

Holomisa said selecting a ward candidate endorsed by the community helped the UDM take over former ANC wards.

“Those who wanted to contest elections, we said, ‘let us consult your communities’. And the communities said, ‘this is the person we want’. These elections have demonstrated that no political party can say it owns people.”

Holomisa gave credit to the youth in the party and his deputy, Kwankwa, who led the election campaign, for the results.

“Kwankwa was a choice of the BCM structures. It’s true our [ANC] comrades have messed up BCM. Deploying him there was to say, ‘go and save East London.’ East London is the economic hub of the Eastern Cape,” he said.

KuGompo is home to the Mercedes-Benz South Africa car manufacturer, which has been a focal employment point for the metro’s townships, including Pefferville near the city.

The Eastern Cape is known as an ANC stronghold and since the 1994 democratic elections had been a loyal support base for the party

Political commentator Dumisani Mthethwa, from Walter Sisulu University, said the Buffalo City metro results were a threat to the ANC’s provincial dominance for the 2029 national and provincial elections.

“The national government sets the baseline for the national government elections; whatever we see happening can actually hint how the 2029 election will go. We might see the Eastern Cape being a mixture of political parties,” he said.

“If the BCM, which is the second largest metro, is also gone from them [ANC], it is telling us exactly that the ANC is under threat leading to the national elections. I do not see them continuing to enjoy dominance.”

The Eastern Cape is known as an ANC stronghold and since the 1994 democratic elections had been a loyal support base for the party.

Mthethwa said the UDM in the metro has established itself as an alternative for people who did not want the ANC. “Kwankwa might be more appealing to the younger people; that could have worked for them.”

He said the main cause of the ANC’s fall in the metro was service delivery. “Poor service delivery is the main factor; people started questioning the capabilities of the ANC. That is the biggest issue. The ANC has forgotten to listen to what the people are saying on the ground.”

Earlier this year, KuGompo City witnessed protests on illegal migration, something that has not been a significant factor in the past. Mthethwa said the immigration protests and ANC “silence” on the debate could have had an influence in the local government elections.

Business Day

]]>SUPPLIED<![CDATA[WATCH | Activists storm Microsoft site as Europe protests data centres]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-06-watch-activists-storm-microsoft-site-as-europe-protests-data-centres/https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-06-watch-activists-storm-microsoft-site-as-europe-protests-data-centres/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 13:40:02 +0000Protesters broke into the construction site of a Microsoft data centre in Amsterdam on Friday at the start of two days of rallies that are part of a growing global backlash over the rapid build-out of computing power needed for AI.

Activist groups have announced actions in 16 countries on Friday and Saturday, according to the “Stop Dirty Data Centres” coalition, which is rallying environmental groups and digital rights campaigns behind calls to pause large-scale construction.

In Amsterdam on Friday, more than 100 activists gathered at the construction site of a Microsoft AI data centre, marching arm in arm before breaking into the site, climbing cranes, hanging balloons and dancing while police stood by. Some carried placards with messages reading: “Screw your data centre”.

Site owner Pure Data Centres, which plans to invest more than $1bn (R16.53bn) and is backed by Brookfield-owned Oaktree, said it was committed to engagement with local stakeholders.

“We respectfully ask those on site to leave safely and engage with us in dialogue about the development and any concerns they may have,” it said.

Other planned actions include:

  • a march in Dublin;
  • a protest outside the parliament building in Warsaw; and
  • a demonstration against a different Microsoft data centre in Denmark.

Microsoft said it understood that people had strong feelings about the project and respected their right to express them peacefully but did not condone any unlawful actions.

Stock market rout

Pushback is growing from Spain to India and the US, where technology stocks have driven what became a second day of sharp losses in share prices on Friday over concern that Democratic control of Congress could mean tougher regulation curtails the AI boom.

Campaigners say data centres pressure electricity and water supplies, compete with housing and other businesses for scarce resources and threaten climate goals. They also point to job losses and potential risks to personal and national security from private and big tech concentrating power.

Technology companies say data centres are essential to meeting global demand for AI and cloud computing and provide critical infrastructure for businesses, governments and consumers.

Stop Dirty Data Centres says it is not anti-progress or calling for existing data centres to closed but says major construction should be halted until governments establish clearer rules.

Europe is divided between its ambition to catch up with the US and Asia on AI to boost productivity and to maintain what are generally more stringent controls and public protections.

On Thursday EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said Europe needed more data centres to power AI development, though she added it needed to be done with care.

“AI, of course, is a super important technology and we need to have our own capacity,” Virkkunen said, pointing to investments being made in chip-making capacity, AI startups and a plan to build out gigafactories around the region.

However, she added: “It’s very important for citizens that they can trust that their energy bills are not skyrocketing and there’s not electricity blackouts because of data centres, or they are not destroying the environment with these projects.”

A Google project in Finland faces a criminal probe over land clearances, Italy and Portugal are tightening environmental regulation for datacentres, and Microsoft pulled out of a UK data centre project that was hit by infrastructure delays.

The Netherlands has about 200 data centres either planned, under construction or in operation.

Reuters

]]>Piroschka Van De Wouw<![CDATA[WATCH | Jacob Zuma says MK Party open to coalition talks]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-06-watch-jacob-zuma-says-mk-party-open-to-coalition-talks/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-06-watch-jacob-zuma-says-mk-party-open-to-coalition-talks/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 10:30:40 +0000Former president Jacob Zuma says the MK Party is open to coalition talks.

Speaking at the Durban high court on Friday — where he came to support his daughter, former MK Party MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla — Zuma gave his trademark laugh as he answered questions about the party’s performance in Wednesday’s elections.

He was in a jovial mood as he replied to reporters, “What is your problem?” when asked about interim results which show the MK Party tipped to take eThekwini at about 40%.

“We told you, we were going to take that place [KwaZulu-Natal], and we have taken it,” he said.

Asked whether the MK Party would be open to coalition talks if necessary, Zuma, 84, replied: “We are, we are. We are open.”

“That is what we do because we want to rule the country, and we want the country to be run properly by the citizens who feel that this country needs to be what we all want it to be.”

Zuma, however, wouldn’t disclose his preferred mayoral candidate when questioned about the party’s local government plans.

“I can’t disclose that.”

Zuma told thousands of supporters at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu on Sunday that the MK Party will soon take over the country and lead many municipalities.

He was addressing the MK Party’s final Sithatha Omasipala rally before Wednesday’s local government elections.

It was his first in-person appearance since he collapsed in Umsinga and was admitted to Netcare St Anne’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg on October 6, where he spent 11 days.

He was in court to support Zuma-Sambudla, whose application for terrorism charges linked to the July 2021 civil unrest under section 174 of the Criminal Procedures Act, to be dropped, was unsuccessful.

The case against Zuma-Sambudla will continue in May.

TimesLIVE

]]>SANDILE NDLOVU<![CDATA[Defender Trophy finalists with SA team named]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/motoring/2026-11-06-defender-trophy-finalists-with-sa-team-named/https://www.businessday.co.za/motoring/2026-11-06-defender-trophy-finalists-with-sa-team-named/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 13:10:18 +0000Jaguar Land Rover’s Defender brand has announced the 36 national winners who will compete in the inaugural Defender Trophy Global Final, an international adventure challenge that will take place in Africa later this year.

The finalists were selected through 10 regional events, after an application process that attracted more than 23,000 entries from around the world. They come from a range of backgrounds, including astronauts, filmmakers and firefighters.

The Global Final will cover 3,000km across three countries, with competitors tackling a series of off-road challenges while contributing to five conservation and community projects.

Working alongside conservation partner Tusk, participants will provide practical support to initiatives aimed at having lasting positive effects in the areas they visit.

The Defender Trophy marks the brand’s return to international adventure challenges, 45 years after the original concept was introduced. It revives the famous Camel Trophy, the annual off-road competition held between 1980 and 2000, which became closely associated with Land Rover vehicles and their off-road capabilities.

The new event draws on that heritage, combining vehicle-based challenges with conservation and community work.

South Africa will be represented by Lance Kime and Isabelle Roux.

The other finalists come from Australia, China, Japan, Taiwan, North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

The full list of finalists is as follows:

  • APAC: Lily Hillary
  • Australia: Glen Wimberley, Louise McNair
  • China: Shi Zeyuan, Wang Xuanyi, Zhu Weiqiang
  • Europe: Mathilde Vougny, Max Ferrer, Marc Offenbacher, Michele Nava, Henri Steyaert, Niels Vaandrager, Tobias Wernik, Pavel Paloncy, Mert Becce, Simon Kessler, Ozbe Steblaj, Patrik Sandell, Dimitrios Kleon Papadimitriou, Bartosz Kolaczkowski, Patrycja Woszczek
  • Japan: Naoki Imamura
  • Middle East and North Africa: Craig Saunders, Julie Millasseau, Khaled Ahmad Al Shaker
  • North America: Nathaniel Biggs, Tirin Cameron, Adrian Kowryha, Andrew Leveille, Sarah Gillis
  • South America: Emiliano Flores, Luis Eduardo Aceituno
  • South Africa: Lance Kime, Isabelle Roux
  • Taiwan: Antony Tsai, Louie Wu
]]>JLR<![CDATA[LIVE RESULTS UPDATE | Track the 2026 local government election results here]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-05-live-results-update-track-the-2026-local-government-election-results-here/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-05-live-results-update-track-the-2026-local-government-election-results-here/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 10:36:04 +0000The local government election results are trickling in at the results operation centre at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Gauteng.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says the 2026 local government election results are being processed faster than during the previous municipal elections, with 18 municipalities having completed the results process by 9am on Thursday.

Click here to follow the results in real time.

]]>Thapelo Morebudi<![CDATA[EU charges TikTok over harmful algorithmic ‘rabbit hole’ effects]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-06-eu-charges-tiktok-over-harmful-algorithmic-rabbit-hole-effects/https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-06-eu-charges-tiktok-over-harmful-algorithmic-rabbit-hole-effects/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 11:44:49 +0000EU tech regulators charged social media platform TikTok on Friday with breaching the bloc’s online content rules due to the so-called “rabbit hole” effect of its recommender system, which attracts users’ attention to a constant stream of similar videos.

TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, risks a fine next year of up to 6% of its global annual turnover unless it can resolve the issue.

Social media companies are under pressure to modify their algorithms amid growing concerns worldwide that their platforms are contributing ​to a mental health crisis among children, prompting some governments to impose or consider bans for underage users.

The European commission, which acts as the EU tech regulator, said it issued charges known as preliminary findings to TikTok after the company failed to implement proportionate, reasonable and effective mitigation measures to address the risks.

It said endless and repeated exposure to content about sadness, isolation or body image can have a detrimental impact on users’ mental health.

“Every time a user scrolls or likes a video on TikTok, the algorithm serves more of the same, leading users down rabbit holes they cannot easily escape from,” EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said.

“Today’s [Friday] preliminary findings show again that TikTok needs to step up its efforts to protect users’ wellbeing, including those of minors,” she said.

The commission said TikTok needs to change the design of its “For You” feed algorithm and should rely more on users’ explicit preferences, increase the accessibility and usability of user controls and regularly test its algorithm, among other changes.

Broader investigation into TikTok

The charges are under the EU’s Digital Services Act, which requires big online platforms to do more to tackle harmful and illegal content on their platforms.

The latest charges are part of a broader EU investigation into TikTok.

EU regulators charged TikTok in February over what regulators said were the platform’s addictive designs, inadequate efforts to protect children and making it difficult for researchers to request access to public data.

TikTok said at the time that those preliminary findings were “categorically false” and it would take steps to challenge them.

The commission is ⁠separately investigating so-called rabbit hole effects caused by Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram recommendation systems.

Reuters

]]>EUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration<![CDATA[Offices of Irish media groups evacuated due to bomb threats, one deemed a hoax]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-06-offices-of-irish-media-groups-evacuated-due-to-bomb-threats-one-deemed-a-hoax/https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-06-offices-of-irish-media-groups-evacuated-due-to-bomb-threats-one-deemed-a-hoax/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 11:20:45 +0000The offices of Irish media groups, including national broadcaster RTE, were evacuated after bomb threats on Friday that a presenter on one of the affected radio stations, Newstalk, said had been deemed a hoax.

Newstalk resumed programming at 10am GMT after staff were told they could return to the building in central Dublin, presenter Claire Byrne said on air. The Irish Independent newspaper group reported that its offices in the capital had also been evacuated.

A reporter for RTE radio said after news programming went back on air from an outside broadcasting unit that a threat was sent to the broadcaster by email shortly before 9am GMT that a bomb was going to go off within 45 minutes.

The presenter of RTE Radio One’s mid-morning news show said he understood that the email was purported to be from the same people behind hoax bomb threats that disrupted dozens of passenger flights across Europe on Thursday.

“It is worrying, and we take the threat seriously,” Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said in a telephone interview with RTE shortly after the more than one-hour interruption to its programming ended.

“It just illustrates how relatively simple it can be to cause disruption and to undermine the normal operation of society through unconventional activities of this kind, which are designed to cause disruption, designed to cause fear and anxiety. We have to remain calm and very focused on this.”

RTE’s campus in south Dublin remained closed while police checked it building by building, the reporter said.

Reuters

]]>Clodagh Kilcoyne<![CDATA[Tesla to end Texas Cybertruck production in 2027]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/motoring/2026-11-06-tesla-to-end-texas-cybertruck-production-in-2027/https://www.businessday.co.za/motoring/2026-11-06-tesla-to-end-texas-cybertruck-production-in-2027/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 11:18:29 +0000Tesla plans to wind down Cybertruck production at its Texas gigafactory around the middle of next year to accommodate increased production of the Cybercab, CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X on Friday.

He did not specify whether Cybertruck production would be moved to another facility or discontinued altogether.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

The Cybertruck, touted by Musk as a futuristic rival to pickup trucks from legacy carmakers such as Ford, has struggled to sustain interest since its 2023 launch. The vehicle has also faced multiple recalls and quality-control issues, while Tesla has repeatedly revised prices.

On the other hand, Musk has made the Cybercab central to Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions. The EV maker, over time, intends to make the Cybercab the main driverless vehicle model operating within its larger robotaxi network.

Reuters

]]>REUTERS<![CDATA[Hot Audi RS 5 PHEV duo now on sale in South Africa]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/motoring/2026-11-06-hot-audi-rs-5-phev-duo-now-on-sale-in-south-africa/https://www.businessday.co.za/motoring/2026-11-06-hot-audi-rs-5-phev-duo-now-on-sale-in-south-africa/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 11:06:55 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

Audi South Africa has announced that the new RS 5 with plug-in hybrid performance is now on sale. It launches in sedan and Avant body styles.

The sedan RS 5 sits at the top of a five-model A5 range, while the Avant is the lone Audi A5 station-wagon model on sale in this market. Both models usher in Audi’s first plug-in-hybrid tech in South Africa.

Audi RS 5 models are distinguished through muscular proportions and RS-specific detailing. Compared to regular A5 models, the hot duo are four centimetres wider on either side, front and rear.

The single-frame grille is made wider, too, with a pair of big-bore, centrally positioned, oval RS exhaust system tips at the rear.

Both models perch on 20-inch wheels, with 21-inches optional, and get gloss black RS detailing, exterior mirror housings and darkened matrix LED headlights. Optionally, the Audi Sport package adds more bumpers, gloss carbon and matte carbon camouflage elements.

The cabin with high-end luxury can be trimmed for various themes, including a red and green theme. Picture: Audi AG
The cabin with high-end luxury can be trimmed for various themes, including a red and green theme. Picture: Audi AG

Inside, Audi uses high-end materials, including leather, microfibre surfaces and brushed aluminium, and digital light technology to craft a luxo-speed vibe designed around the driver. The RS sport steering wheel, flattened at the top and bottom, and shift paddles are tactile instruments for engaging the drivetrain.

Amenities include heated and ventilated seats with massage function, three-zone climate control, head-up display, and Audi virtual cockpit plus with access to performance data like G forces, temperatures, lap-time recorder, an optional dashcam and more. The optional RS interior package introduces distinctive colour combinations such as red and green interior themes, plus more.

The drivetrain comprises a 2.9l twin-turbocharged V6 engine paired with an electric motor and eight-speed automatic transmission. The combined system output is 470kW and 825Nm, permanently sent to the all-wheel drive quattro system. It’s rated with 3.6 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h with a 250km/h top speed, or 285km/h with the optional Audi Sport package.

The plug-in hybrid element incorporates a 22kWh lithium-ion battery that enables a pure electric range of between 78 and 84km when fully charged from AC or public DC charging infrastructure.

Whether it's a sedan or an Avant, the new model is a plug-in hybrid with a pure electric range of between 78 and 84km. Picture: Audi AG
Whether it's a sedan or an Avant, the new model is a plug-in hybrid with a pure electric range of between 78 and 84km. Picture: Audi AG

Driving modes include balanced, dynamic and RS sport. An additional RS torque rear mode unshackles the front wheels for drifting action. Adaptive cruise control, park assist plus and surround-view cameras form part of active safety tools.

Exterior colour options include Progressive red, Ascari blue, Daytona grey, Plateau grey and Mythos black. Bedford green is offered exclusively in conjunction with the Audi Sport package.

The new Audi RS 5 models are sold as standard with a five-year/100,000 km Audi Freeway plan.

Pricing

Audi RS 5 sedan — R2,430,000

Audi RS 5 Avant — R2,470,000

Business Day

]]>AUDI AG<![CDATA[Google faces scrutiny over student suicide planning with AI chatbot]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-google-faces-scrutiny-over-student-suicide-planning-with-ai-chatbot/https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-google-faces-scrutiny-over-student-suicide-planning-with-ai-chatbot/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 10:40:33 +0000The parents of a girl in the US who used Google’s Gemini AI chatbot on her school-provided Chromebook to make a plan to die by suicide have sued the company, claiming it pushed its AI products on students and failed to warn of their dangers.

The girl, identified as “Emma”, began using Gemini on her Chromebook when she was 13.

Emma discussed different methods of suicide with Gemini and planned a funeral for herself while the bot helped her conceal her feelings from her family, the lawsuit claims.

Parents say they were alerted after school software flagged a document Emma wrote about her funeral plans, according to the lawsuit.

In a race to expand the audience for Gemini, Google wove the AI into all of its products without warning parents or schools, the lawsuit says.

Google knew Gemini 3 Flash, the version Emma used, was unsafe and mishandled mental health issues from users, the lawsuit says.

José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, said the company is reviewing the claims.

“We’ve worked extensively with medical professionals and academic experts to build features that help young people find critical support and trusted resources when they need it,” Castañeda said.

The lawsuit, which seeks monetary damages, was filed on Monday in California state court. Google moved it to a federal court on Wednesday.

Google said this week it will turn off Gemini by default for school student accounts, but schools that want students to retain access to Google Search will still have to accept AI features such as AI-generated summaries.

Reuters

]]>Aleksandra Michalska<![CDATA[TARA ROOS | The ANC has a crutch, the DA has an audition]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-tara-roos-the-anc-has-a-crutch-the-da-has-an-audition/https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-tara-roos-the-anc-has-a-crutch-the-da-has-an-audition/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 08:45:36 +0000It is increasingly likely that the DA and ANC will enter into a national local government coalition, governing together in municipalities across the country. Exactly how this will take shape remains to be seen, but what interests me is why this alliance is forming now.

The obvious answer is convenience. Neither party wants to find itself in a 13-party coalition, negotiating with smaller parties making endless demands in exchange for support. They may invite other parties into the arrangement in the name of inclusion, much like the government of national unity (GNU), but make no mistake: the ANC and DA will call the shots. Everyone else will be there largely for show, with little meaningful influence over decisions.

What stands out to me most, though, is the electoral weakness that brought both parties to this point. In the 2024 election the ANC lost more than 3-million votes. The DA, despite being the official opposition and having spent years positioning itself as the alternative, failed to capitalise on that collapse. It did not win over ANC voters in any meaningful way. In fact, it lost more than 100,000 votes of its own.

What unites the ANC and the DA is a common enemy in the MK Party and EFF. It is convenient to frame this emerging alliance as an effort to prevent some supposed doomsday coalition between the two. But there is a more uncomfortable reality: neither party has managed to capture the electorate. Both are increasingly directionless, grasping for ways to remain relevant and retain power. Perhaps this is less about a shared vision for the country and more about political survival.

For the ANC, the DA offers a way to keep markets happy and reassure investors of political stability. There is also an apparent assumption that despite its electoral decline, it will never fall below the DA in national support. The DA is therefore a convenient partner: a party with which it can share power, but also whom it can blame when governance fails.

For the DA, the calculation is different. It is tired of being in opposition. It wants to govern and believes that being in government will demonstrate to voters that it can run the country better than the ANC. The GNU has in effect become the DA’s audition.

The problem is not simply that the DA is working with the ANC. It is that the party risks losing the credibility of its own political message

But the GNU has hardly been the resounding success it was made out to be in 2024. There is no coherent policy position on contentious issues such as BBBEE, land expropriation and National Health Insurance (NHI). Nor has the arrangement produced convincing responses to the country’s deeper challenges, from unemployment and sluggish economic growth to crime.

Two years into this political experiment we still lack a clear sense of where the country is going. This marriage of convenience is not necessarily serving the country.

I suspect it will hurt both parties in the long run. The ANC is using the DA as a crutch rather than confronting the governance failures that have driven voters away. Instead of doing the difficult work of rebuilding its support, it can share responsibility for difficult decisions and use the arrangement as a political get-out-of-jail-free card.

Meanwhile, the DA is becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile with the party it spent 20 years campaigning against. It built its political identity on the argument that the ANC was the problem, that its time in government had brought the country to its knees, and that South Africa needed an alternative. Yet it is now seemingly comfortable governing alongside the very party it spent years telling voters was unfit to govern.

The problem is not simply that the DA is working with the ANC. It is that the party risks losing the credibility of its own political message. It can’t spend years blaming the ANC for the country’s failures and then expect to escape scrutiny when it helps keep the party in power. The DA is not merely sharing government with the ANC; it is taking responsibility for the decisions made under that government.

In trying to protect its place in the government, the DA risks alienating voters who supported it because they wanted an alternative. Those voters may increasingly turn to smaller parties offering a clearer political identity and fewer compromises.

As the vote counting continued on Friday, the real negotiations began, with parties stitching together coalitions across municipalities. It will be a game of political horse-trading as they negotiate their way into power.

The bigger question, though, is what this means for South African politics. If the ANC and the DA have to come together to remain in the government, perhaps it is time we stopped pretending either party has a convincing plan to win over the electorate on its own.

• Roos is Business Day parliamentary reporter.

Business Day

]]>Freddy<![CDATA[WATCH | Terrorism charges to go ahead against Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-06-watch-terrorism-charges-to-stick-against-duduzile-zuma-sambudla/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2026-11-06-watch-terrorism-charges-to-stick-against-duduzile-zuma-sambudla/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 09:20:25 +0000A Durban high court judge on Friday denied a bid by former MK Party MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla to have terrorism charges related to the July 2021 riots dropped.

Last week, judge Mbuzeni Mathenjwa heard argument from her defence counsel advocate Dali Mpofu, who claimed that the state is targeting her because she is the daughter of former president Jacob Zuma.

Zuma-Sambudla was accused of incitement to commit terrorism and public violence linked to the July unrest in 2021, which resulted in 354 deaths and an estimated R50bn in economic and infrastructure damage.

The charges are related to her infamous “We See You” tweets she posted during the unrest.

On Friday Mathenjwa denied her application to have the charges dropped, and the case will proceed.

During his argument to discharge the case, Mpofu said many people had retweeted Zuma-Sambudla’s posts but were not charged.

He questioned why the state had only charged his client.

Mpofu argued that the tweets made by his client could not be proved to be incitement.

He described the state’s evidence on the “We See You” tweets as “laughable”.

Mpofu challenged the state to prove that someone broke the law because of Zuma-Sambudla’s social media posts.

Without that link, the state did not have a case, he said.

Senior prosecutor Mahendra Naidu said the state presented a strong case against Zuma-Sambudla, especially on count one.

The state had called witnesses who gave strong testimony against Zuma-Sambudla.

The former president, who was ill for several weeks and made a public appearance at the MK Party’s rally at the weekend, was in court to support his daughter.

TimesLIVE

]]>SANDILE NDLOVU<![CDATA[Vilasita: an exclusive new address on KwaZulu-Natal’s fastest-growing coastline]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/lifestyle/2026-11-06-vilasita-an-exclusive-new-address-on-kwazulu-natals-fastest-growing-coastline/https://www.businessday.co.za/lifestyle/2026-11-06-vilasita-an-exclusive-new-address-on-kwazulu-natals-fastest-growing-coastline/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 09:22:59 +0000The KwaZulu-Natal North Coast is not just growing; it’s rewriting the map of South African property.

At the heart of this transformation is Zimbali Lakes, a premium estate backed by IFA Hotels & Resorts, ideally positioned to provide easy access to Ballito’s beaches, leading retail destinations and King Shaka International Airport.

Zimbali Lakes will launch its latest residential offering, Vilasita, on November 7.

Exceptional villas and penthouses

Set at the water’s edge within Zimbali Lakes’ Tatali Precinct, Vilasita offers an exclusive collection of lakefront and garden villas as well as penthouses positioned to capture sweeping views across the lake towards the Indian Ocean.

Generous balconies are one of the hallmarks of Vilasita's villas.
Generous balconies are one of the hallmarks of Vilasita's villas.

The villas pair contemporary architecture with spacious, light-filled interiors, generous balconies and grand living and entertainment areas. Drive-up access brings residents directly to their homes with privacy and ease.

The penthouses extend to 725m2, complete with private rooftop entertainment spaces designed to make the most of the elevated views.

With properties priced from R2.95m to R55m, Vilasita brings together a sought-after location, beautiful outlooks, privacy and access to the broader Zimbali Lakes lifestyle.

The Zimbali Lakes lifestyle

A promenade that wraps around Tatali Precinct’s magnificent lake provides Vilasita residents with a picturesque setting for morning walks and evening strolls, while linking them to the wider precinct, including dining and retail options at Zimbali Square.

Vilasita offers a waterfront promenade, sweeping views towards the Indian Ocean and access to Zimbali Lakes’ wider lifestyle offering.
Vilasita offers a waterfront promenade, sweeping views towards the Indian Ocean and access to Zimbali Lakes’ wider lifestyle offering.

Beyond Tatali Precinct, Vilasita residents can enjoy all that Zimbali Lakes has to offer.

The Zimbali Lakes Clubhouse, positioned alongside it Ernie Els Signature 18-Hole Golf Course, is home to the Big Easy Winebar & Grill, while the Zimbali Sports Centre and Els Performance Golf Academy will add to the estate’s growing collection of world-class amenities.

Residents also benefit from Zimbali Lakes’ comprehensive security measures, including biometric access, monitored CCTV and roaming patrols.

Looking to the future, there is a wider vision for Zimbali Lakes that will continue to add value to the development, with additional lifestyle, leisure and hospitality offerings planned across the resort.

This ongoing investment reflects the momentum of the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast property market, which recently led the country in residential building completions, recording a 53.6% year-on-year increase in value.

To register your interest ahead of the launch on November 7, or for more information, visit the Vilasita website.

This article was sponsored by IFA Hotels & Resorts.

The images featured in this article are renderings for illustrative purposes only and are subject to change without prior notice.

]]>Vilasita<![CDATA[DA gains in five metros — Hill-Lewis says talks must put residents first]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-da-gains-in-five-metros-hill-lewis-says-talks-must-put-residents-first/https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-da-gains-in-five-metros-hill-lewis-says-talks-must-put-residents-first/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 07:34:43 +0000DA federal leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has called on political parties to put aside their election differences and prioritise stable local government, as coalition negotiations loom across the country following Wednesday’s municipal elections.

Addressing the media at the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) national results centre in Midrand on Friday, Hill-Lewis said political leaders had a responsibility to rise above the divisions of the election campaign and form governments capable of turning around struggling municipalities.

He said the emerging results suggested that about 150-160 councils, representing roughly two-thirds of the country’s local municipalities, would require coalition governments.

“The voters will not forgive us if we do not take the opportunity to put together governments that improve service delivery and get municipalities working,” he said.

Hill-Lewis said the DA would approach negotiations with humility and respect for the mandates other political parties had received from voters, adding that the party had already begun informal discussions with several political formations.

The DA is on course to become the largest party in five metropolitan municipalities — Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay and the City of Cape Town. The party has secured an outright majority in Cape Town, making it the only metro it will govern without coalition partners. Hill-Lewis said the outcome in Mangaung remained too close to call.

The party was also on course to be the only political formation to govern a metropolitan municipality with an outright majority.

Hill-Lewis said the party’s performance represented a significant step towards its ambition of becoming South Africa’s largest political party ahead of the 2029 national elections.

He said the DA expected to gain between 104 and 105 additional ward seats and more than 230 councillors across the country.

The party was also projecting that more than 1-million black voters had supported it in the local government elections, a development Hill-Lewis described as evidence that the DA had become a mainstream political party across communities.

That projection potentially surpasses the EFF’s support among black voters. The figures remain projections pending the final results.

Hill-Lewis said the DA had recorded its strongest support to date in townships in Cape Town and other parts of the country, particularly in municipalities where the party had governed.

He pointed to the party’s performance in uMngeni in KwaZulu-Natal, where it had increased its majority from a margin of just 42 votes in the previous election to what he described as a decisive victory.

He attributed the party’s growing support to its record in government, saying voters were recognising efforts to improve living conditions, even where significant challenges remained.

Turning to coalition negotiations, Hill-Lewis said the DA would seek partners committed to integrity, accountability, sound financial management and merit-based appointments. He said coalition agreements would need to include a commitment to rooting out existing corruption, investing in infrastructure and improving basic services.

These would include ensuring reliable water supplies, fixing roads, restoring street lighting, improving safety and creating an environment conducive to economic growth and job creation.

“Those are not negotiable,” he said, referring to the principles that would guide the party’s negotiations.

Hill-Lewis said the DA would not negotiate through the media, arguing that doing so would undermine the process by exposing the negotiating positions of potential coalition partners.

However, he committed to publishing all coalition agreements once negotiations had been concluded, saying the documents would be comprehensive and available for public scrutiny. He said the party would engage with a wide range of political formations over the coming days, with formal negotiations expected to begin shortly.

The scale of coalition governments emerging from the elections marks a significant shift in South Africa’s local government landscape, with political parties facing the challenge of establishing administrations capable of delivering stability in municipalities where no single party has secured a majority.

Hill-Lewis said the DA was ready to begin the process, adding that the party’s preparations for the 2029 national elections would start immediately.

He said the party believed it had taken an important step towards becoming the largest political formation in the country and was confident it could continue building support across communities.

Business Day

]]>Freddy Mavunda<![CDATA[MK Party leads KZN municipal race in first-time bid]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-mk-party-leads-kzn-municipal-race-in-first-time-bid/https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-mk-party-leads-kzn-municipal-race-in-first-time-bid/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000The MK Party is poised to emerge as one of the biggest winners in the local government elections as it leads in several municipalities across KwaZulu-Natal, including the eThekwini metro.

The elections marked the first time Jacob Zuma’s party contested local government elections since its strong performance in the 2024 national and provincial elections, when it secured 45.3% of the vote in KwaZulu-Natal, ahead of the IFP (18.07%), the ANC (16.99%) and the DA (13.36%).

Still, it was excluded from the provincial government after the IFP, ANC, DA and NFP joined forces to form a coalition administration, including IFP leader Thami Ntuli as premier.

By Thursday afternoon, MK Party was the leading party in Kwaulu-Natal with 33.2% of the vote, followed by the ANC with 24.8% and the IFP with 22.7%. In eThekwini metro, the MK Party led with 39.4%, followed by the ANC (23.5%) and the DA (23.2%).

With 40% of votes counted by 3.30pm on Thursday, the ANC was leading nationally with 32.1%. The DA followed with 27.1% and the MK Party with 7%.

Speaking to Business Day at the IEC’s results operations centre in Midrand on Thursday, MK Party national spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu said, “The MK Party is leading in KwaZulu-Natal; we are very, very happy. We thought we would have taken over … by the end of today. By 5am this morning, the indicators were clear that we have taken KwaZulu-Natal … The results show that we have done very, very well.

“We are contesting elections in the local government sphere for the first time. It has never happened in the history of South Africa that a party that’s contesting elections, local government-wise, for the first time, takes wards, takes PR [proportional representation] councillors, takes municipalities.

“We want to say to the people of South Africa, thank you for entrusting us with this responsibility; all boots will hit the ground [running]. We will work to fulfil the promises we made.

“As soon as we get the mayoral chains, we will prepare for 2029 [national and provincial elections], where we will ultimately take power,” Mahlangu said.

Political analyst Tasneem Essop said it was not surprising that MK Party was performing well in KwaZulu-Natal because polls had suggested that would be the case. She said the 2024 national elections “gave us a good indication” of how strong the MK Party’s regional base was.

“It’s not surprising they are projected to do well in parts of KwaZulu-Natal. What this means is that voters are moving away from the ANC in large parts of [the province], and parties such as the EFF have struggled in KwaZulu-Natal since MK Party came up,” Essop said.

Business Day reported last week that a survey conducted by MarkData on behalf of media group eNCA, MK Party was just shy of capturing the eThekwini metro outright.

My Vote Counts advocacy lead Noxolo Mfocwa said the Zuma factor played a huge part in the municipal elections, as MK Party supporters viewed the former president as a “unifying figure”, just like he was in 2024.

With 43% of votes counted by 4.30pm on Thursday, the MK Party had secured 33.4% of the vote in KwaZulu-Natal. In Mpumalanga, it had garnered 11.6%, compared with 41.5% for the ANC and 15% for the DA.

In Gauteng, the DA was leading with 36.7%, followed by the ANC (20.1%), ActionSA (16.1%), the EFF (6.2%) and MK Party (4.3%).

Asked about whether MK Party was a regional party struggling to make an impact outside KwaZulu-Natal, Mfocwa said, “We are now seeing them starting to perform and making some progress in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, but that [the data] is not enough for us to make a pronouncement on whether they are purely a regional party.”

Business Day

]]>SANDILE NDLOVU<![CDATA[North Korea’s elite hackers are the secret behind Binance’s downfall]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/news/science-and-environment/2026-11-06-north-koreas-elite-hackers-are-the-secret-behind-binances-downfall/https://www.businessday.co.za/news/science-and-environment/2026-11-06-north-koreas-elite-hackers-are-the-secret-behind-binances-downfall/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 09:00:00 +0000North Korea rewards its top hackers, tasked with heists like the Binance crypto hack that netted a cool $6.3bn (about R103.33bn), with perks such as a spacious apartment in the capital of Pyongyang and huge hard currency awards, despite gruelling hours of work.

Leader Kim Jong Un has assembled an army of world-class hackers using such incentives in a programme more than a decade old that picks 200 of the smartest middle school students each year to study computer engineering, defectors and analysts say.

A fraction eventually become hackers in an investment that has paid off dramatically, as the group has evolved from the early days when it ran illegal gambling websites to pulling off the world’s biggest cyberheist last month.

“They are actually one of Kim Jong Un’s secret weapons,” said Kim Heung-kwang, a North Korean defector who trained hackers on behalf of the state before fleeing to South Korea in 2004.

“There is no other country grooming hackers like this, systematically searching for the smartest children, solely to turn them into operatives,” he added. “Whether they want to be a hacker or not does not matter.”

The North’s cyberwarfare operations employ about 8,400 people, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service estimated in 2024

The FBI and Binance have said North Korea was responsible for the Binance hack, but Pyongyang has denied that. Blockchain investigation firms have attributed it to a North Korean group known as “TraderTraitor”.

The denial is part of a pattern in which the North dismisses such blame over the years as fabricated political provocations.

Systemic selection

North Korea set up a cyber unit in 1998 but elevated its status after Kim came to power and declared in 2013 that cyberwarfare was, along with nuclear weapons and missiles, an “all purpose sword” crucial to the country’s strike capability.

Candidate selection begins in middle school as early as 11 or 12 years of age, with authorities picking about 150 to 200 children a year to study computer science, said Kim Heung-kwang, the former trainer, and two defectors who worked in IT.

At 17, the top performers are sent to North Korea’s best universities and undergo further screening before a chosen few finally enter the military’s cyber unit as hackers, they added.

They are trained in areas such as cryptocurrency protocols and reverse-engineering foreign hardware devices in addition to more conventional topics such as advanced mathematics and foreign languages, one of them said.

Those who do not become hackers are trained to turn out software or apps for Western firms via remote jobs.

“While South Korea’s best students may pursue medicine or other prestigious careers, North Korea channels top talent into nuclear and cyber programmes and essentially guarantees their future,” said Lim Jongin, professor emeritus at the school of cybersecurity at Korea University.

Other privileges on tap for the hackers are travelling abroad to allied countries, such as China, where they can more freely access the internet.

Successful exploits can earn as much as 30% of the heist’s profits in US dollars for the hackers’ military unit, and they can even receive a flat in the capital where their parents can also stay, Kim said.

Hackers’ formal designation in the North was “scientist” or “researcher”, said one of the defectors

“There are accounts that successful cyberpersonnel are given apartments in Pyongyang,” Lim said, adding that the flats could range to as much as 132m².

Such performers are also eligible for membership of the ruling party and high-status marriages into elite families, said one of the defectors.

But it is a small group. The North’s cyberwarfare operations employ about 8,400 people, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service estimated in 2024.

North Korean state media do not publicly celebrate such hackers’ achievements, but they regularly highlight students who show talent for programming.

In 2015 North Korea opened the Mirae Scientists Street in the capital, in the construction of which Kim Jong Un had been closely involved, state media said.

Hackers’ formal designation in the North was “scientist” or “researcher”, said one of the defectors.

State advantage

Other hacking groups associated with North Korea include the Lazarus Group, also known as APT38, which the US accused in 2022 of having stolen hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from the Ronin blockchain network. The FBI has said TraderTraitor is affiliated with Lazarus.

State backing makes the North’s hackers more dangerous and harder to repulse, as they face no consequences for hack after hack, enabling them to perfect their strategies, analysts said.

“In the world of cybercrime, often, if you make a mistake... that is all law enforcement needs to get you,” said Alec Zebrick, senior manager for Asia-Pacific global services at Chainalysis.

But North Korea’s hackers “are doing this for the regime, so they’re going to continue, even after successes,” he added.

“Even after failures, they’ll continue, because it’s very hard for the international community to take action against them.”

Other groups that have engaged with North Korea IT workers who earn funds for the Kim regime by landing remote technology jobs at Western companies describe them as highly organised, polite in their interactions and avid users of AI.

“There clearly was a structure you would see in military. Strict times, cleaning boots, very orderly,” said YouTuber Deeveeaar, who has claimed to have hacked into cameras watching North Korean IT workers at their jobs.

“To say they ‘use a lot of AI’ is an understatement. AI is the very backbone of their operation,” he said, citing the use of paid ChatGPT accounts, Claude Code and Cursor, among many AI tools. They write code with it, alter their resumes and help make new ones. And even forge documents and identities.”

Binance said the hackers used a bogus job interview and software hidden in an advertisement to compromise staffers’ computers before using an internal AI tool to seize control of systems.

In 2025 a sanctions monitoring team drawn from 11 UN members said TraderTraitor had obtained both ChatGPT and DeepSeek accounts.

Tough working conditions

Yet the lifestyle of a hacker or elite technology worker for North Korea is gruelling, particularly when given a mission or sent abroad, say former IT workers and human rights groups.

Living in cramped spaces, often working stretches longer than 10 hours a day, constant surveillance and strict targets are among the downsides, said former IT workers interviewed for a report last year by advocacy group PSCORE.

“There is always pressure to keep earning money,” said the group’s executive director, Nam Bada. “The stress is extreme, and because of the psychological strain people develop health problems they didn’t have before.”

IT workers must meet a monthly target in dollars, or face humiliation and other punishments, he said.

Still, the hackers’ success is likely to embolden the North Korean leader as they get better and grow more ambitious, analysts say.

“We see more and more them leaning towards what we call ‘big game hunting’,” said Zebrick. “So they’re targeting some of these larger organisations, potentially have larger vaults of funds, that they could potentially get. These are harder targets.

“However, as we can see with the Binance case, the payout certainly can make it worth their time.”

Reuters

]]>Claudia Morales<![CDATA[Shoprite widens lead over grocery rivals as Sixty60 sales surge]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-11-06-shoprite-widens-lead-over-grocery-rivals-as-sixty60-sales-surge/https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-11-06-shoprite-widens-lead-over-grocery-rivals-as-sixty60-sales-surge/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 08:42:55 +0000The country’s largest retailer Shoprite says it has continued to grow its South African supermarket business faster than the wider retail market in the four months to October, with Checkers and its on-demand star Sixty60 contributing to higher sales.

In a trading update on Friday, the retailer posted a 7.1% increase in sales from its South African supermarket operations for the four months, compared with growth of 6.4% across the group’s continuing operations.

Shoprite’s South African supermarket operations include Shoprite, Usave, Checkers, Checkers Hyper and LiquorShop.

For the first three months to September, Shoprite’s South African supermarket grew 5.3 percentage points faster than the rest of the retail market at home, according to market researcher NielsenIQ.

The comparison includes retailers such as Pick n Pay and its discount offering Boxer, Spar, Woolworths, Pep, pharma giants Dis-Chem and Clicks, Food Lover’s Market, Makro and online retailers.

According to the statement, the group maintained sales growth across its two main supermarket divisions, despite rising pressure on consumer spending and low selling price inflation.

The group said internal selling price inflation was 0.7% for the four months, compared with 0.6% reported for July, boosted by continued deflation in its Shoprite brand.

Checkers and Checkers Hyper recorded the strongest sales growth.

The business remains well-positioned from a cost management perspective, including in respect of lease liability finance charge growth, while strong cash generation continues to support lower net borrowing costs

Shoprite

Its on-demand digital commerce platform Sixty60, which allows customers to order groceries and other products through a digital platform for delivery, increased sales by 33.4% for the four months.

Its growth comes as retailers continue to develop their online shopping and delivery services alongside their physical stores.

At group level, Shoprite said sales from continuing operations increased by 6.4% compared with the corresponding four months in 2025.

The South African supermarket division grew sales by 7.1%, while the non-South African supermarket business increased sales by 7% in rand terms. In constant currency, sales in the international division grew by 4.3%.

The international supermarket operations trade in seven countries outside home.

The group’s other operating segments recorded a 1.5% decline in sales, partly because of the closure of 51 stores following the previously announced mutual termination of a franchise agreement during the second half of its 2026 financial year.

Even with the decline in sales, Shoprite said trading profit growth in its OK Franchise division was positive following the store closures. The division ended the period with 578 stores after opening a net of five stores.

The group also continued expanding its South African store network, opening 71 stores and closing 10 across its operations during the four months.

Of these, 61 net new stores were added to the South African supermarket division. The openings included 12 Shoprite supermarkets, 11 Usave stores, eight Checkers supermarkets and one Checkers Hyper.

The group also opened 21 LiquorShops and 18 stores in adjacent retail formats, including 10 Uniq Clothing by Checkers stores and seven Petshop Science stores.

Its pharmacy business also grew, with sales across Medirite, Medirite Plus, and pharmaceutical distributor Transpharm up 17.6%.

Medirite and Medirite Plus sales grew 9.7%, while Transpharm rose 21.3%. The pharmacy operations ended the period with 112 in-store dispensaries and 25 standalone Medirite Plus pharmacies.

“The business remains well-positioned from a cost management perspective, including in respect of lease liability finance charge growth, while strong cash generation continues to support lower net borrowing costs,” Shoprite said.

Shoprite plans to release its 2027 interim sales update ahead of its first-half results at the end of February 2027.

Business Day

]]>Freddy Mavunda<![CDATA[China’s Q3 emissions post biggest drop since pandemic as Hormuz crisis curbs fossil fuel use]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/news/science-and-environment/2026-11-06-chinas-q3-emissions-post-biggest-drop-since-pandemic-as-hormuz-crisis-curbs-fossil-fuel-use/https://www.businessday.co.za/news/science-and-environment/2026-11-06-chinas-q3-emissions-post-biggest-drop-since-pandemic-as-hormuz-crisis-curbs-fossil-fuel-use/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 08:41:21 +0000China’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy and industry fell 3.1% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2026, the biggest quarterly drop since the pandemic, as the world’s biggest emitter used less fossil fuel, according to an analysis on Friday by the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

China cut its oil use by 4% during the quarter as the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz curbed energy shipments, said the CREA analysis, which was carried out for UK-based Carbon Brief. The analysis included emissions from fossil fuels and the cement industry.

Transport oil use declined even more sharply during the quarter, dropping by 9% year-on-year, the analysis found, as people relied more on electric cars and taxis to get around.

Coal use fell by 3.3% as wind and solar wastage improved, and power demand fell due to mild weather.

“The sharp decline in China’s CO₂ emissions extends a ‘flat or falling’ trend that began in March 2024 and has now lasted more than two years,” the report said, referring to the rolling 12-month total of China’s emissions, which is used to smooth out seasonal factors.

Growth in the coal-to-chemicals sector also slowed as higher coal prices led to a drop in demand for coal-chemical products after a boom earlier in the year, when low coal prices helped Chinese companies outcompete rivals using petroleum-based feedstocks.

China’s emissions have now fallen by 0.5% in the first three quarters of the year, the analysis found, indicating the trend of falling fossil fuel use and emissions could hold for the full year.

Reuters

]]><![CDATA[JMC launches Vigus single cab for SA businesses]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/motoring/2026-11-06-jmc-launches-vigus-single-cab-for-sa-businesses/https://www.businessday.co.za/motoring/2026-11-06-jmc-launches-vigus-single-cab-for-sa-businesses/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 08:40:31 +0000Chinese brand JMC South Africa has announced the start of sales of the new Vigus single-cab bakkie model aimed at businesses. The brand also markets the more lifestyle-orientated Grand Avenue range.

The new debutant is powered by a 2.5l turbodiesel engine producing 123kW and 410Nm, paired with a six-speed manual transmission.

The new Vigus single cab measures 2,310mm in length and 1,595mm in width. Finished with a spray-in bedliner, it is rated with 1,000kg payload. It is also permitted to tow braked trailers up to 2,000kg and 750kg unbraked. Fuel tank capacity is 73l.

The suspension system combines a double wishbone with coil springs up front and leaf springs at the rear. Approach and departure angles are 27-22 degrees with 210mm ground clearance.

Standard safety includes ABS, dual front airbags, and rear parking sensors.

Inside the cabin, takers will find air conditioning, Bluetooth, dual USB ports.

The company says the Vigus, priced at R329,900, is sold as standard with a five-year/100,000km warranty.

Business Day

]]>JMC SA<![CDATA[MTN Rwanda’s fintech business continues strong momentum ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/earnings/2026-11-06-mtn-rwandas-fintech-business-continues-strong-momentum/https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/earnings/2026-11-06-mtn-rwandas-fintech-business-continues-strong-momentum/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 08:36:55 +0000MTN Rwanda has reported a strong third quarter, growing earnings by almost 27% as its fintech business continued its strong momentum.

The group said on Friday that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) for the quarter to end-September was up 26.9% at Rwf42.2bn (about R470m), while profit after tax was up 81% at Rwf13.2bn.

For the nine-months to end-September ebitda is up 29.1% at Rwf112.7bn and profit is 130.3% higher at Rwf30.3bn.

The group said the ebitda margin expanded by 3.1 percentage points to 43.1%, reflecting robust service revenue growth and the benefit of the group’s expense efficiency programme, which offset inflationary cost pressures.

Service revenue grew by 20% year on year to Rwf259.4bn, led by the fintech business. MoMo revenue grew by 29.1%.

CEO Monzer Ali said the company delivered a strong topline performance, supported by sustained growth in its subscriber base.

Mobile subscribers increased by 7.5% year-on-year, reaching a total of 8.7-million. Active data subscribers increased by 15.9% to 2.9-million, supported by higher smartphone adoption and an improved network experience, while active mobile money (MoMo) users grew by 12% to 6.5-million.

“While we expect the regulated tariff to moderate revenue per interoperable transaction over time, we see eKash as a structural enabler for the broader digital-payments ecosystem,” he said.

Monzer Ali, MTN Rwanda CEO

“Our growth was diversified, with data, enterprise and fintech emerging as important contributors to overall performance. Data benefited from growing digital adoption and usage, enterprise maintained positive momentum, while fintech continued to scale through increased adoption of MoMo services and higher transaction volumes,” he said.

All this was achieved as Rwanda’s economy maintained strong momentum in the first half, when the country’s real GDP expanded by 9.7% year-on-year, supported by broad-based growth across all major sectors.

Ali said performance in the nine months benefited from robust economic growth, which supported subscriber and revenue growth and from a moderating franc depreciation that contained dollar denominated costs.

“This was achieved despite elevated inflation and tighter monetary conditions, which constrained household spending and added to cost pressures,” he said.

Her said the National Bank of Rwanda’s eKash system went live on July 14, routing domestic interoperable transfers between bank accounts and electronic-money wallets through a unified instant-payment rail, with customer fees capped at Rwf20 for transactions below Rwf10m.

“While the impact on our Q3 performance has not been material, it remains early in the adoption cycle and we continue to monitor customer behaviour, transaction volumes and pricing dynamics closely.

“While we expect the regulated tariff to moderate revenue per interoperable transaction over time, we see eKash as a structural enabler for the broader digital-payments ecosystem,” he said.

The group will provide a further update on its anticipated impact on both the connectivity and fintech businesses during its annual results.

Looking ahead, the company sees inflation easing, the depreciation of the franc moderating and GDP growth is forecast at 7.8% for the year. It expects to sustain growth in service revenue and profit after tax, supported by cost management.

It reaffirmed its medium-term guidance of ‘mid-teens’ service revenue growth and ebitda margins in the 40–42% range and a capex intensity range of 7–10%.

Business Day

]]><![CDATA[WATCH | The Political Arena team unpacks trends on the election results]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-06-watch-live-the-political-arena-team-unpacks-trends-on-the-election-results/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-06-watch-live-the-political-arena-team-unpacks-trends-on-the-election-results/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 07:39:15 +0000

Arena Holdings’ journalists are coming to you live from the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) results centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Johannesburg, to unpack the election results as they come in and discuss what they mean for municipalities.

Sowetan

]]>MASI LOSI<![CDATA[Sappi’s full-year loss widens as a stronger rand, higher costs weigh on earnings]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/earnings/2026-11-06-sappis-full-year-loss-widens-as-a-stronger-rand-higher-costs-weigh-on-earnings/https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/earnings/2026-11-06-sappis-full-year-loss-widens-as-a-stronger-rand-higher-costs-weigh-on-earnings/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 07:59:30 +0000Losses at pulp and paper producer Sappi widened in the 2026 financial year as market conditions remained challenging across many of its paper categories, while the stronger rand reduced profitability in the South African region.

The group on Friday reported its loss for the year to end-September widened to $747m from $177m a year ago.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) was 41% lower at $294m, with the headline loss per share widening to 69c from 15c a year ago.

Sappi said it had been “a difficult and volatile operating environment”, and management responded to persistent macroeconomic headwinds, geopolitical disruptions and cost inflation with a targeted cost savings programme, liquidity management, capital allocation discipline and a focus on driving operational performance.

Higher fuel, logistics and chemical costs as a result of the Middle East conflict added further pressure, it said.

For the fourth quarter, the group reported an 11% decline in adjusted ebitda of $99m and a narrowing in its loss to $116m from $194m before.

The group said demand for dissolving wood pulp (DWP) remained robust, and pricing recovered in the second half of the year.

In North America, the commercial ramp-up of Somerset Mill PM2 progressed more slowly than initially anticipated. However, focused operational interventions stabilised production and sales volumes lifted during the second half enabling the asset to make an increasingly positive contribution, Sappi said.

The forestry fair value price adjustment for the year was a loss of $269m, largely attributable to adverse currency movements on rand-denominated hardwood timber prices and persistent fuel cost inflation.

The pulp segment faced several headwinds during the year, with profitability declining year on year, primarily due to lower selling prices early in the year and the adverse exchange rate impact in South Africa.

Pulp segment sales volumes decreased by 3% from a year ago, with DWP sales volumes down 4%.

Average dollar selling prices for the pulp segment remained 6% below the previous year. Profitability was further affected by substantial cost inflation, most notably higher sulphur costs, which adversely affected the Saiccor Mill.

Profitability in the packaging and speciality papers segment remained below historical levels, reflecting the combined effect of the Somerset Mill PM2 commercial ramp-up, subdued demand across several packaging markets and significant input cost inflation, while average selling prices remained broadly flat year-on-year.

In North America, earnings were negatively affected during the first half by lower operating efficiencies and an initially slower-than-anticipated PM2 ramp-up. However, operational performance improved in the second half of the year.

Market conditions improved progressively through the year, particularly in North America, while in Europe, demand remained subdued across most packaging grades and competitive pressures persisted. Label papers continued to perform well, supported by the ongoing commercial ramp-up of the Gratkorn Mill PM9 investment.

In South Africa, containerboard demand was healthy, underpinned by robust agricultural activity. However, profitability was adversely affected by continued pressure from low-priced imports, supported by the stronger rand.

The graphic papers segment continued to face significant structural decline, driven by ongoing digital substitution.

Special items reduced earnings by $405m, comprising primarily impairments of $319m and $26m of costs associated with strategic projects.

Net debt increased to $2.05bn from $1.92bn a year ago as a result of cash utilised by operations.

In response to the weaker earnings environment and elevated leverage, Sappi engaged its lending group during the fourth quarter to ensure continued financial flexibility.

“The suspension of covenant testing under the group’s international revolving credit facility and bank term debt, which was due to expire in March 2027, was extended to June 2027. Sappi and its lenders have also agreed to revised leverage covenant thresholds for the period thereafter, which gradually decrease over time and will provide the group with sufficient flexibility and headroom to December 2027.”

The group said it continued to engage the European commission on its proposed graphic papers joint venture with UPM. Sappi and UPM formally submitted remedy proposals to the commission on November 4, and it expects a decision early in January 2027.

While the global environment remains uncertain, Sappi noted that conditions across several key product categories are improving, supported by firmer pricing dynamics.

It said, taking into account current market conditions for its products, the scheduled maintenance shutdowns and the impact of elevated oil prices on raw materials and logistics costs, it expects adjusted ebitda for the first quarter of the 2027 financial year to be below that of the fourth quarter of this year.

Business Day

]]>Hennie Homann<![CDATA[Lewis Hamilton celebrates 400th F1 race in Brazil]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/motoring/2026-11-06-lewis-hamilton-celebrates-400th-f1-race-in-brazil/https://www.businessday.co.za/motoring/2026-11-06-lewis-hamilton-celebrates-400th-f1-race-in-brazil/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 07:16:21 +0000Lewis Hamilton will celebrate the 400th Formula One start of a glittering career at this weekend’s São Paulo Grand Prix, with rivals hailing the seven-time world champion’s longevity, speed and enduring hunger for success.

The 41-year-old Briton, F1’s most successful driver with a record 106 race wins and 105 pole positions, reaches the milestone still competing at the front and showing little sign of slowing down.

“It’s kind of crazy. I never thought that I would be reaching numbers like that,” Hamilton told reporters on Thursday.

“I still feel young, and regardless of the things that people say, you saw my pole last week [in Mexico]. I still have the pace, I still have the speed, I still have the dedication, which is most important, and the focus.”

Hamilton is third in the drivers’ championship, two points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. He claimed his record-extending 105th pole position in Mexico last week, but finished second after a clash with Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton made his Formula One debut with McLaren in 2007 and won his first championship a year later. He secured six more titles with Mercedes between 2014 and 2020 before joining Ferrari last season. Only Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, 45, has made more grand prix starts, with the double world champion closing in on 450 races.

While Hamilton said the round number itself was not especially meaningful to him, he acknowledged the significance of reaching it in Brazil, a country where he enjoys enormous popularity and was made an honorary citizen in 2022.

“For me, that number is irrelevant. But it’s beautiful to be able to have that here in Brazil,” he said.

McLaren’s Lando Norris said Hamilton’s career remained a benchmark for younger drivers hoping to build similar longevity, while adding performances this season had dispelled any doubts about his competitiveness.

“I think it’s an incredible achievement for him to fight for this long. He’s a good inspiration for many of us,” said the 2025 world champion.

“When I look at Lewis, he makes me not very happy to have only won one championship. But that’s in a good way that I can look at him and see him and his age, his form, and it makes me believe more than ever that I could fight for many, many more years, and that’s something I look forward to doing.”

Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg also praised Hamilton’s determination to continue competing despite having already surpassed nearly every major record in the sport.

“He could have easily retired many times and said, ‘that’s enough’,” Hulkenberg, 39, said. “Fair play and respect to him that he still puts in the work, still wants this, and still does this.”

Reuters

]]>Raquel Cunha<![CDATA[Mahube shares soar after R555m buyout offer]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/company-strategy/2026-11-06-mahube-shares-soar-after-r555m-buyout-offer/https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/company-strategy/2026-11-06-mahube-shares-soar-after-r555m-buyout-offer/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 07:06:39 +0000Shares in infrastructure investment company Mahube Infrastructure soared more than 40% on Thursday after the company received a R555m buyout offer from a consortium.

The group said in a statement late on Thursday that it has entered into a written agreement with a consortium of black investors who have expressed a firm intention to make an offer to acquire all Mahube’s shares for a cash consideration of R10.06 per share. The company has about 55.15-million shares in issue.

The consideration represents a premium of 67.1% to the closing share price of R6.02 on November 2 and a premium of 95.7% to the 30-day volume-weighted average share price of the company of R5.14 per share on the same date, just prior to the firm intention announcement.

Should the transaction proceed, Mahube will then be delisted from the JSE.

Mahube owns and manages long-term infrastructure assets across Southern Africa rather than building or operating them directly. Its interests span the energy, transportation and water and sanitation sectors.

It also holds stakes in five major renewable energy projects, including the Dorper Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape and Noblesfontein Wind Farm in the Northern Cape, as well as the Jasper, Lesedi and Letsatsi solar photovoltaic farms.

Mahube listed on the JSE in 2015 as a special purpose acquisition company with a strategy of investing in viable assets within the infrastructure and renewable energy sectors.

The purpose of the listing was to provide the company with a platform to raise equity funding to pursue growth and investment opportunities and to fund future acquisitions.

However, Muhabe’s board believes that the company’s continued listing on the JSE is not optimal and it would be better placed to access equity funding for acquisitive growth at a lower cost of capital in a different environment while eliminating the costs associated with a JSE listing which outweigh the benefits in the current environment.

The board has resolved to afford Mahube shareholders the opportunity to decide on the merits of the proposed transaction.

The consortium making the offer is a special purpose vehicle comprising Kholosani Newco 9, Matlotleng Capital and Damazuzu Investments.

Kholosani 9 is a black-owned infrastructure investment company founded by Indiran Pillay, while Damazuzu is a infrastructure investment company focused primarily on renewable energy.

Damazuzu has participated in the government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) since Bid Window 1 and has more recently acquired interests in grid-scale private power projects.

It is led by its managing director, Bheki Welcome Lembede.

Damazuzu and Kholosani 9 hold a portfolio of 20 renewable energy assets spanning the solar PV, concentrated solar thermal and wind power generation sectors, collectively generating about 1,000GWh per annum of clean energy, according to the statement.

Kholosani 9’s existing investments include Jasper, Lesedi and Letsatsi, three of the five REIPPPP assets in which Mahube itself holds indirect minority interests. Kholosani 9 is a co-shareholder alongside Mahube in at least three of its investee projects.

The transaction is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

Mahube’s shares closed 43% higher at R8.61 on Thursday.

Business Day

]]>UNSPLASH/APPOLINARY KALASHNIKOVA<![CDATA[RICHARD PITHOUSE | Weaker Trump gives SA’s foreign policy room to breathe]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-global-leftist-resurgence-opens-space-for-sa-to-pursue-foreign-policy-priorities/https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-global-leftist-resurgence-opens-space-for-sa-to-pursue-foreign-policy-priorities/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000A few weeks ago, Donald Trump was the swaggering president of the US; Narendra Modi was firmly entrenched in India; right-wing parties were surging in Europe; left governments were rapidly falling to the far right across Latin America; and it seemed that Brazil would be next. Aside from New York, where Zohran Mamdani of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) had won an astonishing mayoral election in November last year, the left was reeling.

The retreat of the left and increasing extremism of the right put South Africa in a very difficult position. The challenge to Israel at the International Court of Justice had been understood, not incorrectly, as a challenge to the West’s five centuries of domination of the planet, and the alliance between the emboldened white right at home and in the US was putting South Africa under intense and escalating pressure.

Suddenly, everything has changed. Mass protests in India have significantly weakened Modi, raising the prospect of a possible end to the rule of the Hindu right. In France, mass protests, sometimes insurrectionary, have mounted a significant challenge to the centre and the right. Lula da Silva won a sensational victory in Brazil, defeating a far-right candidate strongly backed by Trump.

Now Trump and the Republican Party have suffered a crushing defeat in the midterm elections. The Democrats regained control of both houses of Congress, making substantial gains even in longstanding Republican strongholds. The elections were also a significant setback for the alliance between Trump and sections of the billionaire class. Elon Musk spent almost $445m supporting Republican candidates, with remarkably little electoral success.

The DSA substantially increased its representation in Congress and successfully pulled sections of the Democratic Party to the left. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive who campaigned for universal health care and an end to American military aid to Israel, won a Senate seat despite a sustained campaign against him by the pro-Israel lobby and explicitly Islamophobic attacks from Trump and his allies.

The rising cost of living and Trump’s brazen authoritarianism and corruption were central to the explosion of anger at the polls. But voters were also angry about the war in Iran and Trump’s support for Israel, a state that is now viewed in hostile terms by the vast bulk of young people, including many young Jews.

These setbacks for the right in the US and elsewhere are swiftly opening political space for South Africa and will make its support for Palestine, its participation in Brics and its commitment to building co-operation among countries outside the West much easier.

These developments are a major blow to the increasingly well-organised white right in South Africa, which is steadily developing a more sophisticated infrastructure, including media projects such as BizNews and The Common Sense. With Trump’s power dramatically weakened, and the prospect of a sweeping Democratic victory in two years, the right’s strategy of appealing to Trump and his milieu has a clear expiry date and may already have run out of road.

These setbacks for the right in the US and elsewhere are swiftly opening political space for South Africa and will make its support for Palestine, its participation in Brics and its commitment to building co-operation among countries outside the West much easier. As global opinion on Israel shifts, including in the West, it now seems almost certain that South Africa will be widely recognised as having taken a courageous, principled position against what is increasingly understood to have been a genocide in Gaza.

But as Trump is weakened at home and abroad, the challenge to South Africa’s foreign policy agenda may well come from the shift to the right and far right at home. With the ANC and EFF both in decline, the DA increasing its share of the vote and the far-right ActionSA surging, support for the country’s current foreign policy priorities seems likely to weaken at home.

Business Day

]]>REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes<![CDATA[Power generation fell 5.2% in September as consumption kept rising]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/economy/2026-11-06-electricity-generation-falls-52-in-september-as-inflows-jump-78/https://www.businessday.co.za/economy/2026-11-06-electricity-generation-falls-52-in-september-as-inflows-jump-78/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000Electricity generation decreased by 5.2% year on year in September but ticked up 0.4% from August after declines of 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively, in the previous two months, Stats SA said on Thursday.

Seasonally adjusted power production was down 0.4% in the third quarter of 2026 compared with the second quarter, the data shows.

For the year to September, generation was down 6.9% at 163,747 gigawatt-hours (GWh) compared with 175,941GWh produced in the same period last year.

Power consumption was up 1.5% year on year in September but dipped by 0.9% on a monthly basis.

Electricity inflows into the country jumped 78.4% year on year to 594GWh in September, while outflows fell 58.8% to 530GWh.

The volume of electricity delivered to the country’s nine provinces edged up 1.6% to 16,200GWh. The exceptions were the Northern Cape, where delivery was down 21.7%, and KwaZulu-Natal, where it dipped 1.3%.

Eskom produces about 86% of the country’s electricity, and independent power producers contribute about 10%-15% after the launch of the renewable energy independent power producer procurement programme in 2011.

The country also imports and exports electricity to and from neighbouring countries through the Southern African Power Pool.

At the weekend, electricity & energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said South Africa and Africa must expand electricity capacity and make power affordable to unlock industrialisation and benefit from growing demand for energy-intensive industries.

Ramokgopa told the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation’s Drakensberg Inclusive Growth Forum that the region had the mineral resources and renewable energy potential needed to support manufacturing but lacked sufficient electricity infrastructure to turn those advantages into economic growth.

Africa’s energy deficit remained a major obstacle, he said, noting that about 600-million people on the continent lacked access to electricity.

Growing demand from data centres and AI presented an opportunity for South Africa to attract investment, Ramokgopa added, pointing to the country’s undersea cable connections, electricity generation potential and renewable energy resources.

South Africa plans to add 102GW of new generation capacity, with 60% expected to come from renewable sources.

The country has also embarked on a R440bn programme to build 14,000km of new high-voltage transmission lines over the next decade to connect new wind, solar, battery storage and gas generation projects to the national grid while strengthening the network to support changing electricity flows.

The Integrated Resource Plan 2025 gazetted last year seeks to accelerate the diversification of the country’s energy mix, which is still dominated by coal, by expanding renewables, gas and nuclear capacity while managing the gradual decommissioning of coal plants.

Business Day

]]>SIPHIWE SIBEKO/Reuters<![CDATA[KAP sets direction and raises standards through intentional category leadership]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-10-22-kap-sets-direction-and-raises-standards-through-intentional-category-leadership/https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-10-22-kap-sets-direction-and-raises-standards-through-intentional-category-leadership/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 05:41:00 +0000In today’s complex economic and social environment, leadership is no longer defined by size, scale, or short-term success alone.

True leadership is defined by positive impact, the ability to shape markets, uplift people, and create lasting value.

At KAP, a diversified group consisting of leading industrial, chemical and logistics businesses, category leadership is not about maintaining the status quo. It is about being the change that strengthens industries, enables businesses, and contributes meaningfully to society.

Category leadership, when done with intent, becomes a powerful force for progress. It sets direction, raises standards, and mobilises multiple stakeholders around a shared purpose.

For KAP, being a category leader means using its influence responsibly, to inspire people, enable sustainable business, and create value that endures.

Inspiring people, leadership with purpose

At the heart of KAP’s approach to category leadership is people. Being the change starts internally, by inspiring employees with a clear sense of purpose.

When people understand their work contributes to something bigger than individual brands or business units, helping to shape industries and improve livelihoods, they are more engaged, innovative, and committed.

KAP’s leadership extends beyond operational excellence to values-driven action. By investing in skills development, transformation, and leadership capability, the company inspires its people to think long term and act responsibly.

This culture of accountability and ambition empowers individuals to lead change in their own roles, creating momentum across the organisation.

Externally, KAP inspires customers, partners, and communities by demonstrating what responsible leadership looks like in practice.

Through transparency, consistency, and principled decision-making, it helps build trust in the categories in which it operates, reinforcing confidence among stakeholders and encouraging higher standards across the market.

Enabling business, strengthening the ecosystem

Being the change also means enabling business, not just within KAP, but across the entire value chain. Category leadership is most effective when it creates the conditions for others to succeed.

KAP plays a critical role in strengthening ecosystems by investing in infrastructure, local manufacturing, and supplier development, ensuring that growth is inclusive and resilient.

By setting clear standards, sharing insights, and collaborating with partners, the company reduces friction and uncertainty in the market.

KAP plays a critical role in strengthening ecosystems by investing in infrastructure, local manufacturing, and supplier development

KAP

This enables suppliers to invest with confidence, retailers to operate more effectively, and emerging businesses to access opportunity. In doing so, KAP helps build categories that are competitive, innovative, and sustainable over the long term.

Importantly, enabling business also requires confronting systemic challenges. As a category leader, KAP recognises its responsibility to address issues such as illicit trade, inconsistent quality, and regulatory fragmentation.

By engaging constructively with industry bodies, regulators, and enforcement agencies, KAP helps create a fairer, more transparent trading environment, one where legitimate businesses can thrive and consumers are protected.

Creating value, a multi-stakeholder approach

For KAP, value creation extends far beyond financial performance. While strong returns remain essential, true category leadership is measured by the value created for all stakeholders.

This includes employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, government, and the broader communities in which it operates.

Customers benefit from better quality products, clearer choices, and greater trust in the category. Suppliers and partners benefit from stable demand, long-term relationships, and shared growth.

Communities benefit from job creation, skills development, and local economic participation. Governments benefit from responsible businesses that contribute to economic stability and development.

This multi-stakeholder approach reflects KAP’s belief that sustainable value is interconnected. Economic success cannot be separated from social impact or ethical conduct.

By aligning commercial objectives with broader societal outcomes, the organisation builds resilience, ensuring that its categories are better positioned to withstand economic shocks, regulatory change, and evolving consumer expectations.

Category leadership as responsibility

At KAP, category leadership is understood as a responsibility, not a privilege.

It requires balancing ambition with stewardship, competition with collaboration, and growth with integrity. It demands courage to lead change, even when doing so requires investment, patience, and difficult decisions.

By being the change, KAP does more than lead categories; it helps shape a future that others can participate in and benefit from.

Through inspiring people, enabling business, and creating shared value, KAP demonstrates that category leadership can be a powerful driver of progress, building stronger industries, healthier economies, and more inclusive growth.

In a world that demands more from business, KAP’s commitment to being the change underscores why category leadership matters. Not only for today, but for generations to come.

This article was sponsored by KAP.

]]>KAP<![CDATA[Zuma denies ‘secret pact’ to block apartheid prosecutions]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/news/law/2026-11-06-zuma-denies-secret-pact-to-stall-apartheid-prosecutions/https://www.businessday.co.za/news/law/2026-11-06-zuma-denies-secret-pact-to-stall-apartheid-prosecutions/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

When former head of state Jacob Zuma returned to South Africa in 1990, he was part of an ANC delegation that negotiated with the apartheid regime for a democratic state but says the talks did not include agreements to suppress investigations or prosecutions of apartheid-era atrocities.

Zuma, like his predecessor former president Thabo Mbeki, in an affidavit before the commission investigating allegations regarding efforts made to stop the investigation or prosecution of Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases, denies he was part of “secret talks” with apartheid-era generals for them not to face prosecution for apartheid-era crimes.

“I reject any suggestion that I concluded, authorised or implemented a secret or unlawful agreement to prevent and/or stop any investigation or prosecution of offences arising from the conflicts of the past,” Zuma’s affidavit reads.

Zuma filed the affidavit to the commission, chaired by retired Justice Sisi Khampepe, shortly before it was reported that he was unwell, leading to a delay of his appearance before the commission. The MK party leader has since made public appearances in the days leading up to this week’s local government elections.

The commission has publicly stated that “at the right time former president Zuma will give his evidence before the commission.”

Zuma had initially legally challenged Khampepe’s chairing of the commission but failed in his bid before the Constitutional Court in August.

In the affidavit, Zuma accepts that there were talks by ANC leaders in the years before the 1994 elections with the apartheid regime leaders but denies those talks included agreements on how former defence force and police generals could avoid facing prosecution for apartheid-era crimes.

“It is common ground that during the period addressed in the allegations, I held senior positions in the African National Congress. I became deputy president of the ANC in December 1997 and deputy president of the republic in June 1999.

“Before that, I had participated in negotiations concerning South Africa’s transition to democracy. I confirm Dr Penuell Maduna’s evidence that he and I returned to South Africa in March 1990 as an advance team to prepare for negotiations with the apartheid regime. This relates to that historical role. However, that unique role does not establish any later agreement to suppress TRC investigations or prosecutions.”

Both Zuma and Mbeki before the commission face allegations that between 1998 and 2003 they were part of a series of secret meetings with former South African Defence Force generals and police generals aimed at finding a mechanism to avoid prosecutions arising from the conflicts of the past.

Mbeki has denied the allegations.

“I deny that I participated in an unlawful pact to protect members of the ANC, the former security forces or any other person from lawful investigation or prosecution. I deny directing or authorising the obstruction of any identified TRC-related cases,” Zuma says.

He contends the allegations against him are based on hearsay evidence.

Read: I did not direct the suppression of TRC prosecutions, says Mbeki

“The fact that evidence is hearsay does not, by itself, dispose of its admissibility or weight in this inquiry, more particularly when weighed against my evidence herein.

“I accordingly request that the commission refrain from making any adverse finding concerning me unless and until the primary evidence is disclosed and I have been given a fair opportunity to answer and test it.”

During his presidency from 2009-18, Zuma appointed advocate Menzi Simelane as head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The decision was later overturned by the Constitutional Court in 2012.

Zuma contends his appointment of Simelane was not aimed at stalling TRC case prosecutions.

“I accept that I made the appointment. I deny that I appointed advocate Simelane to delay, stop or control any TRC investigation or prosecution. I also deny that I ever instructed or allowed him to remove advocate Anton Ackermann, move Chris Macadam or withhold investigators from any TRC matters.

“I deny that I made either appointment to protect any person from investigation or prosecution. The fact that an appointment was later found to be invalid does not prove that I intended to stop TRC prosecutions.”

The TRC was set up by the government of national unity to help deal with events under apartheid as a platform for perpetrators of human rights violations to testify about crimes and murders committed during apartheid. The cases were referred to the NPA but more than two decades after the TRC finalised its work, NPA has prosecuted a few cases on apartheid era crimes.

Business Day

]]>SANDILE NDLOVU<![CDATA[IMRAAN BUCCUS | Elections alone cannot sustain a democracy]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-imraan-buccus-elections-alone-cannot-sustain-a-democracy/https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-imraan-buccus-elections-alone-cannot-sustain-a-democracy/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000As the results of Wednesday’s local government elections come in, much of the political discussion resembles sports commentary ― narrowly focused on who has won and who has lost.

The collapse in support for the ANC, the EFF’s continuing decline, the MK party’s dominance in KwaZulu-Natal, the alarming surge in support for the far-right ActionSA and the DA’s growing strength are important developments. All require careful analysis.

However, there is a deafening silence around that most South Africans entitled to vote did not do so. The Electoral Commission of South Africa reported on Thursday that about 15.9-million people voted, including special voters. This remains a provisional figure while counting continues.

There were 29.23-million registered voters, giving a turnout of about 54% of the voters’ roll, an improvement on the 46% recorded in the 2021 municipal elections. Yet the voters’ roll already excludes millions of eligible citizens.

According to Ipsos, South Africa has about 44.9-million adults who are eligible to vote, of whom only 29.2-million are registered. That means about 15.7-million people have not registered.

On the provisional figures, only 35% of eligible South Africans voted this week while almost two-thirds of the electorate stayed outside the polling stations. In a society with our history of mass democratic mobilisation this should be a much larger political scandal than just another shift in the balance of power between parties.

The issue is easily obscured when election coverage moves directly from vote shares to council seats. A party may secure a majority in a municipality while commanding the active support of only a minority of those entitled to vote. The council is legally constituted, but its capacity to claim meaningful political representation is another matter.

Local elections generally attract fewer voters than national elections, in South Africa and elsewhere. Yet periods of profound crisis can also bring people to the polls, especially when they believe an election offers a chance to change their circumstances.

South Africa has more than enough reasons for popular anger. Official unemployment stood at 33.6% in the second quarter of the year, rising to 43.8% when people who want work but are not actively looking for it are included. Among young people aged 15-24 unemployment has reached an astonishing 62.8%.

Millions have little prospect of secure work. Violent crime is a daily reality in many communities. Corruption is rampant, including in the police. Municipal services have deteriorated and Johannesburg, the country’s economic centre, has become a shocking example of the rapid decay of urban government. Water failures, broken roads and a collapsing public environment are increasingly grim facts of life.

The failure of these conditions to generate a far larger electoral response demands explanation. It is not enough to blame apathy or lecture people about their civic duties. There is direct evidence of the depth of political alienation. In the latest Ipsos survey, 53% of eligible South Africans said that no political party represented their views, up from 47% in an earlier survey.

The failure of these conditions to generate a far larger electoral response demands explanation.

Half of registered voters felt the same way. In a country with more than 600 registered political parties, that is an extraordinary indictment of the political class.

The ANC’s decline forms part of this history. For decades it could draw on the authority of the liberation struggle and extensive ties to working-class communities. Corruption, economic stagnation and the decay of public institutions have steadily exhausted that political inheritance. The liberation movement that once mobilised millions now struggles to convince people that it can run a municipality.

The EFF promised a radical alternative to the ANC but has become heavily dependent on the personality of its leader and theatrical confrontation. Its participation in the governance of corrupt and incompetent municipalities has damaged its credibility. The party’s decline shows that demagogic radical rhetoric is no substitute for a credible political vision and the organisation needed to advance it.

The political consequences of this vacuum are already visible. ActionSA’s advance shows how anger at municipal collapse can be mobilised by the far right, directing popular resentment towards migrants and other vulnerable minorities. Alienation from established parties does not automatically produce democratic alternatives. Neither the decline of old parties nor the rise of new ones will resolve the crisis if most people remain outside the political process.

The most obvious way to draw people back into political life is to build parties that genuinely speak to their material circumstances, hopes and aspirations. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory in Brazil last month showed that a mass political project rooted in the lives of ordinary people can still defeat the right.

Zohran Mamdani did something different, but equally instructive, in New York last year, with a campaign organised around housing, transport and the cost of living. Jeremy Corbyn’s 2017 campaign in Britain also showed how a credible break with exhausted political orthodoxies could energise people who had ceased to believe elections mattered.

The most obvious way to draw people back into political life is to build parties that genuinely speak to their material circumstances, hopes and aspirations.

South Africa’s glaring omission is a credible democratic left rooted in working-class communities and the lives of the unemployed. The SACP is too doctrinaire to fill this space, and its complicity with xenophobia at its failed conference of the left has severely damaged its credibility among the wider left and people of good conscience.

However, the point is not simply that the left needs another party. It is that the millions who feel politically unrepresented need somewhere to take their demands and some reason to believe that participating can change things.

Elections cannot sustain a democracy by procedure alone. If most eligible citizens continue not to vote, the distance between democratic institutions and the people in whose name they govern will grow. That is fertile ground for opportunists and demagogues who promise to sweep aside constraints and speak for a betrayed people.

South Africa’s democracy was won through mass participation. Its future depends on restoring the conviction that citizens can act together to shape the country, rather than merely watching parties compete for power they no longer trust.

• Dr Buccus, a political analyst, is a senior research associate at the Auwal Socioeconomic Research Institute.

Business Day

]]>Nomvelo Shinga<![CDATA[LENIAS HWENDA | Lack of local vaccine production leaves Africa vulnerable]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-lenias-hwenda-lack-of-local-vaccine-production-leaves-africa-vulnerable/https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-lenias-hwenda-lack-of-local-vaccine-production-leaves-africa-vulnerable/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000There have been more than 10,000 confirmed cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and over 5,300 reported deaths, representing a fatality rate of more than 50%.

This is a devastating reminder of Africa’s vulnerability to public health emergencies. The crisis is not simply a question of healthcare delivery; it is a question of industrial capacity, economic resilience and Africa’s ability to protect its people.

With no vaccine available yet, how many lives could be saved if the essential medical products needed to prevent infection, diagnose disease and protect healthcare workers were readily available, affordable and accessible?

Healthcare workers are often the first to encounter infected patients. Yet they are dangerously exposed when facilities lack personal protective equipment, gloves, masks, protective gowns, disinfectants and hand hygiene products. Without these essentials healthcare facilities can become centres of transmission rather than places of healing.

The consequences extend beyond individual infections. Every healthcare worker lost represents a personal tragedy and a reduction in the capacity of already overstretched health systems to respond. Patients face additional risks, while facilities struggle to maintain essential services.

However, protective equipment alone cannot contain an epidemic. Effective responses require reliable, rapid diagnostics to identify infections, enable timely isolation and strengthen surveillance and contact tracing. Delayed diagnosis creates opportunities for transmission.

An effective vaccine remains the ultimate tool for protection and must be researched, developed, tested, approved and deployed rapidly, without compromising safety. Africa cannot afford to remain dependent on external research and manufacturing capacity for products that determine whether its populations survive an epidemic.

Pharmaceutical sovereignty does not mean manufacturing everything in Africa or retreating from international partnerships. It means possessing the scientific expertise, industrial infrastructure, regulatory capabilities and market strength to secure reliable access to essential medical products when they are needed.

Covid-19 taught us that even when African countries had money to purchase vaccines and other medical products they could still find themselves at the back of the queue. The answer is to build sustainable African manufacturing industries for diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics and personal protective equipment.

These cannot be temporary initiatives established during emergencies and abandoned when international attention moves elsewhere. They must be commercially viable, technologically competitive and supported by predictable demand. Strong African institutions are indispensable to this goal.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has a critical opportunity to transform fragmented national demand into a predictable continental market. Through regional procurement, co-ordinated purchasing commitments, disease surveillance and long-term demand forecasting, it can give African manufacturers the confidence to invest, innovate and scale.

Covid-19 taught us that even when African countries had money to purchase vaccines and other medical products they could still find themselves at the back of the queue.

Manufacturing capacity cannot survive on good intentions. It needs viable markets. Equally important is the African Medicines Agency (AMA). Building manufacturing capacity without strong regulatory institutions would be a dangerous half-measure. African patients must have confidence that products manufactured on the continent meet internationally recognised standards of safety, quality and efficacy.

The AMA can strengthen regulatory harmonisation, facilitate co-operation among national regulatory authorities and support more efficient pathways for the assessment and oversight of medical products through its recently launched innovation and manufacturing support hub. Its significance extends far beyond facilitating trade. It is fundamentally about protecting patients and building trust.

African manufacturing will only achieve its full potential if healthcare professionals, governments and patients trust the safety and quality of its products. Africa CDC can help create the demand and market conditions that make manufacturing sustainable, while the AMA can strengthen the regulatory confidence that ensures products are safe, effective and trusted. Together, they can connect public health priorities with industrial development and patient protection.

Neither institution can deliver this transformation alone. Governments must create enabling policies, mobilise long-term financing, support technology transfer, invest in research and development, strengthen clinical trial capabilities and develop the skilled workforce needed to sustain pharmaceutical industries.

Regional co-operation must replace fragmented national approaches. International partnerships remain essential, but over-dependence on external suppliers leaves Africa vulnerable to export restrictions, global competition and supply chain disruptions precisely when medical products are most urgently needed.

Governments must create enabling policies, mobilise long-term financing, support technology transfer, invest in research and development, strengthen clinical trial capabilities and develop the skilled workforce needed to sustain pharmaceutical industries.

The next epidemic is not a question of if, but when. Africa must be ready. Readiness means detecting outbreaks early, protecting frontline healthcare professionals, diagnosing patients reliably, manufacturing essential medical products and rapidly developing and deploying safe, effective vaccines.

Pharmaceutical sovereignty is not about manufacturing for its own sake. It is about ensuring that Africa never again has to depend on the goodwill or availability of others to protect its people. It is an investment in patient safety, economic resilience and, ultimately, African lives.

• Dr Hwenda is founder and CEO of Medicines for Africa and chairs the African Patient Safety Summit.

Business Day

]]>Gradel Muyisa Mumbere<![CDATA[EDITORIAL | Democracy is bigger than a perfect election day ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-editorial-democracy-is-bigger-than-a-perfect-election-day/https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-06-editorial-democracy-is-bigger-than-a-perfect-election-day/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000An election does not have to go perfectly to be credible. What matters is whether the institutions responsible for administering it can respond when things go wrong, protect the integrity of the process and ensure that every legitimate vote counts.

The IEC has had to navigate precisely that challenge during the 2026 local government elections. Despite a number of operational setbacks, however, it has managed to deliver an election in which South Africans could exercise their democratic right to vote.

There were problems, and they should not be glossed over. Special voting was disrupted by logistical difficulties and delays in the delivery of ballot papers. In Cape Town, 217 voting stations could not open at the scheduled time on the first day of special voting because ballot papers had not arrived. The IEC attributed the delays to the need to reprint ballots following a Constitutional Court ruling affecting the ANC.

Election day brought its own challenges. Although the IEC reported that 98% of the country’s 23,696 voting stations had opened by 7am, some stations opened late because of localised protests and access difficulties, particularly in parts of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. A handful of ballot deliveries were also completed after voting had begun.

Then there was the theft of unused ballot papers and a special-vote validation stamp at a voting station in eThekwini. This was a serious security breach that could have raised questions about the integrity of the election. The IEC reported the matter to the police, opened a case and put measures in place to identify the stolen material should anyone attempt to use it.

The comments by IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya at Wednesday’s press conference were important. His assurance that the stolen ballots would not find their way back into the electoral system speaks directly to the commission’s responsibility to protect the vote. The existence of an irregularity does not, by itself, mean an election has been rigged. What matters is whether the irregularity can be identified, contained and prevented from influencing the results.

These incidents are not trivial. Voters who spent hours waiting to cast their ballots are entitled to expect better. The commission must account for the shortcomings, identify what went wrong and ensure that the same mistakes are not repeated. An election should never be treated as a logistical exercise in which avoidable failures are simply accepted.

But neither should these failures be confused with evidence that the election itself was compromised.

The scale of the undertaking must also be recognised. The IEC had to co-ordinate voting across 23,696 stations, with 29.2-million registered voters and about 188,000 election officials deployed across the country. It also had to facilitate special voting for more than 2.6-million approved applicants, including home visits for voters unable to travel to voting stations.

It did so amid significant financial and logistical constraints in a country where conducting a nationwide election requires co-ordination across thousands of communities with vastly different circumstances.

The final assessment must still account for the counting, verification of results and any outstanding complaints. But the operational difficulties should not obscure what the commission was ultimately required to do: provide South Africans with an opportunity to choose their local representatives through a process governed by electoral rules and safeguards. In this it has succeeded.

The IEC must still answer for what went wrong. Equally, the safeguards it put in place to protect the vote deserve recognition.

Democracy depends on more than the act of voting. It depends on public confidence that the ballot box remains beyond manipulation. A perfect election may be an impossible standard. A free, fair and credible one is not. And that is the standard against which the IEC must ultimately be judged.

Business Day

]]>SANDILE NDLOVU<![CDATA[Supermarket Income Reit raises £60m to fund acquisition pipeline]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-11-06-supermarket-income-reit-raises-60m-to-fund-acquisition-pipeline/https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-11-06-supermarket-income-reit-raises-60m-to-fund-acquisition-pipeline/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000Supermarket Income Reit has raised £60m (R1.32bn) through a share placing and retail offer to fund an acquisition pipeline worth about £65.2m, as the UK-focused grocery property investor looks to expand and diversify its portfolio.

The group issued 73.2-million new shares at 82p each on Tuesday, raising £60m to help finance acquisitions worth £65.2m. It will use the proceeds alongside borrowing to fund the deals, which it expects to boost earnings.

Supermarket Income Reit CEO Rob Abraham said the strong demand from existing and new shareholders pointed to continued confidence in the group’s strategy and the prospects of the grocery property sector.

“The strong demand we have seen for this raise from both existing and new shareholders is a clear endorsement of our strategy and the opportunities we continue to see across the grocery real estate sector,” he said.

“These high-quality acquisitions will further diversify our portfolio across grocery operators, locations and asset types, while strengthening our income stream and supporting earnings growth,” he said.

The capital raise also saw participation from the directors and senior executives, who bought additional shares in the group.

Business Day

]]>Picture: Supplied/Studio Grey<![CDATA[Sibanye cuts US PGM production forecast after five-week strike]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-11-06-sibanye-cuts-us-pgm-production-forecast-after-five-week-strike/https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-11-06-sibanye-cuts-us-pgm-production-forecast-after-five-week-strike/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000Sibanye-Stillwater has cut its 2026 production forecast for its US platinum group metal (PGM) operations in Montana after a five-week strike disrupted mining near Nye and processing at its Columbus facilities.

The miner on Thursday said it now expects to produce 245,000oz to 255,000oz, down from its previous forecast of 280,000oz to 300,000oz. It raised its forecast production costs to $1,700/oz-$1,760/oz from $1,520/oz-$1,580/oz.

The strike began on September 3 and ended after workers ratified a new multiyear collective bargaining agreement in early October. Employees returned to work on October 9.

US PGM production fell 19% year on year to 59,417oz in the third quarter. The disruption pushed production costs 39% higher to $1,617/oz.

The strike also left the workforce about 25% below planned levels. The company said it is focusing on rebuilding its workforce and restoring production in the fourth quarter.

The new labour agreement provides for a 4.5% wage increase in the first year, followed by further increases in the second and third years. It also introduces team-based incentives and changes to work practices.

Sibanye aims to lower production costs at its US operations to about $1,000/oz by end-2028 while increasing annual production to about 410,000oz.

The US operations are the only part of the group expected to miss their 2026 operating targets.

Group adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rose 9% year on year to R10.8bn in the third quarter. Higher commodity prices and steady performance across its South African PGM and gold operations, recycling business and Century zinc operation lifted earnings.

The miner said it remains on track to meet its 2026 production targets at its South African operations. Production at the K4 shaft at Marikana continued to build up, while extension projects at its Siphumelele and Thembelani shafts in Rustenburg progressed on schedule.

Business Day

]]><![CDATA[Truworths customers turn to credit as cash sales fall]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-11-06-truworths-customers-turn-to-credit-as-cash-sales-fall/https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-11-06-truworths-customers-turn-to-credit-as-cash-sales-fall/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000Truworths says the gap between cash and account sales at its stores is widening as consumers cut back on spending, with cash purchases falling sharply and credit sales little changed.

In a business update on Thursday, the clothing retailer reported a 7.5% decline in group cash sales during the first 17 weeks of its 2027 financial year, while account sales were broadly unchanged. Account purchases comprised 46% of group retail sales, up from 44% in the comparable period.

The trend was more pronounced in Truworths Africa, where cash sales fell 8.6%, compared with a 0.2% decline in account sales. Account purchases made up 73% of the segment’s retail sales, compared with 71% a year earlier.

For the 17 weeks to October 25, Truworths reported a 4.3% decline in retail sales to R6.5bn, as spending pressure persisted in South Africa and the UK.

In its South African business, Truworths Africa, sales fell 2.7% to R4.1bn. Meanwhile, UK footwear chain Office recorded a modest 0.3% increase in sales to £106.8m. However, when translated into rand, sales from the division fell 6.9% to R2.3bn due to exchange rates.

One bright spot was the group’s South African online business, in which sales rose 16.9%. Online shopping accounted for 10% of Truworths Africa’s retail sales, up from 8% in the corresponding period last year.

The picture was less positive in the UK, where Office’s online sales declined 6% in pound terms. Digital sales made up 40% of the division’s retail sales, down from 43% a year earlier. Truworths attributed the decline partly to reduced promotional activity compared with the previous year.

The retailer also maintained what it described as a “measured approach” to extending credit. Gross active trade receivables increased 2.2% to R6.2bn at the end of the first quarter on September 27, from R6.1bn a year earlier.

While overdue balances remained steady at 16% of gross trade receivables, there were signs of pressure among customers. The proportion of active account holders eligible to make purchases edged down to 79% from 80%, while the number of active accounts slipped 0.5%.

“The key November and December trading months lie ahead. The group’s sales performance and results for the 26 weeks ending 27 December 2026 will depend significantly on trading levels over this period,” it said.

The group is scheduled to release its interim results on February 25, 2027.

Business Day

]]>FREDDY MAVUNDA<![CDATA[Old men and old empires in the long shadow of the Moai]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/2026-11-06-old-men-and-old-empires-in-the-long-shadow-of-the-moai/https://www.businessday.co.za/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/2026-11-06-old-men-and-old-empires-in-the-long-shadow-of-the-moai/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

By Andrew Dix

“Is this a joke?” asks a young Chilean woman early in Martin McDonagh’s new film, Wild Horse Nine. She is trying to grasp something said to her by another character; just as easily, however, she could be wondering exactly what kind of film she is in. For Wild Horse Nine itself is tonally unstable, mixing farcical events with historical drama and comic wordplay with an affecting portrait of male friendship.

This mixing of moods and blending of genres brings the film into alignment with McDonagh’s previous screen work as writer-director.

Beginning with In Bruges (2008) and continuing with Seven Psychopaths (2012), the Oscar-winning Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) and The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), McDonagh has always tried to disorientate his audiences. A hitman may speak with unexpected profundity, say, or a moment of whimsical dialogue might give way to a scene of disturbing violence.

Wild Horse Nine follows other McDonagh projects, too, in its careful attention to time and place. The action occurs in 1973: first in a bleakly rendered Chile, just before the US-engineered coup that overthrew the socialist government of Salvador Allende; then in visually sumptuous Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Two CIA agents, Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell), travel to the island to play out a complicated personal and political endgame.

One of the film’s many pleasures is its detailed presentation of this island landscape (Wild Horse Nine is only the second film to have been shot there, following Kevin Reynolds’s historical epic Rapa-Nui in 1994).

Many of the about 1,000 monolithic figures (the moai), fashioned by indigenous inhabitants between about 1400 and 1650, figure in key scenes. They evoke a sense of deep time against which the brief drama of these American incomers is unfolding.

Men in love

McDonagh’s films have also been marked by their acute observation of men together. Consider in particular the complex bonds between the figures played by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in both In Bruges and The Banshees of Inisherin. Here, the Farrell character is revisited by Rockwell as Lee, while Gleeson’s part is taken by Malkovich as Chris.

The two men make for an odd couple. Physically, they exhibit a pleasing asymmetry: Lee the squatter and squishier of the two, sporting a moustache and often to be found with food in hand (or mouth). Chris, by contrast, is a grizzled presence, monumental and weather-worn like the moai in which he takes such pleasure.

Chris and Lee engage in rancorous verbal sparring. They differ on how much discretion is expected of CIA operatives when in public. Yet their friendship has a weight and meaning, properly speaking a love, not replicated by any other interaction in their lives. Lee’s wife (Parker Posey), for example, is exploring adulterous options back in the US; Chris’s brother (Tom Waits, in a delightful cameo), living in Monument Valley, Arizona, has all the gruffness of the cowboys who once rode that landscape.

Though male friendship is one of his thematic signatures, McDonagh senses a point of transition in his work with Wild Horse Nine. Perhaps, he recently mused to The Guardian, this is his first “old-man movie”. Thoughts of winding down, even termination, are spun through the film. As is characteristic of McDonagh’s cinema, however, melancholy is only one of its many moods, not a feeling that colours every shot.

McDonagh in Greeneland

If Wild Horse Nine is sensitive to place, it is equally scrupulous in recreating a particular point in time.

This is evident in the film’s visual texture, with saturated colours chosen to evoke the look of American cinema and photography in the early 1970s. Such care with history is apparent, too, in the narrative, as the personal drama of Chris and Lee occurs in sync with the crisis gathering in Chile.

There might be a temptation to downplay the film’s political engagement and prioritise instead its serious, though comic, personal drama, its exhilarating setting, its instances of zany Tarantino-esque dialogue (Chris musing, for example, on the logistics involved if a robin were to be a drug user). To set aside the politics, however, would be to impoverish the film.

From one perspective, it offers a cinematic version of “Greeneland”, to use the term devised for the territory explored by the mid-century English novelist Graham Greene. In globe-trotting fictions — including The Heart of the Matter (1948, set in Sierra Leone), The Quiet American (1955, Vietnam) and A Burnt-Out Case (1960, the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo) — Greene described ageing, depleted male characters reckoning with their guilt, particularly their role in advancing Western imperialism.

Chris, in Wild Horse Nine, resembles one of Greene’s burnt-out cases. His energy is running down; memories of past CIA operations crowd his thoughts. It is further evidence of the film’s complexity that, prompted by his experiences on Rapa Nui, even this hardy agent of the American Empire comes to reflect on his being steeped in blood.

The writer, Andrew Dix, is a senior lecturer in American literature and film at Loughborough University.

]]>Reuters/Yara Nardi<![CDATA[ANC faces coalition scramble as grip on major cities slips]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-06-anc-faces-coalition-scramble-as-grip-on-major-cities-slips/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-06-anc-faces-coalition-scramble-as-grip-on-major-cities-slips/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000The ANC is on course for a bruising result in the country’s major cities, and if its poor electoral performance continues it will soon have to scramble to secure coalition deals to retain a role in governing the country’s councils.

Early returns and projections from the November 4 local government elections suggest the party will fall short of a majority in every metro and finish behind the DA in most of them.

That would be a marked deterioration from 2021, when the ANC suffered heavy losses but still held outright majorities in Buffalo City and Mangaung.

Counting is at an early stage though, and the trajectory could change. But the numbers so far point to a contraction of the ANC’s footprint in local government. The fragmented political landscape will soon result in coalition talks to decide who runs the cities.

“We do not see ourselves as a party that would disappear … this gives us an opportunity to repackage,” ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane said at the IEC’s national results centre, where counting of votes is taking place.

Official results are expected to be released on Sunday.

After that, parties will have to negotiate coalitions, a process that has proved unstable in cities such as Johannesburg and Tshwane.

Business Day was told on Thursday by sources, who declined to be named, that the ANC’s top seven officials held a meeting on the way forward on Wednesday night — ahead of a planned meeting of the national coalitions task team led by its secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula.

“Early results suggest a chastening day for the ANC,” said Louw Nel, a senior political analyst at Oxford Economics. He said the party isn’t expected to win a majority in any of the eight metros, while the DA is projected to finish first in at least five.

South Africa’s major metros drive most economic activity, and losing outright control of these hubs deprives the ANC of big municipal budgets, procurement power and administrative influence.

The projected outcome makes clear that urban voters are through tolerating the ANC’s service delivery failures.

For decades, the DA was considered unable to challenge the ANC’s electoral support, largely due to deep generational loyalty to the revered liberation movement that defeated apartheid under leaders such as Nelson Mandela.

The DA’s origins, in part, in white liberal politics and the former New National Party also presented an obstacle. It struggled to break beyond minority voter bases in a country where black South Africans make up 80% of the electorate, allowing the ANC to portray it as an elite, minority-focused party.

The sharpest change is in the economic heartland of Gauteng province. In Ekurhuleni, the DA is leading with about 41% of counted votes, ahead of ActionSA on 18.1% and the ANC on 16.8%. The ANC took 38.2% there in 2021. It was also running third in Johannesburg among votes counted so far, according to partial results, having won 33.6% in the last election. In Tshwane it took 34.3% in 2021.

In Tshwane, ActionSA is currently second with almost 25%, according to Nel. Mayor Nasiphi Moya’s time in office has raised the party’s profile there. In 2021 it won 8.6% in the capital.

“The DA finds itself in a strong negotiating position in Gauteng,” Nel said, adding that ActionSA is emerging as a potential coalition partner in Tshwane. Herman Mashaba, the party’s founder and a former Johannesburg mayor, has built support in the province’s townships. That positions ActionSA as a potential kingmaker in all three Gauteng metros, Nel said, alongside an unpopular ANC.

While in Gauteng the DA is expected to emerge with the lion’s share of the vote, the ANC’s national tally is projected to register as a 10% loss of electoral support, from 40% to 30% since the 2024 general elections, due to the party’s last remaining strongholds such as Limpopo and the Eastern Cape also expected to decline.

A huge political shift is also unfolding across KwaZulu-Natal as Jacob Zuma’s MK party is projected to redraw who governs strategic municipalities in that province.

By Thursday afternoon, MK was the leading party in KwaZulu-Natal with 33.2% of the vote, followed by the ANC with 24.8% and the IFP with 22.7%.

In eThekwini metro, MK led with 39.4%, followed by the ANC (23.5%) and the DA (23.2%). In eThekwini, MK surged into top place with nearly 39% of the vote, pushing the ANC and DA out of direct control.

In Msunduzi, the party secured more than 50%, sweeping the capital’s wards, and in Endumeni MK led the poll, relegating the ANC to fourth place.

With strong showings in key industrial hubs such as uMhlathuze and Alfred Duma, MK has established itself as KZN’s dominant force, triggering MK’s entrance into high-stakes coalition talks to lead the government across the province.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) election prediction model estimates that Cape Town will be the only metro that will be governed by the DA without requiring a coalition. The CSIR estimates that the DA is set to garner above 58% of the votes.

In Nelson Mandela Bay, the CSIR projects the DA first with 39% against 27.3% for the ANC. The two parties were virtually tied in 2021, with the DA on 39.9% and the ANC on 39.4%, so the projection implies a drop of about 12 percentage points for the ANC.

In Mangaung, the CSIR has the ANC ahead on 37.3% against 30.2% for the DA, with the EFF at 8.4%. The ANC won 50.6% there in 2021, a slim outright majority then.

In Buffalo City, the ANC is projected to lead with 39.9%, more than double the DA’s 18.2%. That is still a steep fall from the 59.3% it won in 2021, its best metro result. The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is projected third on 9.9%, ahead of the EFF on 7.2% and the SA Communist Party (SACP) on 5.1%.

“Voters are moving away from the ANC in large numbers … and we cannot ignore the regional dynamics of the votes,” said political analyst Tasneem Essop.

Business Day

]]>SANDILE NDLOVU<![CDATA[LUKE ALFRED | If WP were a country, they would be a failed state]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/2026-11-06-luke-alfred-if-wp-were-a-country-they-would-be-a-failed-state/https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/2026-11-06-luke-alfred-if-wp-were-a-country-they-would-be-a-failed-state/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000It’s a parlour game (but still interesting) to have a good look at where South Africa’s cricketers in the third Test against Australia went to school.

Four of them, we now know because it’s been widely publicised, went to St Stithians College, with a fifth (Temba Bavuma) going to St Davids in Inanda, 5km away from St Stithians’ large Randburg campus in northern Johannesburg.

Two of the 11 — Aiden Markram and Simon Harmer — went to Pretoria Boys’ High, while Marco Jansen went to Potchefstroom Gimnasium. Eight of the 11, therefore, went to highveld schools, or schools in Gauteng and the North West (Jansen).

Of the other three members of the team, Gerald Coetzee went to St Andrew’s College in Bloemfontein, while Matthew Breetzke went to Grey High in Gqeberha. Finally, David Bedingham went to Wynberg Boys’ High in Cape Town, which brings to two the number of players from coastal schools, a situation which would have been unthinkable in the age, 50 years ago, of Barry Richards and the Pollock brothers, who went to Durban High School and Grey High, respectively.

There are many ways to slice this information but one salient feature jumps out. Bedingham has now been released from the Proteas squad to face Bangladesh for the first time in mid-November, as his international career seems finally to have spluttered to an end. With Kyle Verreynne losing the wicketkeeper’s gloves after the first Test against Australia at Kingsmead, there are now no Western Province cricketers in the Test side.

This is softened slightly by the fact Zubayr Hamza (a former Rondebosch Boys’ pupil) has been added to the squad for the two Bangladesh Tests, but complicated by the idea that he is no longer a Western Province player.

You might have thought that Hamza would have been worth keeping in Cape Town. But the Lions are a more competitive, more exciting and more creative franchise. He knew what he was doing by moving; he has played himself back into the national side.

The Western Province (or Cobras) story has to be one of the saddest in contemporary cricket. It reminds me a little of a famous Bertolt Becht quote to the effect that famines are never naturally occurring, they’re always man-made.

The fact that WP are not producing harvests of Vernon Philanders and Jacques Kallises anymore is a man-made famine. More troubling is the fact that the disaster has been unfolding for the past 20 years, under the very noses of the people who should be doing something about it.

Not only are Western Province failing to produce national cricketers, they’re not winning anything. True, they won the One-Day Cup in 2023/4 but beyond that statistical outlier, one has to go back nearly 15 years to see consistent four-day (and other) successes.

For example, between 2009/10 and 2013/4 — five seasons in other words — they won the SuperSport or Sunfoil Series four times. This was under then-coach Richard Pybus, who had a method players like Justin Kemp swore by. Pybus, as he tells it, wanted to move on players in the twilight of their careers. This threatened them and the matter became racial. Pybus was shabbily treated by then CEO André Odendaal. Western Province has not won a four-day competition since.

In fact, they haven’t won anything since, bar their One-Day Cup win in 2023/4, yet the cricket people of the province seem unable to act. There seems to be such a poor grasp of the crisis that they did the opposite, with club chairpersons a couple of months ago voting overwhelmingly in favour of a constitutional amendment to prolong the incumbents’ terms of office. The proposal was finally squashed by Cricket South Africa.

At the moment the Cobras are fourth out of eight on the Pro20 Cup log, but two teams ahead of them (Boland, Warriors) have a game in hand. Their last game of the campaign is against the Lions at Newlands on Saturday, one they can’t be sure of winning. Hamza will be playing — against them. Might it be yet another example of WP’s predilection for same old, same old?

]]>BackpagePix<![CDATA[ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK | Digital travel meets the border]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-arthur-goldstuck-digital-travel-meets-the-border/https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-arthur-goldstuck-digital-travel-meets-the-border/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000Immigration requirements are putting travellers off visiting destinations worldwide, and Africans are the hardest hit.

The International Air Transport Association’s (Iata’s) 2026 Global passenger survey finds that 43% of respondents globally have been discouraged from visiting a destination by its entry requirements, up dramatically from 33% last year. Among African respondents the figure reaches an astonishing 52%, the highest of any region.

This despite African travellers being ready to use their faces to get through airport checkpoints. The survey, which draws on 10,665 respondents from more than 200 countries, reveals that 82% of travellers from this continent would share biometric information to avoid repeatedly producing a passport or boarding pass. Even more, 87% would consider using a digital passport for online check-in.

Being discouraged from travelling could mean abandoning a holiday, but it could equally mean giving up on a business opportunity or a visit to family. African travellers’ thirst for easier access reflects how much can depend on getting permission to cross a border. The need is obvious: governments and airlines have to make digital approvals work across the organisations that decide who can board an aircraft and who can enter a country.

Complexity accounts for 53% of complaints among those deterred globally, far ahead of the second-ranked factor, cost, at 17%. An electronic visa promises to spare the applicant much of the work associated with a paper application. Its value also depends on what happens after approval, when an airline must establish that the document gives its holder permission to travel.

“Passengers want to apply for visas online and complete immigration procedures before they reach the airport,” says Nick Careen, Iata senior vice-president for operations, safety and security. “eVisas can deliver that, but airlines can only verify them efficiently if governments use common standards.”

Globally, 86% of respondents said they would share immigration information digitally before departure to speed up processing. Another 45% want to complete immigration procedures before reaching the airport. Resolving eligibility in advance would give passengers a chance to deal with a problem before it compromises a flight.

Biometrics offer a similar opportunity to reduce repeated checks. Among passengers willing to share biometric information, three-quarters prefer a single registration in advance. Requiring them to enrol again at successive stages would squander much of the benefit.

Experience of the technology is spreading, with 58% of respondents having used it during an airport journey in the past year, up from 50% in 2025. Satisfaction among those users reached 87%, compared with 70% for border control and immigration.

Passengers also want control over their personal information. Data breaches concern 59% of respondents and 49% worry about information being shared with other organisations. Clear information about access and deletion should be part of enrolment, so passengers know what they have signed away, at least virtually.

AI is already changing how travellers choose the journeys that bring them into these systems. In Africa, 52% of respondents said they have used it for travel planning, compared with 35% in Europe. The Middle East leads at 72%.

This gives airlines ample incentive to examine how their flights appear in recommendations. Airlines now have to compete for bookings through AI as well as their own websites and apps. Their fares need to be accurate in those recommendations, with a straightforward link to buy the ticket. A recommendation becomes a wasted sales opportunity if the passenger has to start the search again on the airline’s website, as is so often the case.

African travellers’ readiness to use these technologies gives the industry a chance to improve access throughout a journey. An electronic approval that an airline struggles to verify can leave a passenger facing the same uncertainty as a paper application. The number of countries offering the service gives governments plenty of experience to draw on when fixing that problem.

• Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, editor of GadgetWings, and author of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI – The African Edge’.

Business Day

]]><![CDATA[TOBY SHAPSHAK | Is Google’s $500bn blowout the AI bubble bursting? ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-toby-shapshak-is-googles-500bn-blowout-the-ai-bubble-bursting/https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-toby-shapshak-is-googles-500bn-blowout-the-ai-bubble-bursting/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000If Google’s nearly $500bn one-day blowout over AI infrastructure spending not producing the intended results isn’t the sound of a bubble bursting, then what is?

Last week, when the search giant’s Alphabet holding company announced weaker-than-expected results, the market hammered Google, causing it to lose 12% of its value.

Not that Google didn’t make money. It made revenue of $127.6bn, but it has also spent outrageously on building giant new data centres and other infrastructure necessary for the ever-increasing need for more computing power to stay ahead in the AI race.

Losing what is now a global one-day record amount of money seems like an obvious warning sign, doesn’t it? But will that stop the rampant, unjustifiable spending on data centres and other necessary hardware to make the AI boom actually bear fruit? Probably not.

Clearly, the AI infrastructure boom is not going to benefit all the millions of people the AI firms always argue will benefit. How has the life of a mother of four in Soweto changed since ChatGPT made it easier to ask the internet questions and write AI slop? Do you know anyone whose business has been as radically supercharged as everyone keeps telling us AI will do for ordinary companies?

If we compare where AI is now with where the internet was at a similar point, it would be the equivalent of the internet boom circa 1997. But the talk is about it as if it’s today’s internet. We still don’t really know — apart from potential bioweapons, Lebensraum for OpenAI’s rogue agents and astronomical listing projections for Anthropic — what the ultimate killer apps will be.

Like so many investment booms, deep-pocketed investors will be the ultimate beneficiaries, not the ordinary person in the street. Is it time to face facts about the AI infrastructure boom and its stranglehold on the global economy? And will the world listen?

Scott Galloway, the NYU Stern professor who has emerged as a clear-eyed voice of reason in an age of unprecedented corporate hype about technology, always reminds his podcast listeners just how much global capital is invested in a small number of firms.

Worse, Galloway and others warn, those firms are in a “circle jerk” of investments into each other. Nvidia sells the chips that power the boom but has stakes in the businesses that buy them.

Galloway warned last year that “when you have 10 companies responsible for 40% of the S&P’s value and the S&P makes up 50% of the total world’s value, you have 10 companies responsible for 20% of the entire valuation of public equities globally, meaning that is the string that if it gets pulled, everything goes down”.

Harvard economic policy professor Jason Furman warned last year that “investment in information processing equipment and software is 4% of GDP … but it was responsible for 92% of GDP growth in the first half” of 2025. America’s GDP, excluding those categories, only “grew at a 0.1% annual rate”.

One sector’s 4% contribution to GDP turned into 92% of six months’ worth of GDP. Alarm bells anyone? Especially as so much of AI infrastructure investment is companies taking on more debt to fund it.

Missed targets

There have been regular outcries when (only the listed) tech firms don’t reach their expected revenue, followed by a dip in the market as investors panic, and then a return to the mad rush to invest in data centres and AI infrastructure.

But something significant happened this week in the US midterms that is in no small part driven by a reaction to the power-hungry, water-hungry eyesores that are sprawlingly large data centres.

In many ways these Democrat-won elections were a referendum on AI and the unprecedented power tech firms have accrued in the US, including a cringeworthy display of sucking up to President Donald Trump.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg almost gleefully dismantled Facebook’s disinformation and safety departments as soon as he could under the guise of the Republican’s incessant complaints about conservative views being “censored” by social platforms. Zuckerberg saved Facebook hundreds of millions of dollars by not having to police the Wild West of misinformation and hate speech it created, while throwing its own users to the wolves.

From US states swooning over data centre projects by offering them lucrative tax discounts as well as discounted water and power, the tables have turned on Big Tech, with voters demanding those companies pay their fair share in taxes and power bills.

In Finland, the national police have started a criminal investigation into Google subsidiary Tuike Finland for clearing 330ha of forest for new data centres without completing the necessary environmental impact assessments. Some 400,000 trees have been chopped down in a country where forests are part of the revered natural ecosystem.

“Really, for Finland there are no benefits,” Jussi Kangasharju, professor of computer science at the University of Helsinki, told The Guardian. “They are international companies serving international customers. Data centres ultimately have little benefit for others except the data centre operator.”

That is a salient point well worth remembering. If the data centres have struck deals to get cheaper taxes and utility bills, what’s the upside for the people living around the corner? Will they see more local municipal spending through higher taxes collected? Or will they watch as a local community funds a listed multinational’s increased profits through subsided electricity bills?

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose agents autonomously attacked several companies and government websites, still wants us to be more tolerant of the errant behaviour of tech firms and their broligarchy billionaires. “The world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology,” he infamously said with a straight face.

We should “accept some bad things” is as good a summation as you’re going to get from the Tech Bro elite of Silicon Valley.

• Shapshak is editor-in-chief of Stuff.co.za. His next book, ‘The High-Functioning Lazy Person’s Guide to AI’, is due out next year.

]]>Carlos Jasso<![CDATA[DEBORAH CURTIS-SETCHELL| The guillotine drops on ATP Finals qualifiers in Paris ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/2026-11-06-deborah-curtis-setchell-the-guillotine-drops-on-atp-finals-qualifiers-in-paris/https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/2026-11-06-deborah-curtis-setchell-the-guillotine-drops-on-atp-finals-qualifiers-in-paris/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000The Paris Masters 1000 is one of the most sought-after events on the ATP calendar. It is the last opportunity to rake in ranking points and further dictates the fate of the top seeds lurking, just beyond the No 8 cut for the all-consuming ATP Finals in the ongoing “Race to Turin”.

In other words, players ranked 9th to 11th in the world — Alex De Minaur, Rafa Jodar and Novak Djokovic — all stood an outside chance of joining the elite lineup in Italy, provided they progressed to the final furlong in Paris.

However, Jodar burnt his bridge to Turin when he succumbed in round one to Casper Ruud 3-6 4-6. Ruud, who had suffered a humiliating defeat to Jodar in the recent Shanghai quarters, wasn’t about to let history repeat itself.

Ironically, the Spaniard’s loss on debut in Paris was world No 6 Flávio Cobolli’s gain. Despite Cobolli handing compatriot Matteo Berretini a walkover and shedding copious tears on Berretini’s shoulder, Ruud has inadvertently catapulted Cobolli right back into the ATP Finals fray, together with Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and world No 4 Ben Shelton.

Again, French No 1 Arthur Fils also sealed his ticket to Turin. This came about after France’s Quentin Halys beat Francis Tiafoe of the US.

Surprisingly, seven-time Paris champion Djokovic and 8th seed De Minaur blew their Turin chances when they were unexpectedly thrashed in round two. The Serb by Japan’s Rinky Hijikata, ranked 83, and the Australian by Argentinian Tomas Etcheverry.

They were not the only top seeds to crash out in week one: new world No 1 Zverev was another straight-sets fatality, losing to unseeded Lorenzo Musetti 6-7 2-6, and No 25 Karen Khachanov was eliminated by lucky loser Nuno Borges 3-6 4-6.

Meanwhile, Shelton, in addition to winning his opening match against Britain’s Cameron Norris 6-3 6-4 and securing his first ATP Finals appearance, has trumped, if not upstaged, all his Turin competitors by announcing his new coaching partnership with former world No 1 Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Ferrero was once upon a time Zverev’s coach before he, like his coaching successor, former No 1 Ivan Lendl, walked away from the job on account of his protégée being “too ill disciplined and lacking focus”. Though in Lendl’s case it was the constant clashing with Daddy Zverev that proved the kicker in the pack.

Admittedly, when Ferrero then took on his younger and more pliable compatriot, Alcaraz, it took Ferrero far less time than it has taken Zverev senior and Zverev to push Alcaraz over the line, in winning Grand Slams and becoming the youngest No 1 in the history of the game.

The Spanish duo parted company amicably in late 2025, for Ferrero to spend more time with his family.

Yet with the spate of emerging Spanish talent last year, during Alcatraz’s injury time out, specifically then-teenager Rafa Jodar, the national consensus was that Ferrero would re-emerge to take over the coaching reins from Jodar Senior.

Interestingly, Shelton, similarly “explosive” in his style of play to Alcaraz, having shot to world No 4 and made it to the US Open final this year, set his sights on permanently dethroning Alcaraz and becoming world No 1.

The man he picked for the task was none other than Ferrer. It was with little hope Shelton instructed his agent to take a punt and toss an offer the Spaniard’s way. Fortune favours the brave: According to the young American, “he ended up being available — we had some great talks on the phone and that was that”.

Thus it appears the Shelton-Ferrero combination next season will be a match made in heaven, provided Daddy Shelton’s ego can take a backseat.

Meanwhile, one wonders how Spain, on the brink of a Davis Cup final, feels about this unforeseen, unpatriotic curveball from arguably their top coach and how Alcaraz himself views his biggest mentor jumping ship to assist an arch rival to “go after” him and his top ranking.

On a different continent, in the wake of US midterm elections, the WTA finals are about to start in the Californian desert. World No 1 Elena Rybakina heads group one, which includes Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, whom the Kazakh will face in the opening match of this round robin, with Americans, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.

World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka leads group two and will play French Open champion Mira Andreeva in their opener.

Wimbledon finalist Karolina Muchova and Elina Svitolina make up the remainder of the latter group.

Business Day

]]>Benoit Tessier<![CDATA[CARTOON | Thumbs-up for IEC ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-cartoon-thumbs-up-for-iec/https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-cartoon-thumbs-up-for-iec/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000More by Brandan:

]]>Brandan Reynolds<![CDATA[CARLYN FRITTELLI DAVIES AND SANDILE NHLENGETWA | Out of Agoa, into the green rulebook ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-carlyn-frittelli-davies-and-sandile-nhlengetwa-out-of-agoa-into-the-green-rulebook/https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-carlyn-frittelli-davies-and-sandile-nhlengetwa-out-of-agoa-into-the-green-rulebook/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000South Africa’s exclusion from the African Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa) from January will leave many South African farmers at a disadvantage relative to competitors from countries that continue to enjoy preferential access to the US market.

Some farmers have invested heavily in production geared specifically to the US and produce cannot simply be redirected to other markets with different phytosanitary requirements and consumer preferences.

There are, however, grounds for optimism. South Africa’s agricultural exports grew 9.1% year on year to $4.12bn in the second quarter, producing a trade surplus of $2.14bn, even though exports to the US fell 28%. Over the same period agricultural exports to Vietnam rose by 153%, to Saudi Arabia by 90% and to China by 30%.

The EU remains South Africa’s main trading partner and largest source of foreign investment, with trade in goods of €46bn in 2025. Together with the rest of Africa, Europe absorbed 70.7% of South Africa’s agricultural exports in the second quarter of 2026. However, access to European markets comes with an increasingly demanding green rulebook.

Europe’s Green Deal

While Washington has turned to tariffs, Brussels has slowed, but not abandoned, its Green Deal agenda. The EU deforestation regulation will apply from December 30 to large and medium-sized operators and traders, and from June 30 to most micro and small operators.

The EU deforestation regulation provides that cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya beans and wood, and products derived from them such as beef, chocolate and paper, may not be placed on the EU market unless they:

  • Are deforestation-free, meaning they were not produced on land deforested after December 31 2020 (and, for wood, were harvested without causing forest degradation after that date);
  • Have been produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production; and
  • Are covered by a due diligence statement.

South Africa is classified as low risk under the EU’s country benchmarking system, which generally allows simplified due diligence. However, low risk does not mean no obligations: EU buyers will still require geolocation data and proof of legal production.

The EU is also rolling out a digital product passport under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, a digital record that carries sustainability and traceability data about a product. Food is excluded, but the direction of travel is clear: access to European shelves will increasingly depend on data.

As South African producers lean more heavily on Europe and Asia, compliance will become a competitive advantage. Though legal liability under the EU deforestation regulation generally rests with the business placing products on the EU market, the practical burden will be passed down the supply chain through data requests, warranties and audit rights. Suppliers that cannot provide traceability information risk being replaced by those that can.

Compliance with South African environmental laws, including the conditions of any authorisation, registration, licence or permit, should provide a good basis for meeting EU due diligence requests.

Export supply chain

If your business exports to, or supplies products destined for, the US, EU or China, now is the time to review your supply and offtake agreements, particularly clauses on pricing, the allocation of tariffs and duties, change in law and termination. If you are exploring the Chinese market, check that your products meet the applicable rules of origin.

If your products or ingredients include any EU deforestation regulation commodity, it is crucial to conduct legal due diligence on your operations and supply chain before December 30.

• Davies is consultant, and Nhlengetwa an associate, in natural resources & environment at ENS Africa.

]]><![CDATA[Boks focus on Italy as Nations Championship chase heats up]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/soccer/2026-11-06-boks-focus-on-italy-as-nations-championship-chase-heats-up/https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/soccer/2026-11-06-boks-focus-on-italy-as-nations-championship-chase-heats-up/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000Springbok fullback Damian Willemse said the squad were keyed up at the possibility of adding the Nations Championship title to their already stacked trophy cabinet as South Africa look to maintain their unbeaten record in Turin against Italy on Saturday.

Though the Boks have won everything there is to win after their second consecutive Rugby World Cup triumph in 2023, the team has shown no signs of complacency or slowing down.

This week, Rassie Erasmus and his men are in Turin to kick off the Northern Series European leg of the inaugural 2026 Nations Championship against Italy at Allianz Stadium (kickoff 1.40pm SA time), where victory will keep South Africa top of the Southern Hemisphere standings.

Archrivals the All Blacks, who also have three wins, are breathing down the necks of the Boks, who occupy the top spot on points difference.

Both teams have three matches remaining, and only one will make the final. Fullback Willemse acknowledged the tightness of the permutations. However, the 28-year-old says South Africa are fully focused on Italy.

“We are playing for the cup in three or four weeks, and I think the most important week is this week. If we lose this week, we’re out of the race to try and be in the final, but that’s not really in our heads now,” he said.

“I know we are [close on points] with New Zealand. If we are in the position to go for a bonus point, we’ll obviously look to do that.

“But the main thing for us is just to perform very well and then win the game. What is in our heads is making sure we follow through on the plan and the stuff the coaches have put out for us.”

The Nations Championship being a new tournament and these matches not simply part of another end-of-year European tour adds motivation, Willemse said.

“It’s exciting for us because there is something we’ll be playing towards. There’s a cup on the line.

“Our approach to any tournament or cup is to take it seriously, and we want to get the right result and make sure we go to the end.”

Willemse said South Africa expect Italy to give them a run for their money in front of their home fans despite having been struck by a few injuries.

“They are a strong side, very well-coached, and come up with good plans. We’ve got to stay dialled-in and make sure we don’t lose focus on what’s ahead.

“We saw last year, when we played them here in Turin, how dangerous they are. While they have got a couple of injuries, I know there are guys in the set-up who are key players for them.”

The Boks return to a happy hunting ground in Turin, having registered a sparkling 32-14 victory over Italy the last time they played there, with Willemse earning the player of the match award.

• Rugby’s World Player of the Year Malcolm Marx has signed for the Bulls provincial franchise, while his South African teammate Manie Libbok is also quitting Japan to play for the Sharks.

Marx, a double World Cup winner with the Springboks, will leave Kubota Spears in June and join the Pretoria-based Bulls after spending the last seven years playing club rugby in Japan.

The 32-year-old hooker, who has 94 Test caps and scored 29 Test tries, the most by any forward in Springbok history, has signed a “long-term contract”, the Bulls said.

His signing follows that of another international forward, Kwagga Smith, who late last month penned a three-year deal with the Bulls after eight years’ club rugby in Japan.

Flyhalf Libbok will join the Sharks in July after completing his contract at Hanazono Kintetsu Liners. Libbok and Marx are both with the Springboks in Europe for this month’s Nations Championship fixtures.

Additional reporting by Reuters

]]>Alche Greeff/BackpagePix<![CDATA[MATTHEW MARRIAN | Politics is a risk you diversify to avoid, not one you predict]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-matthew-marrian-politics-is-a-risk-you-diversify-to-avoid-not-one-you-predict/https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-matthew-marrian-politics-is-a-risk-you-diversify-to-avoid-not-one-you-predict/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000Over the past few days, with Americans voting in their midterm elections on Tuesday and South Africans going to the polls for local elections on Wednesday, my conversations with clients, friends and family have almost all ended up in the same place. Sooner or later someone asks me what markets will do depending on who wins.

It is a fair question and an entirely natural one, but my honest answer is that I do not know, nor does anyone else with any reliability. The difficulty lies not only in predicting the result, which is hard enough, but in predicting how markets will respond to it. This week showed just how loose that connection can be.

Consider an investor who called the American result perfectly and, expecting a Democratic sweep to unsettle markets, sold on Tuesday night as US futures fell. By Wednesday’s close the futures had recovered and the Dow Jones had posted its strongest day after a midterm since 1982, as investors welcomed a decisive result, the president’s acceptance of it and hopes rose for an end to the war with Iran. That investor got the politics exactly right and the investment exactly wrong.

The question comes up so often in South Africa because politics has long felt like the central risk in our financial lives, and a local election in which coalition politics was expected to remain a defining feature of the major metros has done little to change that. Faced with this kind of uncertainty, investors tend to respond in one of two ways. Either they try to predict the outcome and position for it, which the American example shows is far harder than it looks, or they try to escape politics altogether by moving their money elsewhere.

The second response is the more common one here, and it rests on a misunderstanding. For many South Africans taking money offshore is less a strategy than an escape from local political risk, as though the rest of the world were somehow free of politics. This week proved otherwise. The US now makes up more than 70% of the MSCI world index, which means a typical global equity fund ties a large share of a South African’s offshore savings to one country, one currency and one political system, and on Wednesday those savings moved on an election in which no South African had a vote. Moving everything offshore to escape one government does not remove political risk; it simply exchanges it for another government’s, usually one we understand far less well.

The better response is to treat politics the way a sound plan treats any other risk that cannot be forecast with confidence, by spreading it rather than betting on it. That means holding wealth across more than one political system and more than one currency, deliberately and in proportions you have chosen, so that no single election at home or abroad can decide your financial future on its own. It means knowing how much of what you own depends on US policy, on the dollar and on the South African economy. And it means holding enough liquidity that a turbulent election week never forces you to sell at the wrong time.

It also means separating the citizen from the investor. As citizens we should engage with politics, vote and hold our representatives to account, as millions of South Africans did this week. As investors we are far better served by a structure that does not need us to know the result in advance.

So, when the question comes up again, as it will at the next election here or abroad, my answer will be the same. I do not know what markets will do, and a properly structured plan should never need me to. The investors who come through elections best are rarely those who called the result correctly but those whose plans never depended on it.

• Marrian is a director at independent wealth management firm InvestSense.

]]>Jonathan Ernst<![CDATA[Five things to watch this week]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/2026-11-06-five-things-to-watch-this-week/https://www.businessday.co.za/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/2026-11-06-five-things-to-watch-this-week/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000The Greatest — Prime Video

The life of the undisputed Goat, Muhammad Ali, has provided the material for millions of words, thousands of hours of archive material, hundreds of interviews, and dozens of hotly debated documentaries and dramatic adaptations over the course of his life and since his death in 2016. This is an elegantly visualised, new-generation-styled and paced, “first authorised scripted biopic series” that remains loyal to the legend and was produced by his widow, Lonnie Ali.

It may not offer new insights to long-time acolytes of the man, the myth, the legend, the boxer, but its dramatisation of what we know offers an engaging and compellingly performed tribute to the challenges, courage and determination of its subject during his many real-life highs and lows without ignoring his all-too-human failures and fears. That is thanks to passion and a compelling lead performance from Jaalen Best, who gives his Ali both wisdom and innocence during his early years, from winning the Olympic title in 1960 to the heavyweight crown and the beginning of the legend. Watch out, too, for an ageing, tender and supportive Giovanni Ribisi as the ever-present legendary mentor and coach Angelo Dundee.

Possession — DStv Stream

Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Jonny Lee Miller star in this horror series that is close to the bone in the present UK debate but stays true to its promise of delivering what publicity describes as a “thriller with a colonial twist”. Mbatha-Raw plays Claudia, an up-and-coming lawyer at an elite Bristol law firm who takes on the case of an English aristocrat with a contested claim over his generations-held former plantation estate in Jamaica. Filled with vivid life and characters, chilling hauntings and ever-present echoes of the slave trade, and Jamaica’s and Britain’s violent, unequal past, it’s an entertaining thriller that offers just enough resonance to current events and historical redress to keep both casual and enraged viewers tuning in for the ride.

First Case, Second Case — Mubi.com

Before he went on to cinematic legend status, both in his lifetime and after his death in 2016, Iranian social-realist dreamer and experimenter Abbas Kiarostami began his career as a filmmaker in 1970s Iran during the beginning of the country’s cinematic New Wave. Working with other pioneers in the film department he founded at the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, Kiarostami had a prolific and multi-genre career long before he became a darling of European cinema in the 1990s.

This small, quietly provocative film, made in 1979, was originally a documentary in the last stages of completion when the shah’s regime was toppled by Ayatollah Khomeini. Adjusting to the new reality of Iran, Kiarostami turned his documentary into a philosophical drama around a confrontation that arises between a teacher and his pupils. The film was promptly banned after its premiere and disappeared for three decades.

Stick Season 2 — Apple TV+

Owen Wilson, Marc Maron and the charming misfit family of Apple TV’s easy-going sports comedy set in the world of professional golf are back for another journey through the top tier of the game as they chase an impossible dream of glory at the US Open.

Making Marie Antoinette — Mubi.com

Though she may be best known to most people as the wife of US cinematic legend Francis Ford Coppola and the mother to director Sofia, Eleanor Coppola was also a tender and curious observer of behind-the-scenes dramas of the filmmaking world in which she was deeply embedded until her death in April 2024 at the age of 87. As she did in her much-acclaimed journals and still-unmatched Apocalypse Now making-of documentary, Hearts of Darkness, here the proud, concerned and quietly observing mother produces a complicated but far more upbeat and exciting portrait of watching her daughter exercise her artistry and bring her dreams to life on the set of Marie Antoinette (2006).

Business Day

]]>Brooke Palmer<![CDATA[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-letters-to-the-editor/https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-06-letters-to-the-editor/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000Democratic wins signal a new era for US politics

America has finally turned a corner. From state house to gubernatorial mansion across the republic, from district to gerrymandered district. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are now well in Democrat hands, and the union is secure.

President Donald Trump’s days are numbered, his time is over and the long national disgrace and international humiliation are finally ending. The healing can begin. It will not be easy and it will still hurt. But on Tuesday evening the US finally turned toward the light and faced its brighter future head on.

And it all began with a David and Goliath battle in east Austin, Texas. James Talarico, the Democratic underdog, more than just flipped the state’s Senate seat. It was a rout. A cataclysmic rout that went all the way from Maine to New Mexico, through Michigan and South Carolina to Mississippi and the White House.

In Talarico we see the promise of a future US president. America’s new dawn is finally on the horizon. Never give up on the underdog. Bigger does not mean better. Because the adage “all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas” was confirmed in Talarico’s victory over Elon Musk’s billions.

The South African local elections herald the same promise of a better future for all of us. Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika ― guard her children, guide her rulers and give her peace.

Mark Lowe

Durban

Optimism and uncertainty shape outlook for post-election SA

Neil Lilford’s article contained useful research and insight. It struck a chord (B-sharp?) with me. (“Hope and fear coexist for many South Africans”, October 29).

I have wondered if I feel optimistic/hopeful because the alternative is unappealing: do I feel optimistic because being realistic is just too depressing?

While the underlying drivers of growth remain unchanged ― South Africa’s workforce remains poorly educated and largely unskilled; our electricity/energy remains expensive; we remain far from markets; investment and foreign direct investment remain low due to discouraging regulations and crime affecting business confidence ― it seems irrational to anticipate meaningful real per capita GDP growth.

Yet this is urgently needed for our nation to prosper, which would in turn lead to fewer people in poverty and improved quality of life (as captured by the UN human development index).

I can only imagine that those more vulnerable and without the benefit of private security, electric fences and agency have even more reason to be fearful, but also an even more pressing need to be hopeful.

Greg Becker

Via Business Day online

New challenge for fast-food sector as wage rules shift

The bargaining council system in South Africa has always been a retardant for job creation. Small fast-food restaurants, and indeed the catering and allied trades in general, are known not to be the most lucrative businesses in any environment.

The industry attracts those who do not have enormous capital to start businesses nor extensive training behind them. The industry is conducive to employing those who are willing to work hard and receive small salaries. This is precisely the industry that is needed in South Africa right now given that we have an unemployment rate that is the second worst in the world.

Employment & labour minister Nomakhosazana Meth has, in her deficient wisdom, decided to extend the bargaining council in the fast-food industry to non-parties. In other words, emergent and small businesses in this industry will now have to comply with prescribed wages that are far higher than the national minimum wage of R30.23 an hour.

Furthermore, owners will have to contribute 5% towards the council’s provident fund, and there will be all sorts of other expenses, making small businesses in the industry completely unprofitable. The minister often says people can apply for exemptions, but that process is tedious and exemptions are invariably not granted.

Industry body the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa has taken up the fight on behalf of small employers. Literally thousands of jobs depend on it succeeding.

Michael Bagraim, MP

DA employment & labour spokesperson

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businessday.co.za. Letters of more than 200 words may be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.

]]>James Talarico via X<![CDATA[CHRIS THURMAN | Joburg’s future rests on more than its politicians]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/2026-11-06-chris-thurman-joburgs-future-rests-on-more-than-its-politicians/https://www.businessday.co.za/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/2026-11-06-chris-thurman-joburgs-future-rests-on-more-than-its-politicians/Fri, 06 Nov 2026 03:00:00 +0000As I write these words, Joburgers are joining their compatriots in going to the polls for the local government elections. The results will be significant for metros and municipalities around the country, but Johannesburg has become the major “national” story — both as a broad electoral barometer and because South Africa’s most important city is in desperate need of a governance turnaround.

By the time you read this, the counting may not have concluded, but the political horse-trading will already be under way. Some kind of coalition seems inevitable. Hopefully it will be stable and functional. Hopefully a capable mayor will be agreed on. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a better chapter.

But the residents of Jozi can’t depend on that. So they will wake this weekend and go about their business as usual. Someone in Alex will get up at 5am to prepare for the breakfast shift at a restaurant in Rosebank or Sandton. Someone who lives in the suburbs between those two hubs of affluence will rise at the same time to go and ride a very expensive bike in Muldersdrift. Someone from Muldersdrift will head to Alex to do volunteer work.

And so the great collective generator of Johannesburg energy, the cycle of labour and leisure, of earning and spending, with some generosity of spirit thrown into the mix, will continue alongside (and preferably not in spite of) what happens at local government level.

While the city’s common narrative is one of decline and decay, there are well-financed initiatives resisting that description. Jozi My Jozi is driving it in the CBD. And a development like Nine Yards in Parktown North is doing it for the well-to-do.

I have visited Nine Yards a few times since it opened in May, observing how the vision of creating a “town square” that is also a green space and a high-end design quarter has drawn denizens in growing numbers. I was there most recently to check out the showroom of furniture maker Houtlander, which has collaborated with the First Light Project to support the Hope for the Blind eye clinic.

First, Houtlander employed 50 artisans in producing solid-oak pieces to furnish a break room for staff at Hope for the Blind’s premises in Modimolle. Now, it is exhibiting a selection of works by Bambo Sibiya, Heidi Fourie and Johan Stegmann.

Money raised from sales will go towards enabling cataract surgery for patients in rural communities across Limpopo. It turns out that Sibiya’s grandmother was a recent beneficiary of this sight-restoring operation — and the image to which she opened her eyes was one of her grandson’s distinctive charcoal and acrylic creations.

Stegmann is the head curator of First Light, and the culmination of his partnership with Houtlander in this travelling exhibition caps a productive few months for the artist. Soon after launching The Gardener of Eden (a group show with Vusi Beauchamp and Peter Mammes at Lizamore & Associates) and opening his studio for the Contra.Joburg fair at the end of August, he left for Washington DC to take on the transnational alliance of Maga and the vocal “white genocide” Afrikaner fringe.

While Ernst Roets and company were planting white crosses on the National Mall, Stegmann was curating We Are The Good Guys at a Presbyterian church a few blocks away. This exhibition of 18 artists presented an alternative view of white Afrikaans identity in defiance of the charlatans who twist farm murder statistics, selling separatist dreams to the fearful and gullible.

In his linocuts and monotype prints, Stegmann has explored this identity with the same combination of ironic self-satire and sincere conviction suggested by the title of the Washington show. It is a line of enquiry interwoven with another key strand in his work: a reconsideration of Johannesburg’s aesthetics through the playful mashup of rural and urban iconography. Think of a Pierneef tree embedded in the faultlines of a fractured Lilian Ngoyi Street, or — as in The Gardener of Eden — a world of post-apocalyptic potholes where dystopian explosions merge with arboreal utopian possibility.

Notwithstanding the imaginative appeal of these scenes, perhaps we should just fix the infrastructure.

  • First Light x Houtlander is at Nine Yards (167 Jan Smuts Avenue) until January.

Business Day

]]>Johan Stegmann<![CDATA[Private sector activity dips again as job cuts surge in SA]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/economy/2026-11-06-private-sector-activity-dips-again-as-job-cuts-surge-in-sa/https://www.businessday.co.za/economy/2026-11-06-private-sector-activity-dips-again-as-job-cuts-surge-in-sa/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 15:11:32 +0000South African businesses reported a second successive monthly fall in activity in October, as weak demand, rising fuel costs and shipping delays continued to weigh on the private sector, according to S&P Global’s October purchasing managers’ index.

The index recorded 49 for the second consecutive month, its joint-lowest so far in 2026, with four of the five subcomponents making negative contributions, including faster downturns in output and staffing levels.

Readings above 50 signal an improvement in business conditions compared with the previous month, while readings below 50 indicate a deterioration.

Firms cut jobs at the sharpest rate in six years, while business confidence sank to a level last seen in mid-2020, S&P Global said. Higher fuel prices drove a quicker rise in purchase costs, and companies also attributed a dip in business activity to weak customer demand as well as port and shipping disruptions.

Aside from the softer business activity, new orders also decreased, with companies surveyed frequently citing weak client purchasing power, compounded by fuel costs linked to the Middle East conflict and broader economic uncertainty. Purchase price inflation quickened to the highest since June, while wage costs rose slightly faster than in September.

Businesses often passed higher costs on to customers, leading to a solid increase in output charges that was the quickest in four months. Construction firms bucked the trend, however, cutting prices for the first time in a year.

Read: Manufacturing conditions slightly better in October but demand still subdued

“Perhaps the most concerning signal from the latest survey was a sharp drop in business confidence,” said S&P Global Market Intelligence principal economist David Owen.

“Expectations for activity over the next 12 months fell to their lowest since August 2020, with firms suggesting the current economic and geopolitical environment had led to a reassessment of long-term risk.

“At the same time, businesses cut staff numbers at the fastest rate in six years. With backlogs declining and confidence at a multiyear low, it appears that job-shedding may continue into the final months of the year unless demand conditions improve noticeably.”

Business expectations for the coming year deteriorated markedly in October, sinking to the lowest since August 2020. Though firms still anticipated growth on average, supported by positive new business projections, sentiment softened in all sectors, with construction firms forecasting a fall in output for the first time in a year.

The report pointed to a drop in employment for the third successive month in October, with the rate of job-shedding the sharpest in six years. Firms cited redundancies, dismissals and voluntary leavers, but weaker demand meant that backlogs of work decreased marginally.

Supply chain pressures persisted, though suppliers’ delivery times lengthened at a softer pace than in September, when delays were the most severe for 31 months. Companies again cited logjams at the Port of Durban, alongside global shipping delays, raw material shortages and reduced transport capacity. Industrial firms faced the most severe delays.

Earlier this week, a parallel survey of manufacturing purchasing managers sponsored by Absa and compiled by the Bureau for Economic Research showed that conditions for the sector improved slightly in October as production and new sales orders clawed back further ground from August lows, though underlying demand remained subdued.

Business Day

]]>Reuters/Shiraaz Mohamed<![CDATA[National Treasury adjusts primary surplus estimate slightly lower after GDP rebasing]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/economy/2026-11-05-national-treasury-adjusts-primary-surplus-estimate-slightly-lower-after-gdp-rebasing/https://www.businessday.co.za/economy/2026-11-05-national-treasury-adjusts-primary-surplus-estimate-slightly-lower-after-gdp-rebasing/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 11:15:07 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

The National Treasury has adjusted some fiscal targets announced in its medium term budget last month after the recent rebasing and benchmarking of GDP, with the primary surplus for 2026/27 now expected to be 10 basis points lower while debt to GDP is now estimated to have peaked at a lesser ratio in 2025/2026.

The Treasury’s adjustments, announced on Thursday, come after Statistics South Africa’s rebasing showed the size of the economy was 5.3% bigger at R8.044-trillion in 2025 compared with the previously stated R7.642-trillion for the year, with the contribution of four industries rising while manufacturing extended its decades-long decline.

Based on Stats SA’s updated numbers, the Treasury now sees the primary surplus — the positive net difference between revenue and non-interest expenditure — at 1.6% in 2026/27, slightly down from the 1.7% forecast in the medium term budget policy statement (MTBPS) tabled by finance minister Enoch Godongwana on October 21. It is expected to rise to 2.8% by 2029/30 (previously 2.9%).

The 2026/27 main budget deficit — the negative difference between total revenue and total expenditure — has been tweaked to 3.5% of GDP from 3.7%, while the debt to GDP ratio is now estimated to have peaked at 74.6% in 2025/26, down 3.8 percentage points from the 78.4% stated in the MTBPS. In the Treasury’s recalculations, the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio falls below 70% by 2032/33, a year earlier than previously forecast.

The updated ratios are simply a mechanical revision based on Stats SA’s new data, all else being equal, the Treasury said, stressing it had not revised the assumptions used in its MTBPS estimates, or changed revenue, spending or debt estimates.

“Our updated calculations confirm the government continues to achieve its fiscal targets, with the fiscal metrics looking even better than we had projected based on Statistics South Africa’s revised GDP data,” Treasury director-general Duncan Pieterse said.

“We are restoring fiscal credibility and South Africa is seeing the benefits in lower borrowing costs and a stronger foundation for investment and growth.”

Stats SA’s rebasing of GDP to 2022 from 2015 — in line with international best practice of periodically updating national accounts to reflect current conditions — revised the size of the economy for the new base year up 4.9% to R6.99-trillion from the previously stated R6.667-trillion.

The largest change occurred in the mining industry — whose size was raised by 12.5% due to the inclusion and better coverage of illegal mining — while the second biggest adjustment of 9.1% was in finance, real estate and business services, primarily because of improved methodology for compiling owner-occupied housing estimates in real estate activities.

Finance, real estate and business services remains the largest contributor to South Africa’s economy among the 10 industries measured, with its contribution to GDP edging up to 21.8%. The troubled manufacturing sector has retreated further, with its contribution easing to 11.9% from 12.4%, making it the fourth largest GDP industry, down from third before the rebasing.

Business Day

]]>FREDDY MAVUNDA<![CDATA[Gold Fields sees full-year production at upper end of guidance ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/company-strategy/2026-11-05-gold-fields-sees-full-year-production-at-upper-end-of-guidance/https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/company-strategy/2026-11-05-gold-fields-sees-full-year-production-at-upper-end-of-guidance/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 07:30:07 +0000Gold Fields has reported slightly lower production for the third quarter, but still expects full-year output to be at the upper end of its guidance even as costs rose by a quarter from a year ago.

The group said on Thursday that gold production declined 3% to 605,000oz in the quarter ended September, while all-in sustaining costs (AISC) were 26% higher than a year ago at $1,965/oz.

CEO Mike Fraser said Salares Norte (Chile) performed strongly in the quarter, producing 136,000oz at an all-in sustaining cost of $437/oz, while Gruyere, St Ives (both in Australia), Tarkwa (Ghana), South Deep (South Africa) and Cerro Corona (Peru) all delivered quarter-on-quarter production increases.

This was partially offset by planned lower production at Salares Norte and lower grades at Agnew in Western Australia.

“The group remains on track to deliver on the upper end of full-year production guidance, supported by a stronger fourth quarter expected, as a result of higher grades planned at St Ives and further improved performance at Gruyere, Tarkwa and Salares Norte,” Fraser said.

The group’s full-year production guidance is for 2.4-million ounces to 2.6-million ounces of gold.

Group AISC of $1,965/oz was in line with the June quarter, but 26% higher than the corresponding quarter in 2025. Gold Fields said this was due to external factors, including higher gold-price-linked royalties, stronger producer country currencies and higher input costs, together with lower year-on-year gold sales in the quarter.

Despite cost pressures mainly due to external factors, AISC and AIC are expected to be between $1,800/oz and $2,000/oz, and $2,075/oz and $2,300/oz, respectively, within its original guidance.

During the quarter, the group’s Windfall project received its certificate of authorisation, confirming completion of the environmental and social impact assessment process and providing authorisation to proceed to construction and full project development.

Windfall is one of the highest-grade gold projects in Canada and is expected to produce about 300,000oz of gold a year once ramped up. The project has the potential to become a cornerstone asset in the company’s portfolio.

Gold Fields will now progress the final investment decision for the project, subject to board approval, which is expected to be published by February 2027, with its 2026 provisional results.

It will also issue an updated construction schedule, the capital estimate for development of the project and the Windfall mineral resources and mineral reserves.

Gold Fields acquired the Windfall Project with its takeover of Toronto-listed Osisko Mining for C$2.16bn (R25.8bn) in 2024.

In September, the group’s A$38.7bn bid to acquire Northern Star Resources was rebutted by the Australian miner’s board, which said it was not appropriate to engage in further discussions at this time.

Gold Fields said at the time of making the approach to the Perth-based miner that it was in line with its strategy to improve the quality and value of its portfolio through investment in high-quality, long-life assets.

Fraser said while the group remains open to engagement, there can be no certainty that further engagement with Northern Star will occur, that the proposal will progress, or that a transaction will ultimately be concluded.

In October, Gold Fields entered into formal agreements with BHP to acquire the Kambalda Nickel Concentrator, surrounding tenements and mineralisation rights in the Goldfields region of Western Australia.

“Given our long-term commitment to the region, this strategic processing asset, its associated infrastructure and the prospective ground adjacent to St Ives are a natural fit for Gold Fields. The acquisition reflects our disciplined and innovative approach to improving the quality of our portfolio and is expected to be completed during 2027,” he said.

The group said it was still awaiting feedback from the Ghanaian government about the renewal of the Tarkwa mining leases.

In November last year, it submitted an early application for the renewal of the five Tarkwa mining leases, which expire in April 2027. In July the group submitted a comprehensive commercial proposal to the government of Ghana to support the lease renewals and the long-term sustainability of the mine.

“While we continue to seek engagement with the government, we are still awaiting feedback on our proposal and have no confirmed timeframe for this response or any further negotiations,” Fraser said.

“Additionally, we continue to experience increased levels of regulatory activity at Tarkwa. With less than six months remaining on the term of the leases, significant uncertainty remains as to the timing, outcome and terms of any renewal. We continue to consider all options available to us with respect to the renewals, including the exercise of our legal rights under the leases, our Development Agreement and at law,” he said.

Business Day

]]>Supplied<![CDATA[NEWS ANALYSIS | Fragmented vote sets stage for tense coalition talks]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-05-news-analysis-fragmented-vote-sets-stage-for-tense-coalition-talks/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-05-news-analysis-fragmented-vote-sets-stage-for-tense-coalition-talks/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 14:38:25 +0000The rapid decline of the once-dominant ANC creates both opportunity and uncertainty. The opportunity is for other parties to win its voters and occupy the political vacuum its descent creates. The uncertainty is caused by the fact that the ANC is not being replaced by any one new dominant party. Instead, there is fragmentation.

Hence, the 2026 local government election (LGE) will be defined not by who “wins” ― since there will be a precious few outright winners, certainly in the bigger metropolitan areas – but by what emerges from the no-doubt fraught 14-day period of negotiation that will commence on Monday after the declaration of the results on Sunday.

Accordingly, a party such as the DA may win at the ballot box but lose at the negotiating table.

Pretty much everyone in politics agrees that the legally prescribed 14-day window is far too tight. But, because of other more contentious issues ― such as thresholds for representation ― it was not possible to pass legislation in time for yesterday’s election.

The pressure on the negotiating teams of the various protagonists will be intense ― even more so than in the fetid weeks after the 2024 national and provincial election since this time there are so many more governments to form and, therefore, so many more deals to be done.

At a time of exhaustion after weeks of intense campaigning, those leaders will have to maintain their composure and their clarity of mind about what constitutes a reasonable redline issue upon which to found their negotiating tactics.

They will have to constantly remind themselves to keep their eye on the ball and to ask themselves the right overarching question, which is not “who do I like or dislike?” or “who would I prefer to get into bed with?” but rather, “who will provide me with the most stable and reliable partner in government?”

This will require both focus and a recognition that South Africa’s electorate appears to have voted for change. Not only is turnout up on the last LGE in 2021, but the apparent shift in support between parties ― and especially away from the ANC ― indicates that residents want different and better municipal governments.

This is not surprising at all given the parlous state of local governance across South Africa, meaning, in turn, that the exam question for this election is “will coalition governments be formed that are sufficiently stable to have a chance at executing a turnaround?”

The greater fragmentation means that there will be more kingmakers or wannabe kingmakers in the mix. Bigger parties will be understandably wary of them. The experience of the past decade shows that too often the tiny tail has wagged the bigger dogs and not to the benefit of residents and businesses.

Those trying to run businesses in Nelson Mandela Bay, for instance, have been pulling their hair out for much of the past decade since the ANC first lost its majority at the 2016 LGE. They yearn for stability and for a reliable government to engage with. Again, however, the electorate has opted against giving any party a majority in the City Hall and a new cycle of stalemate beckons.

Unless, that is, the grand coalition that lies at the heart of the government of national unity (GNU) ― the alliance between the ANC and the DA, adorned admittedly with a sprinkling of smaller parties ― can be transposed to the local government sphere. A government of local unity could be the answer or at the start of providing the answer that citizens and the economy need. But this will require the same kind of leadership that was shown in 2024 ― to overcome historical and personality-based differences, which tend to be even more pronounced at provincial and local level ― to put the country first. Whether the ANC’s national leadership is willing to exert such a mature approach when it will be once again having to digest another major electoral setback is another question altogether.

  • Calland is visiting adjunct professor at the WITS School of Governance and Partner of the Paternoster Group, which has established a City Risk Monitor that roots its political analysis of the LGE in the economic risk profile of municipalities in South Africa
]]>Thapelo Morebudi<![CDATA[Northern Cape leads election results capture as IEC says more than 60% processed ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-05-northern-cape-leads-election-results-capture-as-iec-says-more-than-60-processed/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-05-northern-cape-leads-election-results-capture-as-iec-says-more-than-60-processed/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:37:13 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

The Northern Cape is leading the capturing of results in the 2026 local government elections with 87% of results captured as the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) continues its counting, verification and auditing processes countrywide.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission was pleased with the steady progress being made with more than 60% of the 66,073 results captured by 5pm.

Providing a provincial breakdown on vote counting, verification and results, Mamabolo said the Western Cape was in second place with 69% followed by the Eastern Cape at 60% and the Free State at 64%.

Mpumalanga had captured 52% of its results while KwaZulu-Natal stood at 37%.

The North West and Gauteng were both at 35% while Limpopo was trailing at 23%.

“The electoral commission is pleased to report that the capturing and verification of election results are progressing steadily across the country,” he said.

Mamabolo said the commission salutes the thousands of men and women who are pulling out all the stops to ensure the finalisation of the capturing and auditing of results.

By 5pm more than 60% of the 66,073 results had been captured.

“The commission further reports that about 40,202 results slips have been scanned while 32,238 have undergone independent auditing as part of the verification and quality assurance processes,” he said.

Mamabolo said the measures were intended to ensure the accuracy, transparency and integrity of the results before they were finalised.

At municipal level, 65 of the country’s 213 municipalities, representing 31%, had completed the capturing, scanning and auditing processes.

The Northern Cape was leading in municipal completion with 21 of its 26 municipalities completed, representing 81%.

The Western Cape followed with 14 of 25 municipalities completed (56%) while the Free State had completed seven of its 19 municipalities (37%).

In the Eastern Cape, nine of the 33 municipalities had completed the process (27%), compared with five of 17 in Mpumalanga (29%).

KwaZulu-Natal had completed six of its 44 municipalities (14%), the North West two of 18 (11%) and Limpopo one of 22 (5%).

Gauteng was the only province yet to complete the process in any municipality with none of its nine municipalities having reached completion at the time of the briefing.

Mamabolo cautioned that the figures remained provisional until objections material to an election had been finalised.

“The commission remains committed to finalising the results as expeditiously as possible while ensuring that all prescribed verification and quality assurance processes are rigorously followed to safeguard the accuracy, transparency and integrity of the results.

“It is anticipated that the results collation process will be concluded by the weekend. The commission therefore urges political parties, independent candidates, the media and members of the public to exercise caution when interpreting partial results and to rely on officially verified results published by the commission,” he said.

TimesLIVE

]]>Freddy<![CDATA[Wall Street fear gauge surges as AI trade stumbles]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/markets/2026-11-05-us-stocks-fall-sharply-as-nasdaq-heads-for-correction/https://www.businessday.co.za/markets/2026-11-05-us-stocks-fall-sharply-as-nasdaq-heads-for-correction/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 16:05:48 +0000By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed

New York — Wall Street’s most closely watched gauge of market anxiety logged its biggest intraday jump in more than 18 months on Thursday as steep losses in chip and data center-related stocks dragged down major stock indices.

Analysts said much of the selling may reflect an unwind of the previous session’s sharp rally and of the crowded AI trade that has driven markets for months, as well as investors cutting risk ahead of expected volatility-driven selling by funds and strategies.

“It really did look as though things were going to relax a little bit and then, you know, the steamroller showed up today,” said Jim Carroll, senior wealth adviser and portfolio manager at Ballast Rock Private Wealth in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Cboe Volatility Index, also known as VIX, an options-based indicator that reflects demand for protection against drops in the stock market, jumped 11.5 points to an eight-month high of 28.09, a day after markets rallied following Democrats’ sweeping midterm victory.

The index was last at 27.65, with the Nasdaq Composite down over 4% as investors fretted that a change of guard in Washington might slow the pace of AI infrastructure development.

By midday in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 1,403.66 points, or 2.63%, to 51,952.46, the S&P 500 lost 262.17 points, or 3.41%, to 7,426.41 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1,173.62 points, or 4.55%, to 24,564.36.

All S&P 500 sectors were in negative territory, with the tech sector and consumer discretionary leading losses.

The Nasdaq-100 was set to erase more than $2-trillion in market value, if the losses hold.

At its session high, the VIX, often dubbed Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, had logged its largest one-day rise since the days immediately after US President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new import tariffs on “Liberation Day” in April 2025.

Sharp contrast

Thursday’s stock market selloff was in sharp contrast to the upbeat market reaction the day before, when investors largely brushed aside the perceived threat to the AI trade from the Democrats’ strong showing in the election.

“This is what happens when you have a big rally partly predicated on the idea that volatility would be decreasing ... it made no sense yesterday,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.

“Yesterday there was the perception that no one needed protection and now it’s ‘Oh my god, we need it’,” he added.

Analysts attributed some of the market decline to investors looking to get ahead of selling from strategies that react to stock market volatility.

Leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds, along with some systematic strategies, typically rebalance their exposure near the market close, which can amplify late-day moves in either direction.

“You have people saying ... look at what’s going to happen at the end of the day; we need to get out before that,” Carroll said.

Much now depends on whether investors’ attitude towards the AI trade undergoes a lasting change, analysts said.

“If the re-evaluation of the AI investment theme is secular and not just a trading type of rebalance, that’s problematic,” said Sosnick.

Reuters

]]>Shannon Stapleton<![CDATA[GLEB TSIPURSKY | SA’s AI policy needs workers who can catch its mistakes ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-05-gleb-tsipursky-sas-ai-policy-needs-workers-who-can-catch-its-mistakes/https://www.businessday.co.za/opinion/2026-11-05-gleb-tsipursky-sas-ai-policy-needs-workers-who-can-catch-its-mistakes/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 19:09:15 +0000The most revealing part of South Africa’s AI-policy embarrassment was not that a computer apparently invented references. It was that fictitious sources survived long enough to appear in a draft approved for public consultation.

In April, communications & digital technologies minister Solly Malatsi withdrew the policy after an internal inquiry confirmed the problem. The question now is who should have checked those sources, with what evidence and what authority, to stop publication. That question matters far beyond one department.

A revised policy is taking shape. At an industry event on October 21, a senior official said it was likely to reach the cabinet in March 2027. The extra time creates an opportunity to set a more demanding standard for government and business: demonstrate that workers can find and correct AI errors before those errors become decisions affecting citizens, customers or employees.

Business Day has already called for human oversight. Quite right. But the phrase can conceal a weak process. An official may be instructed to check an AI-generated briefing without being given access to the underlying evidence, enough time to investigate, or permission to challenge a senior colleague’s preferred conclusion. That is oversight on paper. Organisations need a way to establish whether a real person could catch a plausible mistake under ordinary working conditions.

Consider a junior analyst asked to summarise evidence for a municipal procurement decision. An AI tool produces a polished paragraph with three citations. One paper does not exist, another discusses a different country, and the third supports a narrower claim than the summary suggests. A supervisor who simply reads for fluency might approve it. The US National Institute of Standards & Technology describes precisely this risk: generative systems can confidently produce false information and misleading citations. The problem is amplified when an answer looks ready for an official signature.

Here is a more useful test. Give an employee the draft, the relevant source materials and a deadline resembling the actual job. Ask the employee to locate the original publication for every consequential claim; check that its authors, date and findings match the summary; flag uncertainty; and record what was corrected or escalated. Seed some practice documents with known mistakes. An exercise where every citation is genuine teaches less than one where the employee must decide which claims can survive scrutiny.

Supervisors should explain why a proposed correction was accepted or rejected. Junior staff then learn to separate a broken link from an invented study, a genuine source from an inaccurate paraphrase, and an acceptable estimate from an unsupported assertion. They also learn to say, “I cannot verify this”, even when a fluent answer appears convincing. Certification for completing an introductory AI course gives an employer little evidence of such judgment.

This is particularly important in a country struggling to create pathways into skilled work. Stats SA reported 47.4% unemployment among people aged 15-34 in the second quarter of 2026. The International Labour Organisation’s 2026 review of workplace evidence also warned about the erosion of opportunities for younger workers as tasks change. If entry-level research, checking and drafting disappear from job descriptions, employers may inadvertently remove the very tasks through which inexperienced workers acquire professional judgment.

A practical response is a supervised error detection apprenticeship built into real workflows. Public departments, banks, insurers, professional firms and customer-service operations could allocate protected time for newcomers to review AI-assisted work, compare it with trusted records and discuss difficult cases with experienced colleagues.

The trainee would start with low-stakes material, then progress to more consequential documents as performance improves. Unesco’s AI competency framework places critical judgment alongside technical understanding. That is a sensible starting point for workplace training as well.

Performance should be assessed through tasks rather than attendance. Can a trainee find a fabricated source? Detect that a real regulation was quoted out of context? Identify a figure whose date makes it unsuitable for a current decision? Explain the correction in language a nonspecialist manager can understand? A worker who merely clicks “reviewed” has demonstrated none of these abilities. The assessment should record mistakes found and genuine material wrongly rejected, so employees are rewarded for accuracy rather than indiscriminate suspicion.

Then publish meaningful correction metrics, at least in aggregate if confidentiality matters. A department could disclose how many consequential AI-assisted documents were sampled, the proportion with material errors, how many errors reached decision-makers, and how long corrections took. A company could track the same measures internally and publish appropriate summaries for customers or regulators. Assign a named accountable role to each workflow and a route for stopping a document when serious doubts remain. An unmeasured instruction to “keep a human in the loop” cannot tell the public whether safeguards are improving.

Useful precedents

There are useful precedents. The UK’s Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard requires specified public bodies to publish records for certain algorithmic tools affecting public decisions. South Africa need not copy that system wholesale. It could borrow the discipline of naming the tool, the responsible owner, its role in decisions and the evidence used to evaluate it. The local policy should go further by asking whether human reviewers actually detect failures when tested.

Existing South African law gives this argument practical weight. Section 71 of the Protection of Personal Information Act places limits, subject to exceptions and safeguards, on certain decisions based solely on automated profiling that substantially affect people. Human involvement should therefore be substantive where it is required, rather than a ceremonial click after the system has effectively decided. In a disputed credit, employment or service decision, an accountable employee needs a defensible record of the evidence and reasoning.

The revised policy should require pilots of these checks in selected public services, with published methods and results, before declaring the approach successful. Procurement contracts should provide access to source records and audit trails. Managers should be evaluated on correction quality as well as turnaround time. Businesses can begin testing their own workflows now, without waiting for cabinet. For AI adoption at work, the most valuable investment may be giving employees the time, tools and authority to disagree with a machine.

South Africa has already paid a reputational price for a document that nobody checked adequately. Another policy filled with worthy promises about skills would repeat the mistake in a different form. The credible test is straightforward: put a convincing but flawed AI answer in front of a trained worker, and see whether the error is stopped before the answer becomes somebody else’s problem.

• Dr Tsipursky, a behavioural scientist, is CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts and author of ‘The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work: From Resistance to Results’.

Business Day

]]>Brandan Reynolds<![CDATA[JSE jumps as miners rally on weaker dollar and oil]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/markets/2026-11-05-jse-jumps-as-miners-rally-on-weaker-dollar-and-oil/https://www.businessday.co.za/markets/2026-11-05-jse-jumps-as-miners-rally-on-weaker-dollar-and-oil/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:53:33 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

The JSE rallied on Thursday as hopes of an earlier end to the war with Iran lifted precious metals prices and sent oil lower, with investors linking those prospects to the Democrats’ victory in the US midterm elections.

The local market was catching up with two days of international developments after being closed on Wednesday for local government elections.

While South Africans had also taken to the polls this week, the movements in local financial markets were largely driven by global factors, particularly the US election.

At the close of trade, the all-share index was up 3.67%, after reaching an intraday gain of 5%, while the Top 40 added 3.99%. The resources index was 2.78% higher, with the precious metals and mining index gaining 4.27%.

“Our market is essentially pricing in two days of news into one session,” said Shaun Murison, senior market analyst at Rand Swiss. “The US election is what we’ve reacted to primarily, the Democrat win.”

Democrats won control of both chambers of the US Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, ending Republican majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate. The result means President Donald Trump will have to work with a Democrat-controlled Congress from January 2027.

Investors have interpreted the election result as increasing the likelihood of political pressure on the Trump administration to end the war with Iran sooner. The conflict has disrupted oil supplies and pushed up energy prices, making the prospect of easing tensions important for inflation and financial markets.

Murison said oil prices had fallen sharply on hopes that the war could end sooner, easing inflation concerns. A weaker dollar and lower US yields had also improved risk sentiment.

Brent crude fell to about $96.71 a barrel on Thursday, from near $118 last week.

Anabel Bishop, chief economist at Investec, said the weaker dollar and reduced demand for safe-haven assets had also supported the rand, which strengthened to R16.36/$ from R16.74/$ last month.

At 7.07pm on Thursday, the rand had weakened 0.2% to R16.45/$.

Bishop said lower oil and fuel prices could ease inflation and reduce expectations of further US interest rate increases.

“Energy prices are likely to remain lower towards the end of 2026 and into 2027, despite some volatility,” she said.

AngloGold Ashanti gained 3.56%, Gold Fields 3.25%, and Harmony was up as much as 6.4%, while Northam Platinum added 5.56%.

Business Day

]]>Evan Vucci<![CDATA[DA leads Western Cape as coalitions loom in councils]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-05-da-leads-western-cape-as-coalitions-loom-in-councils/https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-05-da-leads-western-cape-as-coalitions-loom-in-councils/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:28:33 +0000The DA is maintaining its dominance across much of the Western Cape, but early results from the 2026 local government elections point to a number of closely contested municipal councils where no party has secured an outright majority.

With 50% of the province’s 1,623 voting districts counted, the DA had secured 53.4% of the provincial vote, followed by the ANC on 14%, the PA on 11.1% and the Freedom Front Plus on 5.4%.

The EFF had 2.2%, while ActionSA had 1.1%. Several smaller parties were also registering support across individual municipalities.

Of the 25 municipalities in the province, 10 had completed counting in the available results snapshot. Only one, Swartland, had an outright majority, with the remaining nine producing hung councils.

The DA was leading in most municipalities, though its performance varied considerably across the province.

In the City of Cape Town, the DA was ahead with 60.4% of the vote, with about a quarter of voting districts counted. The results suggest the party is on course to retain control of the country’s second-largest metropolitan municipality.

The DA was also performing strongly in Drakenstein, where it had 57.3% with 85% of voting districts counted, and Stellenbosch, where it was at 61.3% with 66% counted.

In Mossel Bay, the party was leading with 67.1% after 89% of voting districts had been counted. It also held a substantial lead in Bergrivier, with 63.4% and 95% counted, and Swartland, where it had 60.7% of the vote and had secured an outright majority.

However, the results from several other municipalities suggest that the DA could face coalition negotiations despite emerging as the largest party.

In Saldanha Bay, the DA was leading with 49.1% after all voting districts had been counted, leaving it short of an outright majority. The party had 45.6% in Cape Agulhas, 42% in Matzikama and 40.8% in Witzenberg, with all three municipalities showing completed counts.

Read: NEWS ANALYSIS | Fragmented vote sets stage for tense coalition talks

The results in Oudtshoorn also pointed to a competitive council, with the DA leading on 37.8% after all voting districts had been counted.

The PA was making inroads in some smaller municipalities. In Prince Albert, the party was leading with 49% of the vote after all districts had been counted, putting it in a strong position but short of an outright majority.

In Kannaland, Icosa was ahead with 27.1%, while ActionSA was leading in Laingsburg with 26.6%. Both municipalities had completed counting but neither party had secured an outright majority.

The DA was also leading in Knysna with 42.7% after 80% of voting districts had been counted, and in Langeberg with 38.3% after 80% had been counted.

In Beaufort West, the ANC was ahead with 24.8% after 87% of voting districts had been counted, while the DA remained the leading party in Cederberg, Hessequa, Bitou, Breede Valley, George, Overstrand and Theewaterskloof.

The results underline the increasingly fragmented political landscape in parts of the province, where smaller parties and independent civic organisations could hold the balance of power in councils.

Though the DA remains comfortably ahead in the provincial aggregate, the results in municipalities such as Prince Albert, Kannaland, Laingsburg, Oudtshoorn and Saldanha Bay suggest that the party will have to negotiate with other political formations to secure governing majorities.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is expected to announce the final results once counting, verification and the objections process have been completed.

Business Day

]]>Mukovhe Mulidzwi<![CDATA[Musk has little to show for his huge spending on support for Republicans ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-05-musk-has-little-to-show-for-his-huge-spending-on-support-for-republicans/https://www.businessday.co.za/world/2026-11-05-musk-has-little-to-show-for-his-huge-spending-on-support-for-republicans/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 12:05:19 +0000Elon Musk spent nearly half-a-billion dollars (R8.19bn) on the US midterm elections but the record expenditure yielded little for the world’s richest man and leader of SpaceX and Tesla.

Just three of the 37 Republicans Musk backed for the House of Representatives won on Tuesday night, compared with 33 who lost. The remaining seven races had not been called by late Wednesday, though Democrats are running ahead in tallies so far.

Of the seven Senate Republican candidates Musk backed, six lost and one race hangs in the balance. In that last race, Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola is narrowly ahead with 77% of votes counted.

In Texas, where SpaceX and Tesla are headquartered and where Musk plans a chipmaking venture, Musk also came up empty after spending almost $230m on the Senate contest, $5m on the governor’s race and $500,000 on the lieutenant governor vote.

“A lot of Democrats see him as the Mr Money Bags for their Republican opponents and that’s certainly going to colour how they’re going to treat him personally,” said David Hopkins, political science professor at Boston College.

“He’s particularly at risk because he’s been part of the Trump administration and his companies have direct government involvement.”

Shares of SpaceX and Tesla fell 3.9% and 3.3% respectively on Wednesday on investor concerns that a Democratic-controlled Congress would tighten scrutiny of Musk’s Starlink satellite service and his AI data centre projects.

We’ve just sent a message to every millionaire mega donor, to every trillionaire mega donor, every corrupt defender of this broken political system. In this state, in this country, power belongs to the people

James Talarico, US Senator-elect

Musk’s outsized donations, which helped drive spending in this election cycle to a new record, have provoked the ire of Democrats who have said investigations into Musk and his businesses topped their agenda. With their newfound power, Democrats say they are adding campaign finance reform to their wish list.

Musk spent $445m on federal races alone, according to nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets. The full extent of his money’s reach may never be known. He spent tens of millions more through dark-money nonprofit groups — which disclose less about their donors than political action committees — a person familiar with his campaign spending said, and millions more on state and local elections that do not have uniform disclosure rules, local media outlets have reported.

Musk’s political action committee, America PAC, and his attorney Alex Spiro did not respond to requests for comment.

Spending in recent elections has surged with the rise of super PACs, which can take unlimited donations from wealthy individuals and corporations and spend on campaigns with few restrictions.

Political advertising tracker AdImpact said the Texas Senate contest was the most expensive US non-presidential race ever, with roughly $573.2m in total spending.

“We’ve just sent a message to every millionaire mega donor, to every trillionaire mega donor, every corrupt defender of this broken political system. In this state, in this country, power belongs to the people,” US senator-elect James Talarico said in his acceptance speech late on Tuesday in Austin, Texas.

The Democrat, whom Musk targeted with $153.5m worth of attack ads, compared himself and Musk to the biblical David and Goliath, saying: “Tonight we beat Goliath.”

Democratic candidates significantly outraised Republicans with small-dollar donations, making Republicans more dependent on wealthy donors. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg donated $80m to Democrats in the last weeks of the race.

Incoming Texas governor Gina Hinojosa, who beat Republican governor Greg Abbott, indicated this year that she would challenge Musk’s close relationship with the state if elected.

“Abbott gave control of our Boca Chica Beach to the highest bidder. That beach is our inheritance,” she said. SpaceX launches rockets from Boca Chica Beach in south Texas.

Hinojosa has sued Abbott’s office for access to unredacted emails involving Musk and his companies. Abbott is appealing, according to Houston Public Media.

“This lawsuit is a baseless stunt and nothing more than an act of desperation,” Abbott’s press secretary Andrew Mahaleris said on X.

Musk will face other battles in Washington.

The incoming chair of the House committee on oversight and government reform, US representative Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, plans to introduce legislation closing the “Musk loophole”, referring to a provision in campaign finance law that allows individual executives to spend unlimited personal money on political campaigns, even though their companies are banned from doing so.

Democrats are expected to open a flurry of congressional investigations scrutinising Musk’s companies, their contracts, his work running the department of government efficiency (Doge), involvement in Ukraine and contact with Russia.

Some inquiries have already begun. Democrats on House and Senate investigative committees wrote to SpaceX, the department of defence and the White House last month, looking into the company’s restriction of its Starlink satellite system in Ukraine during a critical time in its war against Russia. Others have questioned Musk on:

  • AI chatbot Grok’s dissemination of sexualised images of women and children;
  • conflicts of interest while he ran Doge; and
  • SpaceX’s federal contracts with Nasa and the defence department.

Early on Wednesday, as the election results became clear, Musk posted on X: “Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time.”

Reuters

]]>Evan Vucci<![CDATA[PPC's 'Awaken the Giant' plan drives earnings growth]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/earnings/2026-11-05-ppcs-awaken-the-giant-plan-drives-earnings-growth/https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/earnings/2026-11-05-ppcs-awaken-the-giant-plan-drives-earnings-growth/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 07:34:13 +0000Cement producer PPC expects its first-half earnings to rise by as much as 38% as it continues to reap the benefits of its turnaround strategy.

The group said on Thursday that for the six months to end-September it expects HEPS to be between 30c and 34.5c, compared with 25c a year ago — an increase of between 20% and 38%.

HEPS, after adjusting for realised and unrealised foreign exchange losses on forex contracts taken out to hedge US dollar exposure on the construction of RK3, the new integrated cement plant in the Western Cape, are seen between 35c and 40.5c from 30c a year ago.

The group said the US dollar exposure on the construction of RK3 was fully hedged to de-risk PPC’s balance sheet.

During the period the rand strengthened against the US dollar, and foreign exchange losses were incurred.

The group attributed the increase in earnings to the continued momentum of the “Awaken the Giant” turnaround, delivering increasingly tangible benefits to the group’s earnings.

The Awaken the Giant corporate turnaround and value-creation strategy was launched by CEO Matias Cardarelli in late 2023 at the 134-year-old Southern African cement, concrete and aggregates producer. The strategy focuses on:

  • Unlocking internal value;
  • Improving efficiency;
  • Lowering costs; and
  • Driving sustainable profitability.

PPC, which operates in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana, remains focused on improving efficiency as rising transport and energy costs pressure margins.

It said recently that despite a tough trading environment, private-sector projects and infrastructure work continue to support demand in South Africa. Government spending on infrastructure has started to improve in some regional markets, though projects are still being rolled out slowly.

It continued to advance the RK3 integrated plant project in the Western Cape, aimed at modernising its operations through:

  • Improved production efficiency;
  • Lower energy use; and
  • Reduced carbon emissions.

It expects to release its interim results on November 16.

Business Day

]]>PPC<![CDATA[DA declares early victory in Cape Town as Hill-Lewis predicts 58% of vote]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-05-da-declares-early-victory-in-cape-town-as-hill-lewis-predicts-58-of-vote/https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-11-05-da-declares-early-victory-in-cape-town-as-hill-lewis-predicts-58-of-vote/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 11:41:18 +0000The DA has declared an early victory in the City of Cape Town, with party leader and mayoral candidate Geordin Hill-Lewis projecting the party will secure about 58% of the vote in Wednesday’s local government elections.

Hill-Lewis made the announcement to party supporters outside the Western Cape results operation centre in Century City on Thursday, despite only about a quarter of the metro’s voting stations having been counted at the time.

The DA was leading with 52.7% of the vote in the preliminary results, strengthening its prospects of retaining its outright majority in the country’s second-largest metropolitan municipality.

“Based on our own collection of all the data from all the voting stations where you all worked late into last night, we can project our results in the City of Cape Town will be around 58% of the vote,” Hill-Lewis said.

The projected result would extend the DA’s more than two-decade control of the metro and potentially secure Hill-Lewis a second term as mayor.

The party’s confidence comes despite pre-election polling suggesting it could face a tougher contest to retain its majority, with some surveys placing its support below the 50% threshold.

Our mission is to get up every morning for the next five years and do everything in our power, every effort that we can, to improve the lives of every person in our city

Geordin Hill-Lewis, DA leader and Cape Town mayoral candidate

Hill-Lewis credited the party’s performance to growing support in townships, including Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Langa, Mfuleni and Delft, where the DA has traditionally struggled to attract significant numbers of voters.

“The results we are seeing this morning from across many of Cape Town’s townships are nothing short of extraordinary,” he said.

He pointed to ward 40 in Gugulethu, where the DA came within about 200 votes of winning, and ward 98 in Khayelitsha, where its support increased from about 200 votes in the previous election to 1,200 in Wednesday’s poll.

The mayor thanked residents who had voted for the party, and its campaign volunteers and supporters, particularly those who had worked at voting stations across the city.

Addressing the party’s supporters, Hill-Lewis said his first five years as mayor had been an honour and privilege and he looked forward to continuing to serve the city.

He said the DA would focus on economic growth, job creation and service delivery if returned to office.

“Our mission is to get up every morning for the next five years and do everything in our power, every effort that we can, to improve the lives of every person in our city,” he said.

We are working and have worked together as partners with one simple mission: to grow this Cape economy, to get more people into work

Geordin Hill-Lewis

Hill-Lewis committed to working with Western Cape premier Alan Winde to attract investment and create employment opportunities.

“We are working and have worked together as partners with one simple mission: to grow this Cape economy, to get more people into work,” he said.

He pledged to intensify efforts to address sewage spills, saying the city had reduced them by a third over the past five years.

Hill-Lewis described the projected result as an endorsement of the DA’s record in government, while acknowledging that significant challenges remained for residents across the metro.

He said Cape Town could emerge as the only major metropolitan municipality in the country with an outright majority government, as early results elsewhere pointed to the possibility of coalition administrations.

The DA has governed Cape Town since 2006, when it took control of the municipality after the local government elections.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa had not confirmed the final outcome of the election at the time of the DA’s announcement.

Business Day

]]>Democratic Alliance<![CDATA[Lesaka reaffirms guidance despite weak merchant unit]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-11-05-lesaka-reaffirms-guidance-despite-weak-merchant-unit/https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-11-05-lesaka-reaffirms-guidance-despite-weak-merchant-unit/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 12:28:25 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

Fintech group Lesaka Technologies continues to see growth in its enterprise and consumer businesses, though this was overshadowed by an ongoing decline in the merchant unit, its biggest earner.

The group said on Thursday that first-quarter revenue rose 0.6% year on year to R3.005bn while net revenue was up 8% to R1.58bn. Adjusted earnings came in at R60.26m, down 25%.

The group said performance for the three months ended September 2026 was “in line with our expectations”.

“We have met our profitability guidance for 17 consecutive quarters and I am pleased to reaffirm our full-year outlook, which at the midpoint represents adjusted EPS of R8.00, up 23% year on year,” said the company’s executive chair, Ali Mazanderani.

The company has, until recently, comprised of two divisions: a merchant unit and a consumer segment. The consumer unit focuses on products such as unsecured credit, transactional banking, micro-insurance and value-added services through the EasyPay platform. After the acquisition of prepaid electricity submetering and payments business Recharger, the group now has a third division: enterprise.

The merchant unit reported a 13% decline in revenue to R1.94bn, while net revenue was down 7% to R674.565m. Segment-adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) fell 51% to R76.87m.

The picture was more positive in the other two business units. Consumer revenue rose 24% to R668.31m, with segment-adjusted ebitda up 38% to R206.111m.

The enterprise unit reported 60% growth in revenue to R419.45m, while net revenue was up 19% to R262.65m. The segment-adjusted ebitda rose 28% to R28.572m.

Lincoln Mali, CEO, Lesaka Southern Africa, said, “I am pleased we have met our guidance and reaffirmed our full-year outlook. Consumer had another excellent quarter, with strong growth in active customers, the loan book and insurance policies. Enterprise also continued its encouraging trajectory, adding new partners to the platform and growing in both ADP and utilities.”

“Merchant is undergoing a restructure, and segment-adjusted ebitda was down primarily due to exceptional items and restructuring costs. As our new team and strategy take hold, we have already seen substantial improvements in the business. In quarter two, we expect merchant to exceed R130m segment-adjusted ebitda, [about] 70% up quarter on quarter.”

The Nasdaq- and JSE-listed group expects full-year adjusted ebitda to range at R1.45bn-R1.60bn for 2027, while EPS is projected to be R7.50-R8.50.

Business Day

]]>SUPPLIED<![CDATA[WATCH | Stock Picks]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-05-watch-stock-picks/https://www.businessday.co.za/bdtv/2026-11-05-watch-stock-picks/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:05:54 +0000Tackling your questions tonight are Nick Van Rensburg from All Weather Capital and Ricus Reeders from PSG Hole In One Ruimsig

Business Day

]]>Blue Bay/123RF<![CDATA[IEC issue tracker resolves more than 1,000 election-related cases ]]>https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-05-iec-issue-tracker-resolves-more-than-1000-election-related-cases/https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/elections-2026/2026-11-05-iec-issue-tracker-resolves-more-than-1000-election-related-cases/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:03:45 +0000

Story audio is generated using AI

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says its newly enhanced issue tracker has resolved more than 1,000 cases logged since the commencement of special voting as the vote-counting, verification and results-processing phase of the 2026 local government elections continues.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the enhanced issue tracker was among the innovations introduced for the elections to improve the reporting and resolution of issues that could potentially disrupt the electoral process.

Speaking during a media briefing on vote counting, verification and results, Mamabolo said the system provides contestants and electoral staff with a mechanism to report challenges affecting the elections.

He said the issue tracker had been integrated into the Virtual Results Operations Centre (ROC), a platform that provides remote access to the commission’s electoral operational systems and its 10 results operations centres.

“This is a mechanism for contestants and electoral staff to report all issues that could impair the election process. The commission has launched the newly enhanced issue tracker which is now a component of the Virtual ROC. The Virtual ROC is a platform for remote access to the electoral operational systems and the 10 results operations centres,” he said.

He said the system had efficiently resolved more than 1,000 cases reported since special voting began.

The update comes amid growing concerns about election-related misinformation and attempts to undermine public confidence in the electoral process.

As previously reported by TimesLIVE, the IEC said its Real411 platform had registered 34 complaints involving misinformation and disinformation, incitement to violence, hate speech and harassment.

The commission has also raised concerns about unsubstantiated election-fraud allegations circulating on social media urging political parties and candidates to use established reporting channels when raising concerns about possible irregularities.

TimesLIVE

]]>Thapelo Morebudi