The three largest political parties have all decided to descend on Gauteng in the final week of the municipal election campaign as the November 1 elections draw closer.
The ANC and EFF will hold their final rallies on Friday in Ekurhuleni where the ANC has been governing through a coalition with smaller opposition parties since 2016. The DA held its final rally in Johannesburg at the weekend.
The ANC, which has pegged its campaign on reform to lure voters, lost Tshwane and Johannesburg to the opposition in 2016 with a similar turn of events expected next month when voters head to the polls. A recent Ipsos poll shows declining support for the ANC, putting it at 49% nationally, down from the 57.5% it won in the 2019 general election.
Ministers in the justice, crime prevention and security cluster are holding a briefing on the state of readiness for the local government elections on Monday. The cluster was left with egg on its face during the July riots after it was accused of not responding timeously to the unrest that left 300 people dead and wiped an estimated R50bn off GDP.
National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) members have until Monday to return to work after the union clinched a multiyear wage agreement with steel employers on Thursday. The industrial action cost the metals sector R600m in output while workers are estimated to have lost R300m in wages.
The six-member advisory panel to the president led by former judge at the International Criminal Court Navi Pillay must provide a shortlist of three to five candidates to replace former chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng by Friday. The list of hopefuls includes Western Cape judge president John Hlophe, justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, justice Mandisa Maya, advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, Gauteng judge president Dunstan Mlambo and deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo.
Still on judicial matters, the high court in Pietermaritzburg is scheduled on Tuesday to rule on former president Jacob Zuma’s application to have state prosecutor advocate Billy Downer recused in the arms deal trial within a trial. Zuma last week laid criminal charges against Downer, accusing the state prosecutor of leaking his confidential medical records.
On Tuesday, the application by the Eastern Cape duo of premier Oscar Mabuyane and public works MEC Babalo Madikizela to halt the implementation of the public protector’s report on the misuse of funds meant to go towards the memorial service of the late struggle veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela will be held in the high court in Bhisho.
Busisiwe Mkhwebane found Madikizela gave orders for an invoice of R1.1m to be made out to the municipality in an alleged plot to split the funds between Mabuyane and the ANC. In court papers Madikizela denies giving instructions “to do anything for the unlawful and improper benefit of Mr Mabuyane, myself and the ANC”.
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