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The meeting took place at the IEC's National Results Operations Centre in Midrand, a day before the Local Government Elections on Wednesday. Cachalia and the commissioners discussed progress with special voting and operational arrangements. Deputy Police Minister Polly Boshielo and Deputy Justice Minister Andries Nel are also named among those involved.

IEC spokesperson Mamabolo said at a media briefing that the commission had noted a sharp increase in prohibited conduct and clear criminal behaviour by some party supporters and candidates. The IEC said it is taking legal action against the people and parties involved in intimidation, disruption and damage to election materials.

Law enforcement said it will not tolerate lawlessness or any conduct that threatens the integrity of the electoral process. The Police Ministry said every effort is being made to support free, fair and peaceful elections. The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) coordinates election security.Share

The Electoral Commission (IEC) said it has operational arrangements in place in all nine provinces. It has 23,696 voting stations nationwide and deployed 188,000 officials across them. Campaigning ends at midnight.

IEC Chairperson Mosotho Moepya spoke at a media briefing at the National Results Operations Centre in Midrand. He said the secrecy of every vote is a basic principle of democracy and must be protected. The Commission also warned that false or misleading information can undermine public confidence in the election.

Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, co-chairperson of the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJOINTS), said law enforcement readiness is at the highest operational level. He said planning took into account the security environment, past incidents, intelligence and possible threats.

Mosikili warned that protests on Election Day are prohibited. He said anyone who breaks the rules in Section 76 of the Municipal Electoral Act will face action. He and Moepya both urged voters to keep the day peaceful.Share

Moepya said canvassing, door-to-door campaigns, demonstrations and rallies are also not allowed after midnight. He said the limits aim to protect voters from intimidation and interference. Voters may still wear political party shirts or colours, he said.

Moepya said the IEC has secured all ballot papers and essential election materials and sent them to voting stations. He said logistical, security and operational plans are in place. Reports put the number of voting stations at nearly 24,000, with over 29 million registered voters.

He said the secrecy of every vote must always be protected. He said the IEC does not want people to stand in long queues without need. He called on parties and voters to show tolerance and peace, and urged registered voters to turn out.

The IEC warned that false or misleading information could undermine public confidence in the electoral process. Voters can send an SMS to 32810 at a cost of R1 to verify their registration details. The department of home affairs will keep its offices open on election day to help voters with identity documents.Share

The recall covers vehicles made available for sale between 2021 and 2025. One outlet reported that 1,881 of the 1,896 vehicles were sold locally.

Stellantis said a high-resistance electrical connection in the electric hydraulic power steering pump may flash a warning that power steering assistance is lost. It said that in some cases the fault could overheat combustible materials, which is a fire hazard.

NCC spokesperson Phetho Ntaba said the fault may lead to a fire. The commission said drivers may see a warning sign for loss of power steering assistance or for service power steering.Share

KwaZulu-Natal electoral officer Ntombifuthi Masinga explained the dismissal at a media briefing at the IEC operating centre in Durban. She said the IEC had no option but to end the officer's service, because he knew he would perform election duties.

The IEC said it would open a criminal case over the storm of the storage facility at a Mariannhill library once the party affiliations of those involved were confirmed. Masinga said party members had demanded that the IEC change its Dassenhoek Library storage facility, citing past break-ins and computer thefts. The facility serves four wards and 24 voting stations.

Masinga said fears about the safety of the materials in the facility were not justified. She also said political parties had shown a sudden interest in storage facilities since the 2024 general elections.

The IEC approved 362,878 special votes in KwaZulu-Natal. It administered 133,931 of them on Monday, which is 37% of the total. The IEC said 83,315 people were still to be processed on Tuesday. Voting stations open at 7:00am and close at 9:00pm on Wednesday.Share

The four accused face charges of attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, assault and firearm possession. They are Phindile Alex Nomngcayi, 30, Thomas Thabo Motlhangtlhong, 27, Mothoka Godfrey Mathipa, 56, and Mokhema Jan Maishoane, 53. The charge sheet says the men had 222 live rounds of ammunition.

Adams said the fifth man was not actively involved in the crime. He said the man knew something was happening, but what he knew was sketchy. Adams said that was not enough for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to build a strong case against him.

Farmer Donovan Marx, 50, was shot, stabbed and had his ears cut off in the attack at his Syferfontein farm on 28 October. Three firearms were stolen from a safe at his house. Police seized four firearms in an arrest on Sunday that they link to the attack.

The State says the attack was planned and premeditated. AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel attended the hearing. He said farm attacks and brutal torture must not become a statistic, and he criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for staying quiet.Share

The team recorded 51 mounting attempts, 34 of which involved penetration. The donkey often initiated contact, and the pair showed affection afterwards. The authors suggest that sex may help maintain their bond. A primatologist, writing about the study, notes that same-sex behaviour has been reported in more than 1,500 animal species. The researchers watched the pair closely for only four days, so they cannot say how long the relationship lasted.Share

The level 2 warnings cover southern Limpopo, all of Gauteng, north-eastern Free State and southern KwaZulu-Natal. The Weather Service urged residents in the affected areas to take precautions.

The Weather Service said a tornado is also possible in some of the storms. Meteorologist Azwi Tuwani described the level 4 warning area in a weather bulletin on Tuesday.Share

The outage began at about 8.35pm on Monday. Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said an electricity failure at City of Ekurhuleni infrastructure cut power to the pumping station and halted pumping. Six municipalities were at risk of disruption: Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, Lesedi, Govan Mbeki, Victor Khanye and Thembisile Hani.

Another report gave a different cause. It said lightning damaged the Mapleton Substation on Monday night, and that water supply to Ekurhuleni and parts of Gauteng was cut for most of Tuesday. Areas named included Langaville, Tsakane, Duduza, Etwatwa, Tarlton, Brakpan and Vlakfontein.

Power at the substation is at 100% capacity and has been back for about 5 hours. Rand Water pumping operations have recovered by more than 73%. Officials said reservoirs should fill overnight and supply should improve in the early hours of Wednesday.Share

The money allegedly went from Gcaba to accused Mziwethemba Gwabeni. Evidence said Gwabeni moved R803,000 to another of his accounts. Some accused allegedly received one tranche of R100,000.

Accused Lindokuhle Thabani Mkhwanazi allegedly sent R33,000 to his wife, Hlengiwe Mkhwanazi. Capitec forensic investigator Ashley Soomaroo gave evidence for the state.

The state's evidence is that the payments split money among the accused after rapper Kiernan "AKA" Forbes and Tebello "Tibz" Motsoane were killed. Evidence in the bail application said Gcaba paid Gwabeni for business the two men conduct together.

The court stood the matter down to Thursday. The defence will then cross-examine FNB witness Ashley Wilson.Share

The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) is prosecuting the case. Its spokesperson, Henry Mamothame, said all parties agreed to the postponement. The delay lets the Local Government Elections conclude and lets accused who live outside Gauteng vote.

The charges relate to two police software purchases from 2015 that the state calls irregular. Mamothame said the first software was meant for use during the #feesmustfall protests in October 2015. He said the second software was allegedly used to wipe cell phone records and messages while the Hawks were investigating Phahlane over the blue lights police tender.

Phahlane has said he is innocent.Share

Mmakgabo Ramatlhodi, an IEC assistant manager, said voters must show identification at the door controller. She said digital identification documents are not accepted. Voters are also marked with indelible ink, which she said takes a few days to remove and protects the integrity of the process.

Voters in metropolitan municipalities receive two ballot papers. Voters in local municipalities receive a third ballot, the district PR ballot. That ballot decides 40% of the seats in the district council.

Ramatlhodi said a ballot that is not stamped at the back will count as spoiled. She also said more than one mark on a ballot could lead to it being declared invalid.Share

Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo spoke at a media briefing in Midrand. He reminded voters that they receive two or three ballot papers, depending on the municipality. He asked them to mark the correct paper and fold each completed ballot before they put it in the right box.

The Commission said it had registered 34 complaints on the Real411 platform. Twitter / X had 58.8% of the complaints and TikTok had 23.5%. Facebook and WhatsApp had 8.8% each.

Mamabolo said unproven claims of election fraud had led supporters to post videos of presiding officers and staff. The videos show staff moving special vote ballots from carrying boxes and bags into the main ballot box. He said they were shared without context, alongside claims that something wrong was happening.

The Commission said it had already acted quickly against election officials who failed to do their duties as required.Share

Michael Hendricks, the IEC electoral officer for the Western Cape, said the commission has a high level of confidence in its preparations. He said unexpected problems can still happen and the IEC will respond to them as they occur. The IEC said an unforeseen delay by its contracted printing company caused the late openings. The company was reprinting ballots after a Constitutional Court ruling.

Nationally, 2.6 million people registered for special votes. In the Western Cape, 292,000 people registered. The IEC said 28 million ballots already printed and distributed were no longer suitable because they did not include all contesting parties. It authorised the reprinting of 33 million ballots.

Separately, police arrested a wanted gang member after a shootout in Manenberg, about 150m from a voting station on Ruimte Road. Western Cape police said the suspect allegedly opened fire on officers when he saw them. Police found 32 rounds of ammunition on him, and the Anti-Gang Unit was deployed for security.Share

The people said Nvidia gave the instruction to cloud computing clients in recent months. The US chipmaker has not been named as confirming the order in the information available.

The claim comes from one exclusive report that cites unnamed sources. The report frames the order as a way to hold back China's technology progress against US competitors.Share

The researcher asked residents how often the water stopped, how they coped and who they held responsible. Many said officials "eat the money" meant for repairs, and some said tankers reached favoured areas first. The findings come from an essay in The Conversation, not a peer-reviewed paper. She says the residents' claims are not verified fact, and the work covers only three communities.Share

Mamabolo spoke at an IEC media briefing on the local government elections. He said some parties made fraud claims without proof. Supporters then posted videos of presiding officers moving special vote ballots, shared without context.

Of the Real411 complaints, 58.8% involved X and 23.5% involved TikTok. Facebook and WhatsApp together made up 8.8%.

Mamabolo alleged that a candidate in ward 30 in the Phake Rankahile voting district stormed a voting station and damaged election materials. He also alleged that MK Party supporters stormed the IEC satellite warehouse at Dassenhoek Library and held election officials hostage. Two people allegedly tried to reach election materials by posing as IEC officials.

The IEC recorded about 970,000 station-based special votes and 421,000 home visits for special votes. Special voting continues until 5 November. Mamabolo said the commission is taking legal steps to hold the people and parties involved to account.Share

Police in the Eastern Cape arrested two women. The commission said they allegedly tried to steal election material from the Ngcobo Police Station. In Mpumalanga, police arrested a candidate in Ward 30 after he allegedly stormed a voting station.

Sy Mamabolo, the IEC Chief Electoral Officer, spoke at a media briefing in Midrand. He said the candidate stormed the Phake Rankaile voting district station and damaged electoral materials.

Mamabolo also said supporters of a party stormed a satellite warehouse where election materials are kept. He said they held election officials hostage. He said such acts threaten the integrity of the electoral process.

He said the commission has seen a sharp rise in conduct that the law prohibits. He said some party supporters have acted in plainly unlawful ways.Share

Mokonyane heads the ANC's international relations desk. She said Agoa makes up 1% of the whole trade relationship between South Africa and the US. She also said the White House decision was an act of desperation meant to sway South African voters and push a regime-change agenda.

She said the US administration wants to appeal to right-wing and conservative groups through its stance on South Africa. She added that the US is a critical role player, but the world is not the US. She blamed those who oppose the country's transformation policies, especially on land reform and property rights, for its economic challenges.

VF Plus leader Corne Mulder wrote on X that the end of Agoa membership is a total disaster. He blamed incompetence among those in charge of international relations. Mokonyane criticised his comments.

Trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau said the decision does not define the wider relationship between the two countries. He said a solution would depend on both sides being willing to talk. The government said the loss of Agoa could harm South African investments in the US and disrupt supply chains in the car and boat-building industries.Share

Mamabolo said an Economic Freedom Fighters candidate for Ward 30 in Mpumalanga stormed a voting station and damaged election materials. Police arrested the candidate. He also said a candidate of the Ngcobo Yethu Civic Organisation was arrested in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape. The Commission said that candidate posed as electoral officials to get election materials.

Mamabolo said supporters of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) stormed the Dassenhoek library satellite warehouse in KwaZulu-Natal, where election materials are kept. He said they held election officials hostage. He said MKP supporters made similar attempts to get materials at Richmond and Pietermaritzburg. Police dispersed MKP members.

Mamabolo said the conduct ranged from intimidation of officials to disruption of voting and tampering with materials. He said it cannot be justified and must not harm the country's democratic processes. The second and final day of special voting ended at 5pm on Tuesday.Share

The Mankweng man appeared in court, and the case was postponed to 30 November. Police spokesperson Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba said the removal of posters was reportedly captured on video. The case was registered at Mankweng police station under Section 92 of the Electoral Act.

In Sekhukhune District, Mashaba said a complainant's party T-shirt was forcibly removed and set alight. He said members of a different political party had accosted the complainant.

Limpopo police commissioner Lieutenant-General Jan Petrus Scheepers said police will take a hard line on intimidation, violence and the unlawful removal or destruction of election material. He urged parties and communities to respect the law and settle differences peacefully.Share

Police spokesperson Brig Hlulani Mashaba said the incidents happened on Monday at the voting station in the Humulani settlement. He said the 32-year-old allegedly took the photo after he voted. Police said one of the voters allegedly posted the image on his social media status.

Mashaba said the second man allegedly photographed his marked ballot paper and then became aggressive when confronted. One account said he verbally insulted the presiding officer before he left. The Electoral Commission of SA advised the presiding officer to open a case with police.

The 32-year-old was expected to appear in the Lulekani magistrate's court on Wednesday.Share

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition put forward the plan. The tax would apply to paper profits, which are gains on assets that the owner has not sold.

Wealth advisers said the plan risks driving away rich expatriates.Share

Merafe's attributable ferrochrome production fell 46% to 61 000 tonnes in the nine months to September. In the same period of 2025 it was 112 000 tonnes. Glencore reported its own attributable ferrochrome production of 235 000 tonnes last week.

Eskom concluded the new pricing agreements with the venture in June, under a three-year electricity pricing framework. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa approved a temporary tariff of 87.74c/kWh in January for the Glencore-Merafe and Samancor smelters. At the end of May it approved a tariff of 62c/kWh, which allowed the retrenchment consultation to be withdrawn.

Eskom said the deal restores demand from the smelters and gives it predictable electricity sales. It said this improves its liquidity without higher tariffs for other customers or more government support. Whether targeted relief will reverse the industry's decline against China is not yet clear.Share

The meeting included the Western Cape Department of Mobility, the City of Cape Town and both associations. The South African National Taxi Council Western Cape attended as an observer. CATA and Codeta also agreed to a process, run by an independent facilitator, to deal with the root causes of the violence.

Western Cape Mobility MEC Isaac Sileku said the violence must stop and that this is not open to negotiation. Besuthu Ndungane, the Santaco Western Cape provincial chairperson, said in a statement that commitments alone are not enough. He said the real test is what happens next.

The violence affected areas including Delft, Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Gugulethu, Nyanga, Wynberg and Langa. A follow-up meeting with the Western Cape government is set for next Tuesday.Share

The flints sat in 40 boxes in Turin for over a century. Using faded labels and the notes of the Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli, the team linked the objects to Heliopolis. Many cores but few blades suggest one area was a workshop that made more blades than its own knappers needed. The authors present this in their own article on a new study, so it is not a peer-reviewed text, and it rests on century-old excavation records.Share

Schreiber gave the answer in a written reply to EFF MP Paulnita Marais, who asked about long queues and system outages. He said the 724 posts are in various phases of filling, as at 30 September 2026.

The minister said staff shortages may worsen queues and delays at certain offices. He said system outages and other operational factors also affect service.

Schreiber said the department is hiring and rolling out its Home Affairs@Home digitalisation programme, along with digital literacy training. He said the programme aims to add to staff capacity by automating processes and expanding digital service channels.Share