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Mothibi said the NPA reviewed about 20 cases on the books of IDAC. He said only about three were found not well taken on. He said these cases did great damage.

The cases of Generals Fannie Masemola and Dumisani Khumalo are among the three. Mothibi spoke after what he called an institutional reset at IDAC.

The new IDAC Ombud office will probe complaints of maladministration or abuse of power. Mothibi said IDAC now has an acting head, Advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara, whom he described as very credible.Share

A state witness from FNB was on the stand when the trial was postponed on Tuesday. The state is focusing on a payment into the account of suspect Mziwethemba Gwabeni on 11 February 2023. The amount is given as more than R800,00, a figure that looks like a typing error.

The FNB employee confirmed that the payments came from Bright Circle Pty Ltd. The company is based in Umhlanga and belongs to Durban taxi boss Mfundo Gcaba.

The state claims that Gwabeni transferred dividends to his six other co-accused after he received the money.Share

The findings come from the NIQ Consumer Outlook 2027 survey of more than 21,000 respondents in 31 countries. In South Africa, 38% of people said they are better off. Among financially challenged respondents, about 79% named the cost of living as a major factor.

Nearly three-quarters of consumers under financial pressure are likely to seek extra income streams. A quarter are likely to increase their debt. Of all consumers, 34% worry about further food price increases, 23% about higher utility bills and 22% about fuel and transport costs.

Shoppers are trading down to discount retailers and are more selective. Value products make up 14.9% of sales value, mainstream products 52.6% and premium products 32.6%. For 39% of shoppers, affordability matters most in judging whether a product is worth its price, while 26% put quality and performance first. When people decide to spend more, 64% prefer a clearly premium product.

Zak Haeri, the NIQ South Africa managing director, said the country is an extreme case of a global trend. He said the mainstream market is hollowing out while value and premium products gain share. He added that buying only by exception is becoming normal, as consumers want stronger reasons for each purchase.Share

CSIR representative Pravesh Debba presented the first national picture prediction for the 2026 Local Government Election. He projected the EFF at around 6% and Action SA at around 5%.

The CSIR said the projection uses only the results available so far. It said the picture will change as more voting districts are declared.Share

Treasury said in a statement on Thursday that debt will drop under 70% of GDP by 2032/33. That is a year sooner than the 2026 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) forecast. The MTBPS had put the 2025/26 debt peak at 78.4%.

The primary surplus is now 1.6% of GDP in 2026/27, against 1.7% in the MTBPS. For 2029/30 it is 2.8%, against 2.9%. The main budget deficit for 2026/27 is 3.5% of GDP, against 3.7%.

Treasury said the consolidated budget deficit improves by 0.2 percentage points of GDP on average. The main budget primary surplus is revised down by 0.1 percentage points on average over the medium term. Treasury said the changes do not reflect any shift in revenue, spending or debt projections.

Stats SA announced the GDP revision on 29 October 2026. Treasury said Stats SA's five-yearly benchmarking has often raised the estimated size of the economy but has seldom changed growth rates in a meaningful way. Director-General Duncan Pieterse said government keeps meeting its fiscal targets and the country is seeing lower borrowing costs.Share

The report describes the deal as a sign of Moscow's support for Iran. It says Russia gives that support even though its own war effort in Ukraine is under strain.

The launchers are for the same type of advanced guided missile that Russian forces use in Ukraine.Share

Most early results come from smaller rural municipalities in the province. No results had yet been posted for eThekwini.

MK Party provincial spokesperson Mkhuseli Mlengane said the party's momentum from the 2024 national and provincial elections had carried into the local government elections. He said people were tired and wanted change, and that the party appealed to them on that basis.Share

Provincial Electoral Officer Ntombifuthi Masinga spoke at a media briefing on Thursday, after voting stations closed on Wednesday night. She said the commission was pleased with the turnout. At the time, 18% of results were captured and 12% had gone through auditing.

Masinga said political parties might seem further ahead in reporting results. She said their agents photograph results slips and send them to party collation centres.

Parties and independent candidates have until 5pm on Friday to lodge objections. The IEC will announce final results on Sunday. Results must be published in the Government Gazette within seven days of voting, and council office-bearers are elected within 14 days after that.Share

In Johannesburg, the DA has 40% of the votes. The ANC has 17% and Action SA has 15%.

In Ekurhuleni, the DA has 42%, Action SA has 19% and the ANC has 16%.

In Tshwane, Action SA has 29% and the ANC has 28%. The DA has 19% of the votes there.Share

The MK Party had 240,000 votes in the early count. A live blog reported these figures at 9:14am on 5 November. A preliminary national turnout of 45.8% was given at a provincial briefing.

In KwaZulu-Natal, preliminary turnout was 48.7%. Provincial electoral officer Ntombifuthi Masinga said the figures were provisional. Results from 18% of the province had been captured and 12% audited.

Voters were contesting 257 municipalities. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said voters who arrived before the 9pm closing time would still be allowed to vote.

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal said two of its members were hurt in an alleged attack by IFP supporters in Abaqulusi. Police said the incident was not politically motivated. Police also said a 25-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly disrupting voting at the Mugoboya voting station.Share

With 26% of voting districts declared in the Eastern Cape, a prediction model from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) puts the ANC just under 48% and the DA at 18%. The model puts the EFF at 5.53%. CSIR representative Jabu Mtsweni said a party needs 50% to control a council, so the ANC needs about 2% more. Early counting in the province showed the ANC at 47%.

In Buffalo City Metro, with just over 20% of votes counted, the ANC had 38% and the DA 21%. The United Democratic Movement was third at 18%, and the South African Communist Party was fourth at 5%. ActionSA had 1%.

ActionSA Eastern Cape leader Athol Trollip said his party would work with any party in a coalition once the final votes are tallied. He said many people still vote for the ANC out of habit.

DA Johannesburg mayoral candidate Hellen Zille said early results, including rural votes in the Eastern Cape, Free State and Mpumalanga, were encouraging for the DA. Early national figures put the DA at 30.41% and the ANC at 31%.Share

The economists expect the peak around the start of 2027. They said rising energy prices will push inflation to its highest level in three years.

The Bank of England is the UK central bank. Markets widely expect it to raise its key interest rate to 4% at its decision on Thursday.Share

Parties have until 5pm on Friday to lodge objections that could materially affect the outcome. Masego Shiburi, deputy chief electoral officer, spoke at the commission's results briefing. She said some objections are dealt with by the presiding officer.

By 9am on Thursday, 18 municipalities had finished capturing and verifying results. The commission said more than 23,000 of the 66,000 result slips were scanned into the results system. Nearly 23,000 results were captured, and more than 16,000 slips were independently audited.

The commission estimates that 15.9 million South Africans took part in the elections, including special votes. It registered about 29.2 million voters, with voting at 23,696 voting stations. Party representatives gathered at the national Results Operations Centre in Midrand as the first preliminary results came in.Share

The IEC said it had captured 22,983 results slips, or 34.8%. Of these, 16,791 had been independently audited, which is 25% of the total. The results come from local municipalities, metros and district councils.

Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the pace was faster than in the previous municipal elections. He said the IEC achieved this despite longer ballot papers, more contestants and expected higher voter turnout. He said slips are captured twice in front of party agents and observers, and the audit covers all results, not a sample.

Helen Zille, the DA's Johannesburg mayoral candidate, said she expected the DA to be the biggest party in Gauteng. She said she could speak only for Johannesburg. Zille said the party's hands-on campaign had largely paid off, though reaching voters was hard.Share

The bill also bars members of illegal armed groups who surrender from entering peace negotiations. It sets stricter conditions for reduced sentences. Sentences can be cut by up to 50%, and by up to 30% for commanders. Leaders face a minimum sentence of 10 years.

The bill breaks with the "total peace" policy of former president Gustavo Petro. De la Espriella's government says Petro's talks let armed groups expand their ranks and hold areas used for drug trafficking and illegal mining. Petro has said his plan was not fully achieved, but he pointed to a fall in homicides.

The Ministry of Defence says illegal armed groups had 15,120 members at the end of 2022. It put the number at 28,802 in July 2026. Colombia's conflict has lasted six decades and has killed more than 450,000 people.Share

The shooting happened in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, after voting ended at the Boikhutso polling station. The man was shot multiple times and died of his wounds in hospital.

Mpumalanga police are investigating the murder. The dedicated investigation team now leads the case.Share

Nothing's chief executive said the device is designed to use AI to improve productivity. He made the comments on Wednesday.

The company has not said whether the product is a phone or another kind of gadget.Share

DA representative Cilliers Brink said the party would judge possible partners on whether they can help fix water and electricity and restore the rule of law in Tshwane. ActionSA representative Nasiphi Moya said her party will only work with parties that put the interests of all residents first. She said ActionSA also wants illegal immigration dealt with.

Eco Forums representative Bafana Langa said a memorandum of understanding will be critical in any coalition arrangement. He said all parties joining a coalition should review the coalition treaty.

Tshwane has been run by coalitions since the 2016 local government elections. The DA led the first multi-party coalition after that vote. Four mayors took office in the city between 2021 and 2024.Share

The Patriotic Alliance leads in Prince Albert. Two smaller parties have also made gains: the Peoples Movement for Change won two seats and the Siyancuma Independent Forum won one seat.

The Electoral Commission has verified 39% of Northern Cape votes so far. The CSIR has released its first national prediction of the final local government election results.Share

SoftBank agreed to buy the robotics division from ABB, the seller. The purchase was valued at $5.4bn.

One report described the decision as a shock that threatens the physical AI plans of Masayoshi Son.Share

Sarupen spoke on CapeTalk during the count. He said the DA is confident of keeping more than 50% of the Western Cape vote and predicted about 51%. He said it was too early to call individual municipalities.

Sarupen claimed the DA leads in Kopanong, a mainly black, rural municipality in the Free State. He also claimed the party has won support from the ANC in several municipalities in southern Gauteng. He said the DA could get a larger share than the EFF in townships, rural villages and large informal settlements.

Early national projections from the CSIR put the ANC at around 31% and the DA at around 26%. The CSIR released them when about 11% of voting districts had been counted. The ANC won about 46% nationally in the previous vote.Share

Ramathuba spoke at the Results Operations Centre in Polokwane on election day. She said young people show growing participation in shaping democracy. In her view, the idea that the youth are apathetic is fading.

The IEC runs a national results centre at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Johannesburg. Political reporters covered developments live from that venue as voting went on.Share

DA leader and Cape Town mayoral candidate Geordin Hill-Lewis voted in Edgemead. He said the party would keep its majority only if every voter turned out for the DA. He also said the DA was the only party with a credible plan for governance.

In Knysna, DA mayoral candidate Levael Davis said only the DA was seeking a majority and that coalitions had failed. Jan van der Westhuizen, chairperson of the Greater Knysna Business Chamber, said the municipality was in serious trouble. He said coalitions would likely remain and that better planning and accountability were needed.

A Western Cape government inspection found that 11 of Knysna's 67 sewer pump stations were fully functional. The Akkerkloof Dam stood at 15% capacity. Former Knysna mayor Thando Matika was arrested on 1 October and released on R20,000 bail. He and senior officials face allegations of corruption, extortion and money laundering linked to a R68 million security contract.

At Sunray Primary School in Delft, about 700 of 2,700 voters had cast ballots by early afternoon. In Pacaltsdorp, DA loyalist Erest Kietwitz questioned how people could vote for a party that had done nothing. Polling data suggested the DA majority was safe despite the surge by the Patriotic Alliance.Share

Trump said he would have done nothing different on the war. He also claimed Republicans would have won if he had been on the ballot.

Vice-president JD Vance was reported to have said the war was the reason Republicans lost. Reports said the war caused a spike in fuel prices, which many saw as a strong factor in big Democratic gains.Share

Mandla Madonsela, a 41-year-old taxi driver, did not vote. He said he needed to earn money to feed his family and children. He also said the ANC would win, so he saw no point in voting. Madonsela said he felt the government was against its own people and favoured foreign nationals.

Sipho Ndlovu, who is 55, said he had lost faith in the electoral process. He said political parties were all corrupt and cared more about money than about serving people.

Mpilo Buthelezi voted in Ekurhuleni. He said he stayed optimistic that change would come one day and benefit everyone. He said people could not complain about poor service delivery if they were too lazy to vote.Share

Voting at several stations across the Cape Metro ran late into the afternoon and evening, with delays and frustration. In Mfuleni, many voters gave up on the queues. One voter there said the queues stopped people from exercising their right to choose.

The IEC in the Western Cape said the voter management devices that caused problems had been fixed. It said it sent more staff to the affected areas.

A first-time voter in Delft said he was not a political person but believed change was needed. Reports also named Knysna, Judah Square and the West Coast among the places affected.Share

The ANC said the assault happened in the Siyaphambili voting district, in ward 4 of the Abaqulusi local municipality. Provincial spokesperson Sifiso Sonjica spoke for the party. The ANC called on police and the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa to step in and protect voters.

The party called the incident political violence and a direct attack on democracy. It alleges that supporters of the Inkatha Freedom Party carried out the attack. The IFP was not immediately available for comment.

Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the people involved knew one another and were under the influence of alcohol. He said the cause of the fight was not related to politics.Share

Makoba briefed the media at the Results Operations Centre in Durban. He said the province stayed stable during the election period, despite pockets of political intolerance. Police said the province remained calm after voting closed.

Makoba asked political parties to act maturely and to accept the choice voters made. Police said deployments will stay in place until the councils are constituted.

The fact that police will cover voting stations in all risk groups shows the scale of the operation. Police plan to cover 165 high risk, 1014 medium risk and 3550 low risk voting stations.Share