November 2026

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

The die-offs are linked to the pilchard herpesvirus. The government has temporarily restricted commercial fishing catches. The groups want a full suspension until a new biomass survey ends and an updated catch limit is announced.

Neville Van Rooy, spokesperson for The Green Connection, said nobody yet knows how bad the damage is. He said the scale must be checked and made public. He warned that continued fishing could harm the fish population more.

WWF South Africa wants a total ban on sardine fishing. The department said there was not enough evidence to justify a complete ban. Fishers and conservationists say the government lets fishing go on despite doubt about the outbreak's effect on stocks.

Fishing communities said falling sardine numbers could threaten livelihoods and food security.Share

The rain is likely mainly over the northern parts of the country. The forecast covers North-West, Free State, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo.

Meteorologist Azwi Tuwani advised people to make sure they are in a safe place whenever they hear thunder.Share

KwaZulu-Natal electoral officer Ntombifuthi Masinga disclosed the dismissal at a media briefing in Durban. She said the officer was moving sensitive material at the end of the day.

The Electoral Commission said items such as ballot papers, security stamps, ink and the voters' roll do not stay overnight at a voting station. It said presiding officers are sometimes trusted to transport this material. The commission said it fired the officer and will not take the matter any further.Share

John Masuku, a 70-year-old voter from Hillbrow, said he was voting because he needs the roads fixed. He said the roads and traffic lights where he lives do not work, so crossing a busy road is hard.

Masuku also said open sewage drains in his area put young people at risk. He said a pupil almost fell into an open sewage pipe.

Another voter, who did not give his name, said residents have to vote because otherwise leaders will do nothing. Aviwe Ngcina, originally from the Eastern Cape, also spoke about why she was voting.Share

The case concerned the theft of $580,000 (R9.6m) in cash from President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm in Limpopo. Magistrate Peter Manthata presided. The matter is postponed to 13 November 2026 for pre-sentence proceedings.

Ramaphosa said the cash came from Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa, who paid it to former farm manager Sylvester Ndlovu on Christmas Day in 2019. He said Mustafa wanted to buy a herd of buffalo.

Former State Security Agency director-general Arthur Fraser opened a separate case against Ramaphosa, presidential protection head Wally Rhoode and crime intelligence members. He accused them of kidnapping and money-laundering, for allegedly hiding the break-in. The court noted a delay of two years between the incident and the opening of the criminal case.Share

Moya briefed the media on progress to fix the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Plant. The City of Tshwane failed to chlorinate water from the plant. Over 800 cases of gastrointestinal illness were reported in the area last month.

The E. coli was found in water discharged while workers cleaned the clear water sump. The city will repeat disinfection until the contamination is gone.

Moya said videos are circulating, including some by councillors, that show water coming out of reservoirs. She said residents must not use the water even where it looks clean.Share

A litre of 95-octane petrol will cost R30.24 in Gauteng and R29.37 at the coast. The slate levy rises by about 48c per litre because the Slate Fund balance was almost -R16 billion at the end of September. Reports give the new slate levy as 135.64c and 135.84c per litre.

Illuminating paraffin rises by R3.66 per litre at retail. The maximum retail price of LPG rises by R1.83 per kilogram inland and R2.08 per kilogram in the Western Cape.

The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources blamed Middle East uncertainty, including recent attacks on Saudi Arabia infrastructure, and high freight and insurance costs. It also cited tight global diesel supply, higher seasonal demand before the Northern Hemisphere winter, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The average Brent crude price rose from $101 to $108 per barrel over the review period. The rand weakened from an average of R16.21 to R16.55 against the dollar. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced the temporary fuel levy cuts in the medium-term budget policy statement.Share

Police spokesperson Nobuntu Gantana said the presiding officer was in the queue at the station at the time. The officer dismissed the women's claims.

Gantana said the two suspects were being processed after their arrest. Police allege the women posed as an official of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).Share

Anthropic revealed the commitment on 2 November. The spending covers AI infrastructure over the coming years. One report described the move as a bid to keep up the company's fast growth.

In a related item, OpenAI hired Dan Driscoll, the former US Army secretary. OpenAI is the maker of ChatGPT. The same report said the military seeks to expand its use of AI.Share

Professor Marie-Eve Aubin-Tam led the work, and PhD candidate Fan Jiang was first author. In light, the algae make sugars through photosynthesis and raise the pH in the hydrogel. The two layers swell by different amounts, so the strip bends. In the dark the pH falls, and the strip starts to bend the other way within 10 seconds. The strip is about 2 cm long and 1 mm thick. Aubin-Tam calls it a proof-of-concept, and the team had no specific application in mind.Share

AccuWeather forecasts a possible afternoon thunderstorm in Pretoria. Thunderstorms are possible in parts of Johannesburg too. The forecast gives a 55% probability of precipitation and a 33% chance of thunderstorms for both cities.

Forecast rainfall is 1.3mm in Pretoria and 2.2mm in Johannesburg. The maximum UV index is 13 in both cities, which is classed as extreme. Cape Town has a maximum UV index of 5, which is moderate.

Overnight lows are forecast at 20°C in Pretoria, 17°C in Johannesburg and 16°C in Cape Town.Share

DA national spokesperson Jan de Villiers said the party wrote to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) with three requests. The DA says the delays affected stations in the Western Cape, Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.

The party asked for a timeline, a guarantee that approved special voters can vote, and a full explanation to parties in the party liaison committee. De Villiers said voters need reassurance that similar delays will not happen on election day, when all ballot papers must be in place.

Special voting continues on Tuesday. About 2.6 million South Africans are approved for special votes in the 2026 local government elections.Share

Department spokesperson Wisane Mavasa said the heatwave is pushing up demand across Gauteng. She said leaking municipal pipes and high use per person add to the problem. The department said Gauteng uses about 250 litres per person a day, against an international average of 173 litres.

The department put non-revenue water at an estimated 47% and physical water losses at about 27%. It said the South African Weather Service forecasts a high likelihood of a strong El Niño in the 2026/27 summer. The department said El Niño could cut dam inflows, raise evaporation and increase demand.

The department said it cannot give Rand Water more than the volume already allocated to it from the Integrated Vaal River System. Mavasa said the department will cut the water that farms, industries and other users, including water boards, may draw where this is needed. She urged residents to follow municipal water restrictions and make saving water a daily habit.Share

Meth stressed that voting is a right in the Constitution. She said employers must not threaten workers, punish them or block them from using that right.

She also asked employers and employees to plan their voting arrangements in advance. Special votes were cast on Monday and Tuesday.Share

The parade in Durban on Tuesday included SAPS officers, army members and staff of the road traffic inspectorate. Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner and a Lieutenant General, told them to deal decisively with anyone who tries to disrupt the elections.

He said officers must enforce the electoral act and the other laws of the country without compromise. He also told them not to take political sides.

Mkhwanazi said the police must treat every political party and all members of the public in the same way.Share

Analysts and experts blame North Korean hackers for the theft from Binance. They say the tokens were worth billions of dollars. Binance is a crypto exchange.

Experts say the hackers are breaking the tokens into small packages in an attempt to hide their tracks. Analysts expect the laundering to take months.Share

The Ethiopia Media Authority announced the order in a statement on Facebook. It bars The Reporter from publication and broadcasting until it meets its legal and professional ethical obligations. The regulator also accused the paper of unbalanced and biased reports.

The Reporter is an independent print and online newspaper. Ethiopia revoked the licence of another independent outlet, Addis Standard, in February, and that outlet has appealed.

Reporters Without Borders ranks Ethiopia 148th out of 180 in its press freedom index. The group says five journalists are detained in the country. Four of them have been held for nearly three years and face terrorism charges that carry the death penalty.Share

MSF said the measures target health workers and humanitarian organisations in North Kivu, in eastern DR Congo. It says they caused a sharp fall in consultations. The charity says the rules pressure health workers to reduce the reported number of victims, by limiting recognition of sexual violence to people with visible injuries.

MSF also says the measures include intrusive and medically unnecessary examinations to prove violence. It says victims must report to police within 72 hours of an assault before they seek care. MSF said the rules "raise serious concerns about medical confidentiality, medical ethics, victim and survivor protection and access to healthcare".

The M23 is an armed anti-government group backed by Rwanda. A new group, the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation, took over the M23 last month. Former president Joseph Kabila leads that group.Share

Marvell is the buyer and Lumentum is the company being acquired. The deal was announced on 2 November.Share

The authors say benchmarks that combine variant types, such as canonical splice and 5' UTR variants, inflate the scores of these models. They propose a stratified benchmark that separates the types, and they use it to identify the most robust models. The study is peer-reviewed. Only a short summary was available, so the methods and results are not described here.Share

The notifications told recipients that their iPhones may have been hacked with spyware. Apple sent them on 2 November.

The facts available do not name the spyware or say who is behind the attacks.Share