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DA says it has branches in every community before elections

Published

DA Federal Chairperson Solly Msimanga said the party has a candidate in every ward and wants to do better in the November Local Government Elections. He also said the DA will not work with parties that push racial politics.

Msimanga spoke outside the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Facility in Pretoria on Thursday. He said the party now has a permanent presence in communities across the country. In his words: "The difference is that the DA has now built branches in every single community. We now have permanent visibility."

Msimanga said the DA will not negotiate on coalitions with parties that perpetuate racial politics, divisions or lawlessness. He said he will lead the party's coalition negotiation team.

Key facts

Who
Solly Msimanga (DA Federal Chairperson); Democratic Alliance (political party)
What
DA Federal Chairperson Solly Msimanga announced that the party has established branches in every community across South Africa and has a candidate in every ward, aiming to improve its performance in the November Local Government Elections. Msimanga also stated the party will not negotiate with political parties that perpetuate racial politics, divisions or lawlessness when forming coalitions…
When
8 October 2026
Where
Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Facility in Pretoria, South…
Status
Reported

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

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US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

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AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

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