Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
NewsbriefSouth Africa, briefly.
JoburgJHB29°16°CTCT30°17°PretoriaPTA31°17°DurbanDBN27°64%

Malema says Johannesburg should reclaim hijacked buildings for housing

Published

Ongoing: Elections Hot

At the EFF's final rally at Orlando Amstel Arena in Soweto, party leader Julius Malema said buildings run by criminal syndicates should become affordable housing and student accommodation. He also defended the EFF's record in coalitions.

Malema claimed that criminal syndicates take over hijacked buildings and charge vulnerable residents rent. He said conversions would let workers live closer to their jobs and students stay near their campuses. He said that from the 5th of November, occupying a building in Johannesburg would be treated as criminal.

Malema said the EFF has been the most stable coalition partner in local government. He said the party opened a criminal case against the mayor of Tshwane and the City Manager over unsafe water in Bronkorstspruit.

He accused municipal officials and councillors of corruption and tender manipulation that undermine services. He claimed jobs go to people with political connections and that some councillors demand sexual favours for work. He also said some officials delay or cancel projects to protect corrupt interests and secure kickbacks.

He said: "The collapse of our municipalities is not an accident. It is a business model."

Key facts

Who
Julius Malema (EFF leader); Economic Freedom Fighters (political party holding the final rally)
What
Malema, addressing the EFF's final rally at Orlando Amstel Arena in Soweto, called for hijacked Johannesburg buildings controlled by criminal syndicates to be reclaimed and converted into affordable housing and student accommodation. He also defended the EFF's coalition record and accused municipal officials and councillors of corruption, tender manipulation and job-related sexual favours.
When
31 October 2026
Where
Johannesburg, Soweto, Hillbrow
Status
Reported

Related stories

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.

  1. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll
  2. IEC says local election voting went largely smoothly
  3. IEC says about 12 million had voted by 5pm

See every update

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.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update

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.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

See every update