Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
NewsbriefSouth Africa, briefly.
JoburgJHB29°69%
CTCT21°90%
PretoriaPTA33°75%
DurbanDBN30°20°

Matric class of 2026 signs honesty pledge before exams

Published

Learners signed pledges of honesty, discipline and integrity at schools on Friday. The National Senior Certificate examinations start on Tuesday 13 October 2026 and end on Thursday, 26 November 2026.

President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke at the Free State ceremony in Qwaqwa. He told learners: "Believe in yourselves, for we believe in you. The nation stands behind you. We are proud of you for having reached this milestone." He also urged them not to let a momentary lapse in judgement put years of hard work and sacrifice at risk.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube spoke at Fezeka Secondary School. She warned that academic dishonesty could have serious consequences for learners' future opportunities. She said the NSC must remain a qualification that South Africans can trust because it is earned honestly.

Ceremonies also took place in Gauteng, where Deputy Minister of Basic Education Reginah Mhaule spoke at Riverside High School. Gauteng Education MEC Lebogang Maile was also named among the officials involved. The Free State had the country's highest matric pass rate for three years in a row, from 2022 to 2024.

Key facts

Who
Cyril Ramaphosa (President of South Africa); Siviwe Gwarube (Basic Education Minister); Reginah Mhaule (Deputy Minister of Basic Education); Lebogang Maile (Gauteng provincial Education MEC)
What
Matric pledge-signing ceremonies were held across the country on Friday, with President Cyril Ramaphosa and Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube urging learners to act with integrity. The 2026 NSC examinations begin on Tuesday, 13 October and conclude on Thursday, 26 November 2026.
When
11 October 2026
Where
Qwaqwa, Free State, Fezeka Secondary School
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.

  1. BOSA's Solomons flags one-ballot problem at Cape Town voting stations
  2. Mashatile urges new councillors to put voters first
  3. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll

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