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Mbalula defends mining tycoon MySol after Malema attack

Published

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said on X that North West businessman Solomon "MySol" Madibela is a solid South African entrepreneur. He said he would reach out to EFF leader Julius Malema to settle the dispute.

Malema spoke at an EFF rally at Letlhabile Stadium outside Brits on Saturday. He called Madibela a "small boy" and urged local mines to serve the community instead of enriching him. He said: "These mines will service our people,"

Madibela alleged that a political party leader hated him after he declined an invitation to the party's gala dinner. He said he does not want to help any political party. He also said some parties ask his clients to end his work.

Screenshots of WhatsApp statuses, allegedly posted by Madibela, called Malema a "small boy" and mocked his appearance. The origin of the screenshots is not confirmed. Malema has also questioned the source of Madibela's wealth before.

Key facts

Who
Fikile Mbalula (ANC secretary-general); Solomon Madibela (North West mining tycoon, known as MySol); Julius Malema (EFF leader)
What
Malema, speaking at an EFF rally at Letlhabile Stadium on Saturday, called mining tycoon MySol Madibela a "small boy" and urged local mines to serve the community rather than enrich him. Mbalula then said on X that MySol is a solid SA entrepreneur and that he would reach out to Malema to settle the dispute.
When
24 October 2026
Where
Brits, North West, Madibeng
Status
Reported

Elections Hot

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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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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

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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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