Ongoing

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

RTMC urges motorists to renew licence discs before festive season

Published

The Road Traffic Management Corporation says 2,248,795 vehicle licence discs expire in November and December. Gauteng has the most, at 851,687. The agency also asks drivers to renew driving licences before the holiday rush.

Western Cape has 374,761 discs due to expire in the two months. KwaZulu-Natal has 327,014. RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane gave the figures in a statement on road safety.

Zwane said traffic volumes are expected to increase significantly during the festive season. He also said rain is expected in parts of the country.

RTMC driving licence testing centres will extend their hours from Sunday to Monday. They will open between 7am and 9pm.

Zwane said: "The road safety agency is making a special plea to all motorists to make road safety a priority this festive season."

Key facts

Who
Simon Zwane (RTMC spokesperson); Road Traffic Management Corporation (road traffic agency that issued the warning)
What
The RTMC urged motorists to renew their vehicle licence discs and driving licences before the festive season, citing 2,248,795 vehicle licence discs due to expire in November and December, with Gauteng having the most (851,687).
When
28 October 2026
Where
Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal
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