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  2. US mid-termsHeating up
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SANBS urges public to donate blood as stocks run critically low

Published

Daily collections remain well below the 3 500 units needed to meet demand, the South African National Blood Service said. It warned that the shortage could affect emergency treatment, accident victims and life-saving surgeries before the festive season.

SANBS spokesperson Neelashan Govender said stocks have fallen below 3.4 days of the 5-day supply the service aims to maintain. He said: "over the last week, we’ve dropped to critical levels, and as of last week, we’ve dropped below 3.4 days."

Govender said KwaZulu-Natal relies on schools and universities for blood donations. He said blood stocks historically drop during exams and the holiday period.

Key facts

Who
Neelashan Govender (SANBS Spokesperson); South African National Blood Service (organisation appealing for blood donations); Oscar Ramutsheli (featured in a video segment on the appeal)
What
SANBS says daily collections remain well below the 3 500 units needed to meet demand and warns the shortage could affect emergency treatment, accident victims and life-saving surgeries. Spokesperson Neelashan Govender says stocks have fallen below 3.4 days of the 5-day supply SANBS aims to maintain.
When
28 October 2026
Where
South Africa, KZN
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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