Ongoing

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

IEC fires presiding officer over ANC car at Hammarsdale

Published

Ongoing: Elections Hot

The Electoral Commission dismissed a presiding officer who was seen putting ballot papers and the voters' roll into a car with African National Congress branding. The incident happened at a Hammarsdale voting station in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday.

KwaZulu-Natal electoral officer Ntombifuthi Masinga disclosed the dismissal at a media briefing in Durban. She said the officer was moving sensitive material at the end of the day.

The Electoral Commission said items such as ballot papers, security stamps, ink and the voters' roll do not stay overnight at a voting station. It said presiding officers are sometimes trusted to transport this material. The commission said it fired the officer and will not take the matter any further.

Key facts

Who
Ntombifuthi Masinga (KwaZulu-Natal electoral officer); Electoral Commission (electoral body that fired the presiding officer); African National Congress (party whose branded car was used)
What
The IEC fired one of its presiding officers after they were seen loading sensitive election material, such as ballot papers and the voters' roll, into an African National Congress-branded car. The KZN IEC disclosed this at a media briefing in Durban; the incident happened on Monday at a Hammarsdale voting station.
When
2 November 2026
Where
Hammarsdale, KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
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