Ongoing

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

Malema says he knows names of alleged SSA spies in EFF

Published

EFF leader Julius Malema told supporters at the party's final election rally at Orlando Stadium on Saturday that he has a list of people allegedly linked to an R12 million State Security Agency operation. He said the list is in a safe.

Malema said he received the list three days earlier. He claimed the State Security Agency (SSA) used public money to infiltrate the EFF and Fees Must Fall. He said the aim was to divide the party and win members back to the ANC.

Malema also claimed there were efforts to collapse the EFF and place it under the leadership of Jacob Zuma and the MK Party. He said advocate Dali Mpofu proposed that the EFF dissolve and regroup under Zuma. Malema said this happened at a meeting of opposition parties that Zuma convened before the May 2024 election.

The allegations come up in a theft and fraud trial in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. The accused are former SSA members Patrick Mshothola and Thulani Dlomo. Evidence in court says former state security minister David Mahlobo instructed the payout of the R12 million, including R160 000 to an official in his office.

Malema told the crowd: "They failed. We defeated them. The EFF remains intact."

Key facts

Who
Julius Malema (EFF president); Patrick Mshothola (former member of the SSA's Chief Directorate for Special Operations, facing…); Thulani Dlomo (former member of the SSA's Chief Directorate for Special Operations, facing…); David Mahlobo (former state security minister, named in court evidence as having instructed…)
What
At the EFF's final election rally at Orlando Stadium on Saturday, Malema said he had received a list of people allegedly linked to an R12 million SSA operation (Project Mayibuye) to infiltrate the party, and that he had put the list in a safe. The allegations are part of a theft and fraud trial in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria against former SSA members Patrick Mshothola and Thulani Dlomo.
When
31 October 2026
Where
Orlando Stadium, Pretoria, Gauteng
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. 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