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  2. AIHot
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Newsbrief

MK Party leads early KwaZulu-Natal count as ANC accepts outcome

Published

Ongoing: Elections Hot

With 18% of the vote counted in the local government elections, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party leads KwaZulu-Natal in seats and popular support. The ANC in the province said it will accept whatever result it gets.

ANC provincial convenor Mike Mabuyakhulu spoke at the Electoral Commission of South Africa's Results Operations Centre in Durban. He said it was still too early to draw any conclusions from the results.

Mabuyakhulu said that once voters have spoken, the matter is settled. He said democracy means accepting whatever comes out of a democratic process.

Key facts

Who
Mike Mabuyakhulu (ANC provincial convenor in KwaZulu-Natal); African National Congress (governing party; said in KZN it will accept the election outcome); uMkhonto weSizwe Party (leading the province in early results); Electoral Commission of South Africa (runs the vote counting at its Results Operations Centre in Durban)
What
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal said it will accept whatever election result it gets, while early counting at 18% showed the uMkhonto weSizwe Party leading the province in seats and popular support. ANC provincial convenor Mike Mabuyakhulu said it was too early to draw conclusions.
When
5 November 2026
Where
KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
Status
Reported

Elections Hot

What you need to know

With 21% of votes counted nationally in the local government elections, the ANC has 1.34 million votes and the DA has 1.27 million. The CSIR projects the ANC at around 31.7% and the DA at 25.8% nationally, based on 13% of voting districts declared.

The IEC said 18 municipalities had finished the results process by 9am on Thursday, against seven at the same point in 2021. Early local results point to coalition talks, with the ANC winning 10 of 25 seats in Makana, and the MK Party leading early in KwaZulu-Natal.

The IEC handles more than 800 complaints, about 106 still open, and cannot declare final results before 5pm on Friday.

  1. IEC says 15.9 million people voted in local elections
  2. ANC loses outright majority in Makana council
  3. MK Party leads early KwaZulu-Natal count as ANC accepts outcome

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AI Hot

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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US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

US Vice-President JD Vance said in a post on X that the Iran war was the reason Republicans lost the midterm elections, and he questioned whether it was worth the cost. Democrats won the Senate with a majority of at least 54-44 and gained at least 30 House seats, according to one count, and party leaders said they would rein in President Donald Trump.

Trump said the war was needed to stop Tehran getting a nuclear weapon, though he admitted it contributed to his party's losses. Earlier, projections showed Democrats winning both chambers on 3 November, and exit polls showed voters angry about high prices and the direction of the country.

Before the vote, US forces struck Qeshm Island in Iran, and Trump said a deal with Iran could happen while also threatening to resume strikes.

  1. Vance blames Iran war for Republican midterm losses
  2. Democrats win US midterms and vow to check Trump
  3. Trump says Iran war was worth it despite election losses

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