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Newsbrief

Pirates beat Chiefs 2-1 in Soweto derby

Published

Orlando Pirates beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 at FNB Stadium on Saturday for their seventh straight league win. Mamelodi Sundowns then beat Durban City 4-1 at Loftus Versfeld and took back top spot in the Betway Premiership.

Yanela Mbuthuma scored for Pirates in the 24th minute. Pule Mmodi equalised for Chiefs in the 30th minute. Tshepang Moremi scored the winner in the 55th minute. Thapelo Mokobodi assisted both Pirates goals.

The win put Pirates two points clear of Sundowns for a time. Sundowns then won and reclaimed top spot, having played a game more than Pirates. It was the fourth successive league match without a win for Chiefs.

Other results were Marumo Gallants 3-2 Siwelele FC, Milford FC 1-0 Sekhukhune United and AmaZulu 1-0 Golden Arrows. Polokwane City drew 0-0 with TS Galaxy, Chippa United beat Stellenbosch FC 2-0 and Kruger United beat Richards Bay 3-1.

The league now goes into recess for the Carling Knockout quarterfinals and the international break. A round set for Wednesday 4 November is postponed because of local government elections.

Key facts

Who
Orlando Pirates (Betway Premiership club; beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 to go top); Kaizer Chiefs (Betway Premiership club; lost the Soweto derby 2-1); Mamelodi Sundowns (Betway Premiership club; beat Durban City 4-1 to reclaim top spot); Durban City (Betway Premiership club; lost 4-1 to Mamelodi Sundowns)
What
Orlando Pirates beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 at FNB Stadium to go top of the Betway Premiership, and Mamelodi Sundowns beat Durban City 4-1 at Loftus Versfeld to reclaim top spot, having played a game more than Pirates. Other weekend results included Marumo Gallants 3-2 Siwelele FC, Milford FC 1-0 Sekhukhune United, AmaZulu 1-0 Golden Arrows, Polokwane City 0-0 TS Galaxy, Chippa United 2-0…
When
31 October 2026
Where
Royal Bafokeng Stadium, FNB Stadium, Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium
Status
Final result

Elections Hot

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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

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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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