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Newsbrief

Western Cape electoral chief says IEC is ready for Wednesday's vote

Published

Ongoing: Elections Hot

Michael Hendrickse, the Western Cape electoral chief of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), said teams are preparing voting stations and materials. He said the IEC considered safety because of gang conflict and taxi violence in parts of Cape Town.

Hendrickse spoke ahead of the local government elections on Wednesday. He said teams are working hard to make sure voting stations are prepared and materials are in place.

He said the IEC took safety into account because of deadly gang conflict and taxi violence in parts of Cape Town. The South African Police Service is a security partner for the elections.

Hendrickse reminded voters to bring an accepted form of ID. He also told them to vote at the station where they are registered.

Key facts

Who
Michael Hendrickse (Western Cape electoral chief (IEC)); Independent Electoral Commission (electoral body); South African Police Service (security partner)
What
Ahead of the local government elections on Wednesday, Michael Hendrickse said teams are working to ensure voting stations are prepared and materials are in place, and that safety has been considered amid gang conflict and taxi violence in Cape Town. He reminded voters to bring an accepted ID and to vote at their registered station.
When
1 November 2026
Where
Western Cape, Cape Town
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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