Elections Hot

Lesufi told ANC volunteers that no old Ford Cortina would run Johannesburg. He said the metro would be led by the ANC. ANC members said the remark pointed to Zille, who they said was known for driving the vintage vehicle.

Lesufi urged supporters to stay focused ahead of the local government elections on 4 November. He said the ANC had reached more people than any other party in its door-to-door work. He also said Johannesburg remains the home of the ANC.

He said opposition parties were telling people not to vote for small parties because they would not bring democracy. Lesufi called that a sign of panic. He said the ANC would surprise its enemies and come out victorious.Share

Dlabathi said: "We will build a much more financially sustainable City of Ekurhuleni." The debate was held by Radio 702 ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

DA mayoral candidate Tsholofelo Bodlani said her party will uproot corruption and professionalise the local administration. She said: "People and officials who break the law must be held personally liable for wasting money in the City of Ekurhuleni."

EFF mayoral candidate Nthabiseng Tshivhenga said crime is one of the party's biggest concerns in the metro. The debate also touched on claims that R2 billion in electricity revenue has disappeared from the city without explanation.Share

Princess Faku chairs the ANC's Dr WB Rubusana region and has been Buffalo City mayor since March 2023. Ncedo Kumbaca, the other ANC frontrunner, is a former journalist and former Eastern Cape roads and transport spokesperson.

Mkhululi Dlevu is the EFF candidate. Mzwandile Vaaiboom stands for the MK Party and is a former ANC councillor. Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, the UDM deputy president, is the UDM candidate.

In the 2021 elections the ANC won 59.4% of the vote and 61 of 100 council seats. The EFF won 12.06%, up from 7.97% in 2016, and holds 12 seats. The DA holds 20 seats. The UDM has about 1% of the vote.

Dlevu said residents have been misled for more than 30 years and that the problem has moved beyond mismanagement to looting. He also argued that 80 law enforcement officers cannot serve 851,000 residents.

Vaaiboom said a criminal investigation over sewage flowing from Schornville into the Buffalo River names the mayor, speaker, city manager and accounting officers. Kwankwa blamed collapsing infrastructure on a lack of project management capacity and water engineers.Share

Ramaphosa, who is also ANC President, asked registered voters to use their democratic right in a peaceful and responsible way. He spoke in Durban, in the eThekwini municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.

He said: "Whatever our political differences, we should all be united in wanting municipalities that work, communities that are safe, and an economy that creates opportunities and jobs."Share

Molokomme said the tender system has collapsed and is the reason major cities such as Johannesburg are in a ruined state. He said tenders cost jobs. In his words, a contractor who wins a tender worth millions of rands employs two or three people and does not finish the work.

Molokomme said ending the tender system is the best step for South Africa and the city of Johannesburg. He said it would create work for many young people.

He said: "Tenders, the tender processes and the tender system has collapsed and that is in this way, first taking away the jobs."Share

The petrol bomb was allegedly thrown in the early hours of Tuesday at the home of DA activist Sipho Sibiya. Sibiya said the attack was meant to intimidate Nyaqela. Nyaqela said the attackers mistook his neighbour's house for his.

Nyaqela said he and the DA do not trust the Dobsonville police officers, so no case was opened for the attack. Police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said an earlier intimidation case by Nyaqela was under investigation. He opened that case at Dobsonville police station on 23 October. Police have made no arrests.

DA mayoral candidate for Johannesburg Helen Zille called the incident outrageous. She said petrol attacks just days before elections raise valid suspicions about political motivation.Share

Ramaphosa defended the deployment of more than 500 soldiers in KwaZulu-Natal. It began on October 9 and is expected to run until the end of November, at a cost of more than R34 million. He said the deployment responds to requests from residents and provincial authorities. In his words: "It's not the army coming here to replace the police – they are here as a supportive element to the work being done by the police."

On a door-to-door campaign, Ramaphosa said plans are underway to address the water crisis in eThekwini. He said over 44% of households have water outages of two days or more. He said water trucks are a temporary measure.

Ramaphosa also said work is underway to reduce the cost of electricity for Magabheni residents. He said he expects the ANC to regain the majority on the metro council. The local government elections are on November 4.Share

Ramaphosa spoke to the media during ANC campaign duties. He said the government is concerned by recent developments in the province. The protests have taken place in places including the Durban CBD.

Ramaphosa said the soldiers will not take over from the police. In his words: "It's not the army coming here to replace the police. They are here as a supportive element to the work that's being done by the police."

The deployment of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members is set to run until 31 November, according to the date given in the reports.Share

IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said the commission will make over 600,000 home visits on 2 and 3 November. He said: "Remarkably, 80% of home visits are to voters over the age of 60." Women account for 74% of approved special votes.

The results centre in Midrand will receive, verify and announce results. Mamabolo said the commission added technological upgrades and independent audits. He said the audits found problems that the commission has since fixed, and that five political parties reviewed the system with no material findings.

The commission said 29.2 million voters are registered. It has bought 40,000 voter management devices and is bringing 14,000 more into use. About 888,000 staff will run voting at 23,000 voting stations.Share

The MK party took 48% of eThekwini votes in the 2024 national and provincial elections. If those results repeat in the local elections, the ANC could lose its place as the biggest party in the city. The ANC has held that place since the start of democracy.

ANC eThekwini coordinator Thanduxolo Sabelo said the party expects voters to return. He said: "We are quite confident that we will regain most of the lost ground from 2024."Share

Cosatu said its campaign follows resolutions of its 15th National Congress. The federation said its task is to make sure workers' voices help set the direction of local government and the country's development path.

Losi said Cosatu will pursue the reconfiguration and renewal of the tripartite alliance. She said this will happen through structured political engagement and an alliance political council.

Losi said: "Political support must be principled and linked to a clear working-class programme rather than treated as an unconditional mandate for any political formation."Share

National Coloured Congress representative Fadiel Adams said coloured nationalism was a direct response to the exclusion of coloured communities. He said: "Our story is of broken promises, suffering, and of compromise." EFF representative Carl Niehaus said the challenges facing coloured communities should be addressed through solidarity between coloured and black South Africans.

DA representative Francine Higham said the DA had invested over R40 billion in infrastructure over the last five years. She said this included a record R12.2 billion in the last financial year, and that 75% of it directly benefited lower-income households.

Brett Herron, the mayoral hopeful for The Good Party, said Cape Town had unfortunately earned the title of a tale of two cities. Jeremiah Thuynsma spoke for the ANC at the debate.Share

The campaign stops cover Inkanyenzi in Alexandra, which is in Ward 75, and Marlboro, which is in Ward 109. Residents in these areas say overcrowding is a problem.

They also raise concerns about water and sanitation, and about electricity supply. These service delivery issues are likely to shape the ANC's campaign in the area.Share

Lungisa told residents the ANC needed to regain the faith it lost after it lost its majority in 2016. He said Nelson Mandela Bay voters had new faith then and chose the DA under Athol Trollip. He also said Trollip's coalition-era capacity "died" when coalitions started leading.

Lungisa said that even without an outright majority, the ANC must come close so that it leads the government again. At a Mission Vale meeting, he said he would note the names of families who did not vote ANC, so the party could fetch them to vote on 4 November.

Some residents recalled that shanty areas were electrified while Lungisa was the municipality's infrastructure MMC. Two Mission Vale residents said the DA takeover of Ward 31 brought no dramatic change. They blamed the ANC councillor for failing them.

In 2016 the DA won 46.71% of the vote in the city and 57 council seats. The ANC won 50 seats, down from 62 in 2011. In Ward 48, the DA vote share fell from 69.70% in 2016 to 44.63% in 2021.Share

The exercise is a joint safety and security drill. It will take place in Sunninghill, and roads in the area include Tumbach Road, Rivonia Road, Leeuwkop Road and Witkoppen Road.

JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla spoke about traffic during the exercise. He said: "Traffic management measures will be enforced."Share

WhichParty asks users questions on local and national issues. It then matches their answers with parties, using party documents and statements. The tool is free to use.

Abrahams said voters have no easy way to learn what parties stand for without hours or days of research. He said the response to the tool has been encouraging.

Abrahams said: "Everyone that I've spoken to, we all feel that we're voting blindly." The Local Government Elections take place on 4 November.Share

The centre is the main base for auditing, collating, verifying and announcing election results. The IEC is set to open it before the municipal polls.

The launch follows a technical glitch in the 2024 general polls. The leader board at the national results operations centre went blank for about two hours.

The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party challenged the 2024 results in the Electoral Court. The party claims the glitch allowed the rigging of votes.Share

The polls also look at eThekwini. They project that the MK Party will be the largest party there, with more than 40% of the vote.

The same polls project much lower support for the MK Party in Tshwane and Johannesburg. Coalitions have governed both cities since 2016.Share

The IEC has focused on young people ahead of the elections on 4 November 2026. The share of candidates aged 18 to 39 is over 32%.

Sydney Keya, a third-year journalism student at the Durban University of Technology, is reporting on youth and politics. One report described the candidate pool as an unprecedented push for fresh leadership and community-led solutions.Share

The EFF will hold its final rally at Orlando Stadium on Saturday. The rally is expected to start at around 3 o'clock. Maotwe said it will mark the end of the party's local government election campaign.

Maotwe said the party is confident it has resonated with people on the ground. The party is hopeful its campaigning will pay off on election day.Share