“It was almost like it was inevitable it was going to be one-all,” Pat Cummins mused.

“t feels like the climax of a huge series. The cricket has spoken for itself in these first couple of weeks and it’s all come together here. It’s going to be huge,” added the Australian captain.

“Both teams have fired shots and you can’t wait for it to start. We’ve got, in terms of the Test team, almost two months until our next Test after this. This is your grand final for the next week. We’ll put everything into this week.”

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His counterpart, Temba Bavuma agreed about the magnitude of the occasion. “It’s definitely not just another game of cricket,” he said.

“Some guys in (Proteas) group haven’t tasted a Test series victory over Australia. So it will be nice for them to experience what that means.”

Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj, have been part of two series wins against Australia - Down Under in 2016 and of course the infamous 2018 triumph in SA. Aiden Markram was part of that team eight years ago also.

For everyone else, the week provides an opportunity to claim a unique and valuable slice of history. The 3-1 series win in 2018 is SA’s only home series victory against Australia, post-isolation.

Bavuma played an enormous role in putting his team in this position, with a career-best innings at St George’s Park last week. “You come off such a high and I guess the challenge is to find a way to get yourself into the right mental space. I need to take whatever confidence I got from St. George’s, but make sure I’m really present here and locked in for the next five days.”

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Both teams still look vulnerable with the bat. Where, Bavuma rescued his side from 110/6 in Gqeberha, with help from the lower order, so a week before Matt Renshaw had done the same for Australia from 120/6.

South Africa acted decisively after the loss in Durban, dropping Tristan Stubbs and Kyle Verreynne. Two new faces, Matthew Breetzke and Marques Ackerman, got to see the realities of Test cricket in Gqeberha, where under leaden skies, they were bamboozled by Scott Boland.

This week, it’s Australia’s turn to make changes, although on Monday afternoon, Cummins wasn’t ready to reveal yet what those would be. He, coach Andrew McDonald and selector George Bailey were taking one last look at the Newlands surface before finalising their 11.

Bavuma felt it would spin, and with the forecast for the week good, Simon Harmer will have a big role to play on Days 4 and 5.

Cummins said Australia was still weighing up whether to choose off-spinner, Nathan Lyon, who was axed in Geqeberha. If he does come back, then it seems like Boland, who took a fiver and batted for more than three hours in the follow-on innings at St George’s Park will have to sit out the decider.

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With Nic Maddinson sent home to play in the Sheffield Shield, Renshaw will move to opener, a position he was originally selected for two months ago when he was restored to the Test team.

Cummins was “99% sure” Cameron Green would start, and probably bat in the middle order. Green made a century in the first Test against Bangladesh in August, but missed the first two matches of the current series after tearing an abdominal muscle in the last ODI in Potchefstroom.

Whatever combination the Australians settle on, the ramifications of the outcome for them at Newlands will be enormous. Win, and this group can probably continue into their home summer series against New Zealand. Lose, and jobs and careers may be on the line.

A loss won’t be as drastic for South Africa, but it will make the spotlight on the batting failures of the last few weeks that much harsher. There’s been too much chopping and changing. Bavuma knows that, and again outlined how keen he is for greater stability.

That may require him to don his cape again, like he did at St. George’s Park. “Newlands might present a slightly different challenge,” he said.

Playing XI for Third Dafabet Test vs Australia 🚨#TheProteas skipper, Temba Bavuma, confirms the playing XI for tomorrow’s third and final Dafabet Test, with the series on the line at YesPlay Newlands. 🇿🇦

🔁 One change for #TheProteas sees Gerald Coetzee coming in for Anrich… pic.twitter.com/lRZobnN0OQ

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 26, 2026

After years of neglect, Newlands looks like the picture perfect venue it has marketed itself as for so many years. It was starting to fall apart, mainly due to the haphazard decision by immature administrators, some of whom still serve on the Western Province Board.

It still has a sanction hanging over it, from the two day Test involving India in 2024. But the storied ground has received some much needed TLC. The outfield is a lovely green. It looks picturesque again. The Australian players, including Cummins, have given it the instagram tick of approval.

Hopefully the cricket, over the next few weeks, matches the aesthetics of the venue.

Jerusalem — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted of his endorsement from Donald Trump on the eve of Israel’s election, suggesting the two leaders could restart their war against Iran if he wins, after Trump said they should “finish the job”.

“US President Donald Trump has come with a friendship that has never existed before between an Israeli prime minister and an American president. And it is doubtful we will ever have such a friendly president again,” Netanyahu said in a televised appearance late on Sunday night. “He has another two years, and he says he is calling on you to vote for me.”

In his own social media post on Sunday, Trump, who launched the Iran war jointly with Netanyahu in February, said, “Vote for Bibi Netanyahu for prime minister; we have to finish the job that we started!”

Netanyahu said Trump was willing to take action “that would finally, finally, remove the Iranian threat”, but only as long as Netanyahu himself remains in power.

“And I have already instructed the Mossad and the IDF (military) to bring down this regime, to bring down this regime because that is the only way to put an end to this threat,” Netanyahu said, referring to Israel’s main intelligence service and military.

Asked for comment on Netanyahu’s remarks, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said, “As President Trump stated, Iran is in very bad condition, both economically and militarily, and the blockade will remain in full force and effect, with oil flowing in record numbers of barrels through the Hormuz Strait.”

“The US will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the midterm elections,” Kelly added via email, referring to the November 3 vote in the US.

Netanyahu’s leading opponent, centrist former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, posted his own comments on social media, praising Trump as “a true friend of Israel”.

“I value his efforts and his commitment to Israel’s security, and I am confident that he will work in full co-operation with any leader chosen by the people.”

Security failure

Tuesday’s vote, Israel’s first since the October 7 2023 Hamas attacks, is the first chance for voters to deliver a verdict on the worst security failure in generations and the wars on multiple fronts that followed.

With Netanyahu already at the helm of the most right-wing government in Israeli history, politics have shifted even further to the right. Nearly all Jewish-led parties, including that of the hawkish Eisenkot, now oppose the “two-state solution” that underpinned decades of peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

But many voters say the divisive politics of Israel’s longest-serving leader make the country weaker. Polls suggest Netanyahu’s Likud Party will lose seats, potentially depriving his coalition of right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties of its narrow majority.

Eisenkot and a range of opposition parties, from the weakened centre-left to the right, also have no clear path to unseating him.

Netanyahu, 77, is an unrivalled master of political survival: the only time since 2009 that opponents managed to wrest him briefly from the premiership, it took four inconclusive elections within two years to get him out. He was back 18 months later.

Neither side planned major public events for Monday. But both posted on social media, drumming on the election’s major themes — for Netanyahu, that he is the only leader with the mettle to face down Israel’s enemies; for his opponents, that his divisive politics have weakened the country.

Netanyahu shared an AI-generated video on Monday of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father Ali Khamenei was killed on the first night of US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. Lying in a hospital bed, the younger Khamenei says his own vote would be “definitely not Bibi. Another term like this, and I will be meeting my father sooner than expected.”

On Sunday Netanyahu posted a computer-generated photo of a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv, saying Israel was in existential danger from Iran.

Eisenkot responded by accusing him of “relying on a campaign of fear-mongering, lies and threats — including images of nuclear bombs in the heart of Tel Aviv. This time, it won’t work for him.”

Trump’s endorsement of Netanyahu carries its own political risks a week before a legislative election in which his own Republicans are seeking to hold onto power.

The Iran war is deeply unpopular in the US, blamed for a surge in prices, especially for fuel. Major fighting has been suspended for months after ceasefire negotiations held without Israeli participation.

Reuters

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An expert video and CCTV analyst continued to show footage in the state’s case against seven men accused of killing rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes on Monday, showing a video clip of the moment AKA was shot.

KwaZulu-Natal Organised Crime Unit Sgt Rajen Sanders, who has collected 17 video clips to track the movements of the accused, last week linked three men to being the spotter, tail and supplier of guns that killed AKA and celebrity chef Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane in the Durban high court.

On Friday, he named accused five Lindokuhle Mhlaliseni Ndimande, 29, as one of the spotters in the gang who plotted the musician’s death.

Ndimande — who was constantly on his phone — sat across from AKA and his friends as they enjoyed their meal minutes before they walked outside to their deadly ambush.

AKA and Tibz were gunned down as they left the now defunct Wish restaurant on Florida Road in Durban on February 10 2023.

Ndimande, as well as Lindokuhle Thabani Mkhwanazi, 30, Lindani Zenzele Ndimande, 35, Siyanda Eddie Myeza, 23, Mziwelithini Gwabeni, 36, Malusi Dave Ndimande, 30, and Siyabonga Gezani Ndimande, 31, pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms when the trial began on October 5.

On Monday he played footage of the moment AKA was shot, in slow motion.

He was questioned at length by prosecutor Adv Lawrence Gcaba, who went through the footage frame by frame about the moment AKA fell to the ground after the sparks from the gunshot were seen.

He froze the video on a frame where a pool of blood seeped out from under AKA as he lay on the ground.

Gcaba probed Saunders about the two shooters, both of whom bear a resemblance to two accused and the direction in which they ran.

During questioning after the lunch break, the accused were indifferent to the graphic footage on screen, and it came to the court’s attention that Malusi Ndimande fell asleep with his head resting on the edge of the dock. He stirred when the judge asked his legal representative a question.

Sanders said the two shooters ran across the road, past two benches in the park opposite the restaurant and into Gordon Road. There he showed them getting into a getaway car, a white Mercedes-Benz.

The state has called at least 17 witnesses, including crew members who travelled with AKA from the airport when he landed in Durban.

These witnesses, including his DJ, Tshediso Mokoko, better known as Don Design, musician and old friend Lusaso Ngcobo, manager Tshiamo Letshwene and photographer Thotloetso Kutlwano Mogotsi, recounted AKA and Tibz’s final hours before the panic, fear and blood following the shooting.

Forensic witnesses including fingerprint expert Lt-Col Nathaniel Zachariah linked Myeza to a car used during a hit on a taxi boss in a separate murder, linked by the same gun and cartridges used in AKA’s death, and found on Myeza when he was arrested.

Car rental businessman Sonwabile Bani told the court that he leased a grey VW Polo and white Hyundai i10 to Gwabeni, which were allegedly used to execute the hit. Another witness, Imraan Khan, testified via affidavit that he rented a grey BMW to Gwabeni.

The state also led crucial testimony from a surveillance analyst from King Shaka International Airport, who on the second day of testifying told the court he had received death threats.

He presented video footage from the airport which showed Gwabeni tailing AKA from the airport to Hilton Hotel in uMhlanga and then to Wish restaurant.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

Video courtesy of SABC.

Sowetan

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Traffic flow on the M1 freeway was severely disrupted on Monday as the Smit Street on-ramps and off-ramps in Johannesburg were closed while members of the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) protested over wage disputes, causing traffic congestion in the city’s CBD and surrounding areas.

The Johannesburg metropolitan police department (JMPD) said the closures affected both northbound and southbound carriageways.

Department officers have been deployed to manage traffic and direct motorists away from the protest, with diversions in place.

Motorists travelling south on the M1 from Sandton or Rosebank have been advised to exit at Empire Road or Jan Smuts Avenue and use routes through Parktown.

Those travelling north from Booysens or other southern areas have been urged to use Booysens Road or the M2 East, and Joe Slovo Drive, to bypass the CBD.

The JMPD has also advised east-west commuters to use the M2, M11 (Victoria Avenue or Joubert Park) or the N1 Western Bypass.

Motorists have been urged to follow traffic officers’ instructions, approach diversions with caution and allow extra time for their journeys, particularly during peak hours.

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The group, founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, has been dealt severe blows in two wars with Israel since 2024, with thousands of fighters and many of its leaders killed and much of its arsenal destroyed.

Invading Israeli forces now occupy its heartland of villages in southern Lebanon, and political pressure has built up in Beirut for its disarmament.

It nevertheless remains committed to fighting Israel and has used a lull in hostilities since June to rearm, with a focus on procuring explosives and producing drones that can be flown into Israeli positions, said two Lebanese security sources.

One of the sources, and another close to Hezbollah, said the group had received tens of millions of dollars from Iran to help boost its military capabilities. That is in addition to about $200m (R3.3bn) the group received from Tehran to aid displaced families in its Shi’ite heartlands.

The group has been restoring command-and-control structures that broke down in key battles, according to one of those sources and three other security officials familiar with the group’s operations.

Hezbollah’s media office said Israel’s occupation of Lebanese land made any resistance to it a legitimate right. It rejected the suggestion that its command-and-control systems had broken down.

A US state department spokesperson said Washington would keep strangling Hezbollah’s finances through sanctions and other measures. A US Treasury spokesperson said Iran was running out of money and ways to move money.

Continued tensions

Hezbollah’s effort comes amid continued tensions in the wider Middle Eastern conflict ignited by the US-Israeli attack on Iran in February.

Hezbollah opened fire in support of Iran on March 2, triggering an Israeli offensive that killed more than 4,000 people and uprooted a quarter of Lebanon’s population, mostly members of Hezbollah’s Shi’ite Muslim constituency.

Hostilities largely abated over the summer as an interim Iran-US deal included a Lebanon ceasefire and Washington-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel. Full-scale hostilities have not resumed in Lebanon despite the collapse of the US-Iranian deal, though Israel continues deadly strikes in the south.

Hezbollah is on alert for a possible US-Iran escalation, potentially reigniting the Lebanon front.

The sources said the group had not yet managed to fully prepare its stockpiles or fighting force.

Hezbollah is still restocking, acknowledging this month that explosives seized by Lebanese authorities belonged to it and were intended for use against Israel. A ⁠Hezbollah official and a Lebanese security source said they were specifically ​for its explosive drones.

Remote warfare

The group will also need to repair command-and-control capabilities after losses on key fronts, including the flashpoint town of Bint Jbeil and the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge, according to one of the Lebanese sources and three security officials.

They said Hezbollah’s tactic of operating in small units and rationing the use of anti-tank rockets left some units isolated on those fronts, struggling to confront Israel’s remotely operated systems, including weaponised drones and armed remote-controlled vehicles.

The Israeli military said it used remotely-operated systems to monitor southern Lebanon and reduce troops’ threat exposure.

Hezbollah has not explicitly said whether it would take part in the eruption of fresh hostilities, but its media office said it was wary of giving Israeli leaders any justification to escalate in Lebanon, particularly as the group was concerned about its constituents being displaced once more.

Reuters

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has accused the City of Tshwane of dereliction of duty in its handling of water services, describing the situation in Bronkhorstspruit as “unacceptable” as the municipality faces questions over a chlorine supply failure linked to an outbreak.

Ramaphosa said the incident exposed weaknesses in municipal water management and underscored the need for national government to intervene more directly in addressing the country’s water crisis.

“What has happened in Bronkhorstspruit is a complete dereliction of the work and the duties that the municipality of Tshwane was supposed to be executing,” he said.

“It is really sad and unacceptable that in the end it leads to diseases that are going to spread among our people.”

This comes as the Sunday Times reported this week that the poor water quality at the Bronkhorstspruit treatment plant had been flagged as far back as the 2023 Blue Drop report, scoring just 42.3% against a benchmark of 95% or higher for drinking-water compliance.

The report said the department of water & sanitation also sent the Tshwane municipality a letter of noncompliance in February, and the city undertook to complete a host of refurbishments to get the compliance levels up. The commitments, however, were not met within the agreed time frames.

Water is a major problem in our country. We’re a water-scarce country and we therefore need to use water sparingly

President Cyril Ramaphosa

At least 400 people fell ill from gastrointestinal illnesses after they were exposed to unchlorinated water from the Bronkhorstspruit treatment plant.

Ramaphosa was speaking amid growing concerns about water security as the country prepares for the effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon, which he warned would bring reduced rainfall, particularly around the middle of the summer season.

He said the government had established an interministerial committee to coordinate its response and had made budgetary provisions to prepare for the anticipated conditions.

“We are getting ready. In fact, we are ready in government,” he said.

The president said he had also established a national water crisis committee, saying water security had become a critical national concern that required a coordinated response across all spheres of government.

“Water is a major problem in our country. We’re a water-scarce country and we therefore need to use water sparingly.”

Ramaphosa said municipalities remained responsible for much of the work involved in distributing water to households, but weaknesses at local government level had prompted national government to take a more active role.

“We are now beginning to take charge. We’re beginning to say water is a national right for all South Africans. It is an important issue. We now need as national to get hold of it.”

National government is assisting municipalities with bulk water supply, distribution infrastructure and the management of water resources, he added.

The contributing factor in the outbreak is because of no chlorine, not the warning that they were talking about

Eugene Modise, Tshwane deputy mayor

Tshwane deputy mayor Eugene Modise, who is also the ANC’s Tshwane chairperson, defended the municipality’s response to the Bronkhorstspruit incident, disputing claims by the Sunday Times that it had ignored prior warnings of a possible outbreak.

He attributed the outbreak to a lack of chlorine, alleging that municipal officials had failed to inform political leadership of the problem timeously.

“No, no, let me put it clear. These people are lying. The contributing factor in the outbreak is because of no chlorine, not the warning that they were talking about,” he said, reacting to the Sunday Times report.

Modise said a dispute had arisen with a supplier who allegedly wanted to increase the price of chlorine fourfold, which the municipality could not afford.

“There was a time where they were negotiating price. The supplier was almost greedy in terms of his attitude, because he wanted to increase the price four times, and we couldn’t afford that,” he said.

He said the municipality had initiated consequence management, with the plant manager suspended pending an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“The plant manager has been suspended, and we are conducting a thorough investigation into what contributed to this unfortunate situation,” he said.

Modise said the municipality had invested in water infrastructure in Bronkhorstspruit ahead of the outbreak, describing the incident as regrettable.

On preparations for El Niño, he said Tshwane was planning to refurbish boreholes to improve the reliability of its water supply and reduce its dependence on rainfall. He said the municipality was also looking at incorporating rainwater into its water supply strategy as it sought to strengthen its capacity to withstand water shortages.

The deputy mayor acknowledged that the city had challenges with water supply, pointing to spillage further upstream as one of the contributing problems.

Ramaphosa’s warning comes as municipalities face pressure to ensure reliable water services while preparing for the possibility of reduced rainfall. The president said addressing the crisis required cooperation between national and local government, with municipalities needing to strengthen their management of water infrastructure and distribution.

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Eugene de Kock, who was convicted of apartheid-era killings, has blamed the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for failing to seek information from him about killings and bombings allegedly ordered by police generals and politicians, including former president PW Botha.

De Kock, who commanded the apartheid police death squad at Vlakplaas responsible for extrajudicial killings, testified on Monday before the Khampepe commission of inquiry, which is investigating allegations of political interference in efforts to investigate and prosecute crimes referred by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

De Kock’s evidence is crucial to the commission because he was convicted in 1996 of six murders, as well as conspiracy to murder, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping and other offences. The crimes related to the activities of what was known as “apartheid death squads”, which operated out of Vlakplaas near Pretoria and were responsible for several killings of political activists. The unit worked with uMkhonto weSizwe agents who turned and worked for the apartheid police. The agents were called “askaris”.

De Kock described himself as the middleman between high-ranking apartheid generals and officers who carried out killings and bombings, adding that his evidence would have been key to the NPA in seeking to prosecute, but “I was never asked”, even though he was “available all the time in prison”.

RECORDED | Eugene de Kock testifies at TRC inquiry

De Kock blames Anton Ackermann, who was the head of the NPA unit investigating TRC cases, saying that despite being called to meetings by Ackermann, he was never asked about TRC cases, those behind murders or politicians who issued instructions.

“It would therefore have been obvious to the prosecuting authorities that I would have a great deal of information that would be of relevance to the prosecution of other individuals as well as the generals who were in command and the politicians who instructed them.

“However, very little attempt was made by advocate Anton Ackermann or attorney-general advocate Jan d’Oliveira to interview me regarding my knowledge of apartheid-era crimes,” De Kock said.

Among politicians involved in apartheid crimes, he listed former presidents Botha and FW de Klerk.

“The politicians were definitely PW Botha, Adriaan Vlok and Louis le Grange, and at a later stage I did receive information that De Klerk, President de Klerk, the one that … urinated himself out of fear, gave the order for the killing of five children in Mthatha. I want to know why he was not prosecuted. He actually got a Nobel prize for killing children. I think it is disgusting. It should be recalled,” De Kock said.

The NPA has opened an inquest into the October 1993 killing of five youths, including two 12-year-olds, who were shot dead in a South African Defence Force raid on an alleged Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla) base at the Mpendulo residence in the Mthatha suburb of Northcrest.

Read: I did not direct the suppression of TRC prosecutions, says Mbeki

De Kock said that after the bombings were carried out by his unit, he was applauded by top politicians. But when the whip was cracked on apartheid crimes, he was the only one to be prosecuted and to serve jail time, and not those who issued instructions.

One of the police generals who was responsible for a killing pinned the crime on him.

“I have never been reluctant to provide information to the prosecuting authorities; however, they have simply never approached me to provide this information. I disclosed openly and fully my involvement in the crimes for which I had been charged. This would have provided the prosecuting authorities with ample evidence with which to pursue further prosecutions,” De Kock said.

De Kock said Ackermann said he knew that he had information about the apartheid human rights violation crimes, despite his not having disclosed such information to him. “I made it clear on many occasions that I wanted to testify; why was he [Ackermann] not prosecuting?”

Ackermann is due to return to the commission for cross-examination, and the allegations levelled by De Kock against him will be among the questions posed to him.

Read: Kasrils rejects claims of secret meetings with apartheid generals

Ackermann previously testified before the commission on operational challenges which led to the failure to prosecute. He told the commission the Scorpions had declined to investigate TRC cases, leaving the NPA in a dilemma.

While allegations have been made that there were secret meetings between ANC officials and apartheid army and police generals to avoid prosecutions, De Kock said he was not aware of such meetings, but the commission should look at those who stood to benefit from the failure of prosecutions: the apartheid generals and politicians who issued instructions.

De Kock said he was willing to testify “even now” on apartheid killings and those who escaped prosecution.

“For the most part, my instructions came from very senior police officers: the generals. There was a chain of command, and I was a key link between the generals and those who carried out the operations.

“I was (and I am) able to provide evidence about (for example) the role played by Maj-Gen Izak ‘Krappies’ Engelbrecht, who was in the chain of command above me, and about a number of the other generals under whom I worked,” he said.

“The generals have not been prosecuted, despite judge Willem van der Merwe having found at the conclusion of my criminal trial that there was ‘more than enough evidence to charge Gen Engelbrecht’.”

He said his experience demonstrates that political office-bearers were both aware of and involved in what was happening.

“For example, to my personal knowledge, minister Louis le Grange signed off on the bombing of the ANC offices in London. He decorated the people who were involved in this, including me. Minister Adriaan Vlok visited Vlakplaas on many occasions. On one occasion he came there to congratulate me on the bombing of Khotso House [the offices of the South African Council of Churches] and Cosatu House.

“When I was instructed by Brig Willem Schoon to bomb Cosatu House, he told me that the instruction to do this was ‘from very high’. I asked him how high, and he said that it came directly from President PW Botha,” he said.

De Kock will return to the commission for cross-examination.

Business Day

“This decision reflects my conviction that protecting the institute, and allowing it to continue fulfilling its constitutional mission, must always take precedence over any circumstantial or personal interest,” Taddei said.

The resignation, which Taddei announced on Sunday and was expected to officially present on Monday, comes as the institute is busy organising the legislative elections scheduled for June 2027.

Taddei has been accused of favouring an INE contractor, with whom she has a personal relationship, with contracts worth millions of dollars.

“Over the past few days, rumours, fabricated material, leaks, and versions of events have spread through the media and social networks, and as in all such cases, their authenticity, context, and purpose must be verified and corroborated,” Taddei said in a statement.

Sheinbaum said that an investigation into the possible conflict of interest at INE was necessary, but criticised what she described as a public lynching of Taddei.

Reuters

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Thousands of men descended on the streets of Mzansi at the weekend for the 2026 Hollard Daredevil Run.

The race, famous for its purple Speedo swimwear worn by racers, raises awareness for prostate and testicular cancer screening and encourages men to take proactive steps towards their health and wellbeing.

This year the event carried the bold tagline “Lekker Balls. Lekker Life”, reinforcing the potentially life-saving importance of early cancer detection.

Prostate and testicular cancers deserve particular attention, awareness and action. One in eight men is expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, with black African men facing a 60% higher risk than other population groups. Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in SA men.

Testicular cancer, while less widespread, is most common in young men aged 15-49, affecting approximately one in every 250 males. When caught early, both cancers are highly treatable.

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By Reade Levinson

Ahmad Yahya was nine years old when he fled a wartime attack on his village in North Darfur, Sudan. Separated from most of his family amid the chaos, he walked for days before reaching a dusty refugee camp outside this remote town in Chad.

Ahmad’s little brother Sadam Ismail also made it to the camp, as did a young cousin, Alhadi Saleh. Many of their other relatives scattered or were killed.

That was in 2003. The brutal Darfur war that displaced the boys officially ended long ago, but conflicts continued to simmer, and a major civil war erupted in Sudan three years ago. Ahmad, Sadam and Alhadi are still living in the same houses where they grew up in the refugee camp, and Ahmad is now raising two boys of his own there.

They are among the vast numbers of Sudanese who have become perpetual refugees in one of the world’s poorest countries. Since the latest Sudan war broke out — a clash between rival military factions — some 974,000 people have fled into Chad, bringing the total Sudanese refugee population to 1.4-million.

A generation after the first of these people arrived, there is no path for them to return to Sudan, to build a stable life where they are, or to go anywhere else.

“We don’t have work here,” said Ahmad, now 32. “We don’t have any money. We can’t stay like this.”

Permanence and impermanence

The Iridimi camp sprawls across roughly three square miles on a semi-arid plain in eastern Chad. Aid agencies deliver water once or twice a week. Food is scarce, with some families subsisting only on grain. Ahmad and his wife and children, along with his mother and two sisters who joined him at the camp, live in a sand-coloured brick compound, with multiple rooms and a space to welcome guests. Each year, after the rainy season, they patch the walls.

The family’s carefully tended brick house and their single bag of sorghum with faded aid-agency labels reflect the sense of permanence and impermanence they have lived with since fleeing to Chad. Like about 300,000 others who escaped the Darfur war, Ahmad, his brother and his cousin thought they would shelter safely for a brief time and return to Sudan when peace was restored. Instead, they have been stuck in limbo year after year.

Their predicament is not unique to Chad. An estimated 70% of the world’s 36-million refugees at the end of 2025 were trapped in situations that have dragged on for five years or more with no resolution in sight, according to the UN refugee agency’s estimates.

In the 23 years since Ahmad, Sadam and Alhadi arrived in Chad, humanitarian aid to the country has fluctuated, unable to keep pace with an enduring — and worsening — emergency. Total humanitarian funding to Chad has doubled over the last 20 years, adjusted for inflation, according to ALNAP, a network of humanitarian groups that compiles data from the UN as well as other public and private sources. The refugee population has increased sixfold over the same period, according to UN data.

The aid squeeze comes amid a broader global refugee crisis. The number of people forcibly displaced from their homes, including refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced people, rose 33% in the last five years to 118-million, according to the UN. Meanwhile, global humanitarian funding dropped 20% to $33bn, according to ALNAP.

Exacerbating the decline is the $7.4bn in cuts to global humanitarian aid that ALNAP estimates the US government made in 2025, the year that Donald Trump began his second term as president. The US, the single largest donor to Chad, slashed its funding to the country last year. In 2025, the US gave Chad $117m, a 65% drop from its peak the year before, according to data from ALNAP.

A spokesperson for the US State Department said the Trump administration has spent $100m in fiscal year 2026 to respond to needs in Chad and that the “United States is committed to ending the horrific conflict in Sudan.”

Displacement for decades

For Ahmad, Sadam and Alhadi, the sputtering pipeline of humanitarian aid shows the limits of relief programmes that were created to address temporary crises, not to sustain displacement that lasts decades.

There are not enough wells in the Iridimi camp to support its exploding population, and the semi-desert terrain yields little vegetation. Some of the longer term residents, including Ahmad and his relatives, started farming tiny plots of land near the dry bed of a seasonal stream several kilometres away, growing sorghum, millet and other crops.

But severe drought this year meant the family had no harvest at the end of the rainy season in September and October. That forced Ahmad and his extended family, like thousands of others, to rely almost entirely on handouts from a web of international agencies.

In Chad, food aid is distributed mostly in the form of cash payments from the UN World Food Programme, which operates in the area along with other humanitarian groups that primarily provide medical and other support. The WFP uses a combination of electronic transfers to refugees’ mobile accounts as well as more traditional vouchers and paper money. Some agencies also hand out food directly.

These aren’t percentages on a spreadsheet. They mean meals not delivered. Shelters not built. Children not treated.

The WFP was forced to start reducing disbursements at the start of 2026 due to funding shortages, according to interviews with agency staff in Chad. A full monthly ration for a household in Chad is 8,000 Central African francs (CFA) ($14 or R233); Ahmad said his family of four now gets the equivalent of $7 and cannot afford to buy anything at the market.

The falloff in food aid combined with the drought and swelling population have battered the refugee camp’s informal economy. Staples like sugar, oil and sorghum can still be found at the local market, some of it trucked in from neighbouring Niger and Libya. In the past three months, Ahmad said, prices in the market have soared. A gallon of cooking oil is 3,000 CFA, or about $5, twice what it was in the summer and unaffordable for his family, he said.

In the camp’s market, a once-profitable card-playing shop has stopped charging people to play and now only asks them to pay for tea, the owner said. Fewer residents have money for shops that sell cell phones, Starlink access, and bread, according to interviews with people at the camp.

Ahmad’s cousin Alhadi, 33 and newly married, has tried to make ends meet with part-time work repairing cell phones or driving people on a motorized rickshaw he borrows from a friend. But with less cash in the system, there is little work to be had, he said.

“We used to rely only on ourselves, but this year is different,” said Alhadi, who lives with his wife in a house not far from Ahmad’s.

Because the family’s shared farm plot produced nothing this year, they subsist on a stew made from the bag of sorghum that an aid agency delivered last month. “There is nothing to give to our kids, no good food to give them,” Ahmad said.

Only the most vulnerable

The rows of structures that make up the camp tell the history of the Sudan conflict and the struggle of humanitarian agencies to keep up: most of the original Darfur refugees, like Ahmad and his relatives, have built houses of brick. Refugees who fled the current war live in evenly-spaced wood or metal buildings with shiny tin roofs, constructed en-masse by aid organizations. But at the camp’s edges, many new arrivals are given only plastic-covered shelters that offer little protection against the relentless sun.

In September, a UNHCR database of refugees at Iridimi and its adjacent camp Goudrane registered a population of 94,718.

Iridimi, which lies about 80kms from the Sudan border, was established in 2004 by the UN refugee agency and non-governmental organisations. It is the fourth oldest of about 30 refugee camps scattered across the four eastern Chad provinces that border Sudan.

Relations between the two countries have been complex for decades, and people on both sides of the border share deep tribal connections and close family ties. Soon after the 2023 war broke out, Chadian President Mahamat Déby formalised legal protections for all refugees and asylum seekers, including the right to work and move within the country.

The Chadian government did not respond to multiple requests for comment about how it is addressing the challenges of the refugee crisis.

The WFP has been forced to slash the number of refugees who receive food support in Chad, an agency spokesperson said. The agency as of October is providing full monthly rations only to about 200,000 people it classifies as “extremely vulnerable”, the spokesperson said. That is less than 15% of Chad’s Sudanese refugee population.

Another “highly vulnerable” category will receive full rations, but only once every three months, the spokesperson said. In all, about 600,000 refugees in Chad will get any aid at all, down from 1-million earlier this year, the spokesperson said. Marc Sekpon, head of programmes for WFP’s Chad office, said the organisation is working with the government to try to increase agricultural production and livelihood programmes to help address what he called a “drastic decrease” in humanitarian assistance.

These aren’t percentages on a spreadsheet. They mean meals not delivered. Shelters not built. Children not treated.

Tom Fletcher, UN aid chief

In April, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which coordinates with the Chadian government to respond to the Sudanese refugee crisis, said it and other UN agencies are able to help only four in 10 refugees in Chad.

“These aren’t percentages on a spreadsheet,” said Tom Fletcher, UN aid chief, of the cuts. “They mean meals not delivered. Shelters not built. Children not treated.”

In Chad’s Wadi Fira province, where Iridimi is located, nearly three-fourths of Chadian children under age five and almost half of refugee children suffer from malnutrition, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the world’s famine monitor.

Earlier this year, Ahmad’s family was receiving full monthly rations, even though he first arrived from Darfur more than 20 years ago, he said.

That’s because newer refugees are often classified as needier, and Ahmad’s refugee identification card is stamped 2023 — not 2003, the year of his flight from the Darfur war.

Ahmad left Iridimi to return to Sudan in 2018, part of a voluntary UN-backed resettlement programme that paid each participant $600 upon crossing the border. But when the latest war broke out, the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group attacked the city where he was living, Nyala, and he was forced to return in 2023 to the very home in Iridimi that he had left.

Magatte Guisse, the UNHCR representative in Chad, said the country needs a “paradigm shift” away from purely emergency relief toward an approach that combines humanitarian aid, longer-term development and peacebuilding efforts.

“You cannot feed people for 20 years,” Guisse said. “You cannot provide health for 20 years. After 20 years, you should have a mechanism for adapting.”

The world’s attention

Ahmad, Sadam and Alhadi first arrived at Iridimi at a time when the world’s attention was fixed on the Darfur war. The Sudanese government, then led by President Omar al-Bashir, deployed local, largely Arab militias known as Janjaweed (often translated as “devils on horseback”) to help crush a revolt by rebels who accused the government of neglecting the region.

The US accused the Janjaweed of genocide, and foreign aid flowed as the George W Bush administration tried to broker an end to the civil war.

Angelina Jolie, then a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, visited Iridimi and other refugee camps in Chad and met with a US team studying malnutrition there. George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Mia Farrow and other celebrities raised millions for Sudan’s displaced. The wave of attention from the celebrities, whose spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment on this story, helped keep money flowing into the region in the years just after Ahmad and his brother and cousin arrived.

The stories that emerged from Darfur were horrific: by the end of 2010, according to UN estimates, 300,000 people had died and more than 2-million were driven from their homes.

The Janjaweed wreaked havoc on non-Arab communities like Kornoi, Ahmad and Sadam’s hometown in North Darfur, and Alhadi’s village. Ahmad and Sadam do not know how their father died in the attack, only that he did not survive. Alhadi lost an uncle and nine other family members when Janjaweed fighters raided their village and set fire to his house. By the time he reached the Chad border, he had been twice displaced and lost his animals to thirst and cold.

At Iridimi, humanitarian aid kept the boys fed, and they attended school. But the world’s interest in Darfur’s refugees waned over the years, along with funding for schools and other initiatives.

In 2004, the year funding first took off in response to the Darfur war, government and private donors provided $1,257 per refugee, according to a Reuters analysis of historical UN and ALNAP figures, adjusted for inflation in 2024 dollars. By last year, the figure had fallen to $371.

The International Rescue Committee, a non-governmental organsation that has supported refugees in Chad for more than 20 years, said declines in both public and private funding has forced it to scale back services, including at Iridimi camp.

“Every year we have less and less,” said Alain Rusuku, IRC’s Chad director. “Meanwhile there are more refugees and more camps.”

”Sudanese families continue to flee across the border to Chad as the fighting rages on."

The Sudanese army, which controls the government, is battling the RSF, an Arab-led militia that grew out of the Janjaweed. The war, a power struggle over control of the country and its financial resources, has become a regional flashpoint with combatants on both sides accused of atrocities.

Spokespersons for the Sudan government and the RSF did not respond to requests for comment.

Seeking a better life

Ahmad, Sadam and Alhadi have pursued different strategies to try to cope with their long-term displacement. Alhadi said he will continue to try to find work. Sadam, 28 and unmarried, has made several dangerous and high-risk attempts to find a new life elsewhere. He tried twice to journey to Europe and was arrested by Egyptian authorities both times, he said. After one arrest, he spent 10 months in an Egyptian jail.

He knows chances are slim for a successful crossing, which requires a dangerous journey by boat across the Mediterranean.

“It’s a journey of death,” he said. This spring, he travelled 1,200 km across the country to the border with Libya and Niger to work as a labourer, mining and digging trenches. Ahmad, the only one to ever attempt a return to Sudan, says he would not go back again — even if the war ended tomorrow. He has already tried once, lost what he built and does not intend to lose a second time. But, he said: “If I found any other place to go, tomorrow I would go with my family.”

Reuters

Story audio is generated using AI

President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed polls and recent studies suggesting the DA’s campaign is gaining traction across Gauteng’s metros at the expense of the ANC, insisting his party is heading for an outright victory in the local government elections.

Yesterday I was in Johannesburg, today I am in Tshwane. Many other parties will always dream of victory, but victory belongs to the ANC

President Cyril Ramaphosa

“Studies are just studies. We know what’s happening on the ground. The ANC’s campaign is reaching a very high peak. People are responding very positively. We are confident of an outright victory.

“Yesterday I was in Johannesburg, today I am in Tshwane. Many other parties will always dream of victory, but victory belongs to the ANC,” he said.

A fresh eNCA MarkData poll put the MK Party ahead in eThekwini with 48% support, followed by the DA at 25.2% and the ANC at 14.5%.

In Tshwane, ActionSA mayor Nasiphi Moya was named the “ideal mayoral candidate” by 25.9% of respondents, ahead of the DA’s Cilliers Brink at 20.1%, despite widespread dissatisfaction with the municipality’s handling of the water crisis.

The survey interviewed just more than 1,000 people in each metro, with a margin of error exceeding 3%, according to elections analyst Wayne Sussman.

It found that 62.5% of Tshwane respondents and 74.6% of those in eThekwini blamed the ANC for service delivery failures. In Tshwane, 62.6% said Moya and her mayoral committee had mishandled the water crisis, while 62.7% of eThekwini respondents described the municipal leadership under mayor Cyril Xaba as “hopeless”.

Ramaphosa was speaking during a doorstop interview while campaigning door-to-door in Mamelodi, where he visited the Kingsley hostel precinct for the second time.

“People here are positive and enthusiastic,” he said.

The president said the hostel’s family units were in good condition, but that the surrounding area needed to be cleaned up.

“The family units look good. I went into one of them. They just need to clean up the area. I’m on a cleaning-up campaign. I want our people’s places to be clean. The hostel area is still to be corrected.”

He said funding had already been budgeted to address some of the shortcomings identified during the visit, including electricity infrastructure problems.

“We are repairing the transformers, and making sure that the reform and reconstruction takes place. It is a very important area that accommodates up to 800 people, and I am impressed with the plans that they’ve put in place.

“Our people should not continue to live in squalor. They should live in decent places, even if they are single units. Our people are prepared to co-operate and work together with the municipality and the province.”

Ramaphosa acknowledged that Kingsley hostel residents continued to face significant challenges, including unemployment and unreliable electricity.

“Unemployment is one of the key challenges here. I saw many people who are not working. Electricity is a problem. There are a lot of illegal connections, and that has exerted enormous pressure on the transformers, which have blown up and collapsed,” he said.

He said the provincial government and municipality would install additional transformers and relocate existing ones that were vulnerable to vandalism.

Ramaphosa pledged to return to the hostel to assess progress on the planned improvements.

TimesLIVE

Video courtesy of SABC.

Sowetan

While I enjoyed and often recommended the smaller T-Cross and larger Tiguan, the T-Roc just seemed to straddle an awkward middle ground that never quite made sense to me. Also — and call me a shallow bastard here — I didn’t much care for the way it looked, plain and simple. Clearly, I was in the minority, as the subcompact crossover struck a chord with buyers around the globe and became one of the brand’s biggest sellers. So, yeah, guess I’ll show myself out then.

Now, maybe it has something to do with time softening my opinions — and aversions to anything SUV-shaped — but the second-generation T-Roc is a different kettle of fish.

I liked it when Zee Germans first unveiled it towards the end of last year and like it even more now after spending a week driving one around the Cape.

The front is particularly striking, with a huge gloss-black mesh radiator grille sitting below a pair of squinty LED headlamps that, in range-topping R-Line Plus trim, are interlinked by a light strip and an illuminated VW badge. I usually view this style of illumination with disdain, as it tends to give off strong aftermarket tuning shop vibes.

In this instance, however, I think the Wolfsburg design team has executed it well, and it suits the rest of the car’s aesthetic. Topped off by an almost flat bonnet framed by crisp side creases and an aggressively raked windscreen, the T-Roc’s business end looks sharp, angry and ready to nip at your trousers should you be foolish enough to get too close.

There’s more to like elsewhere, with steely accents carved across the front fenders, defined wheel arches, sharp skirt lines on the bottom of the doors and muscular power streaks running over the top of the rear haunches à la Bentley Bentayga. The spoiler-wearing tailgate has a good slope to it, while the taillights are bridged by a crossbar home to another illuminated VW roundel and more LED peacockery, replete with jaunty welcome animations that blink when you approach the vehicle, key fob in hand. All in all, it’s a styling exercise that’s turned the T-Roc into a genuinely handsome piece of kit; one that now stands out with a defining identity and character all its own.

Inside, the second-generation model keeps this style momentum steaming along with an understated cabin that’s thoughtfully laid out and hewn out of high-quality plastics and soft-touch surfaces that lend it an almost Audi-like ambiance. The dashboard features a textured fabric insert that not only looks fantastic but also absorbs and diffuses light instead of refracting it into your eyes, perfect for our sunny South African climes. The frame-hugging sport comfort seats — standard on the R-Line Plus — are cosseting on long drives, and the leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel adjusts for both rake and reach, meaning that even somebody with abnormally long legs like me can quickly find their ideal driving position.

Physical buttons have been burnt down to the absolute minimum, with the majority of the T-Roc’s systems accessible via the centrally mounted 12.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Fortunately, its interface and general menu layout are logical, and it’s easy to navigate between sound, HVAC and other key vehicle settings thanks to dedicated shortcut icons. Volkswagen has also fitted its fancy Driving Experience Control, as seen in the latest Tiguan and Tayron. Located on the centre console, this multifunctional rotary dial lets you adjust media volume, drive modes and interior ambient lighting without having to poke and swipe at the screen. It takes a bit of practice, but once you master it, life is made a whole lot easier.

Specification is generous enough for my tastes, with a multi-colour digital instrument cluster, inductive charging pad, heated front and rear seats, ionising three-zone climate control, multi-hue ambient lighting, four USB-C ports, and a head-up display all standard on the R-Line Plus.

For an extra R27,000 on top of the list price, you can specify the optional IQ.Drive Assistance Systems package that — as fitted to my test car — gives you added active safety gizmos such as lane assist, rear traffic alert, automatic emergency braking, travel assist with predictive adaptive cruise control, pedestrian/cyclist monitoring and an overhead-view camera. The latter works well and is a real boon when parking, but the imagery is disappointingly low-resolution — especially when you consider how pin-sharp the camera feeds are on some cheaper Chinese rivals. My test unit also had a fancy, tilting panoramic glass sunroof, but at R16,500 I would likely give it a skip.

Practicality is a mixed bag. While the front half of the T-Roc is commendably spacious and filled with handy storage compartments to stash personal oddments and cups of overpriced takeaway coffee, the aft quarters feel cramped in comparison. Indeed, with my seat position dialled in, there was hardly any legroom to speak of behind the driver’s chair.

Adding to this claustrophobia is that attractively raked roofline, which means anybody 1.88m or taller is guaranteed to have the top of their head rubbing against the roof lining. Honestly, I feel my girlfriend’s Polo Vivo fares about the same in this department, which is crazy considering the T-Roc’s greater overall dimensions.

The boot is also quite shallow, meaning taller items will make contact with the rear glass and prevent the automated tailgate from shutting all the way. Luckily, you can get around this by dropping the adjustable boot floor down a rung. I did and was able to fit my 37l car fridge in without any issues. Powering it was a cinch too, as the boot has a dedicated 12V power port.

So how does it go down the road? Built on Volkswagen’s new MQB Evo platform, the T-Roc is propelled by the brand’s smooth but characterless 1.4l four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine making 110kW and 250Nm.

These figures are never going to set your tyres on fire, granted, but they’re enough to give this crossover reasonable accelerative performance in everyday driving scenarios. With strong mid-range torque and a relatively low power peak, you also don’t need to rev the nuts off it, which certainly adds to the T-Roc’s mature, grown-up demeanour.

Similar to the Golf I drove last year, this motor comes paired to an eight-speed Tiptronic transmission that rows through the cogs way smoother than comparable dual-clutch units. While it works just fine left to its own devices, shift paddles on the steering wheel let you take control whenever the need might arise. And even then, it changes with a buttery smoothness devoid of any histrionics. The last couple of ratios are fairly long, and in eighth you can cruise at the national limit at a little over 2,000rpm, which not only contributes to a quieter cabin but also helps to maximise overall fuel efficiency. Speaking of which, I managed 8.25 l/100 km — some way off the claimed 6.6l/100km.

Rolling on a handsome set of 18-inch alloy wheels shod with 225/50 Hankook Ventus Prime 4 tyres, the T-Roc R-Line Plus rides firm but never uncomfortably so, with all the asphalt ruts, bumps and expansion joints I encountered on test shrugged off with relatively little fuss. Handling-wise, let’s just say that this isn’t the most exciting Volkswagen product you’ll get to throw around a mountain pass.

That said — and much like the aforementioned Golf — it puts on a valiant effort when you do turn up the wick, with lots of mechanical grip and relatively good body control giving you the confidence to attack corners with a reasonable amount of gusto. The electric power steering is light on feel, though, especially around the centre point and on initial turn-in, but it’s direct and fast to react. Maybe Volkswagen will give us a performance-focused T-Roc variant sometime down the road, but for now, it exists as a composed all-rounder that can cater to most needs.

Conclusion

It’s a likable car, the T-Roc, and one that, if you can live with the somewhat claustrophobic rear and premium pricing, stands out in a segment where visual differentiation is increasingly hard to come by. Though the engine won’t set your pulse racing, nor will the chassis have you plotting elaborate detours over your favourite backroads, this R-Line Plus model shines as an accomplished jack-of-all-trades that’s comfortable, refined, well-equipped and easy to live with, provided you don’t regularly ferry around lots of people and/or things.

I still reckon the Tiguan makes a more convincing case for itself if outright practicality is high on your shopping list, but the T-Roc has finally found its own Raison d’être. It looks the part, feels properly put together, and has enough polish to make the daily commute feel a little less like a chore.

Fast Facts: 2026 Volkswagen T-Roc R-Line Plus

Engine: 1,395cc four-cylinder turbocharged petrol

Total power: 110kW from 5,000rpm to 6,000rpm

Total torque: 250Nm from 1,500 to 3,500rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed Tiptronic

0-100km/h: 8.4 seconds (claimed)

Top speed: 205km/h (claimed)

Fuel: 8.25l/100km (achieved)

Price: From R689,900

Michael Carrick insisted he was “carrying on as normal” after Manchester United’s 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth on Sunday, but the manager appeared increasingly vulnerable after a result that left Old Trafford engulfed in anger and resignation.

Asked if he expected to still be in charge next week, Carrick offered no guarantees.

“Of course, I take responsibility,” he said. “Whatever’s going to happen, results-wise, whether we win, we lose, draw, whatever happens — the responsibility is mine.”

Pressed on whether he expected to be sacked in the coming days, Carrick said: “I totally understand the situation. I’m not expecting anything in particular, to be honest. I’m carrying on as normal, and I love this place.

"I understand the situation" 💭

Michael Carrick responds to a question on whether he expects to be sacked by Manchester United after their 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth. pic.twitter.com/cqOzqTeUzh

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 25, 2026

“I always do what I feel is going to be the best for the football club, whatever decision is made on anything really.”

While Carrick led a resurgent United to third place last season after replacing Ruben Amorim, they have won only twice in 12 matches this campaign across all competitions, and have not won in the top flight since they defeated newly promoted Ipswich Town on August 30.

Sunday’s defeat left them with seven points from eight league matches, and just a point above the drop zone, their worst return at this stage of a season since 1986-87.

Supporters unfurled a giant banner reading “Standards” before halftime featuring club icons Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and Bryan Robson.

The fans largely reserved their sympathy for Carrick, singing “It’s Carrick you know!” late in the game.

Emotional exit by Michael Carrick as fans sing his name. A farewell?

Supporters turn on players once Carrick down tunnel.#MUFC pic.twitter.com/WLYqqHg6vF

— Laurie Whitwell (@lauriewhitwell) October 25, 2026

But once the 45-year-old tapped a hand to his heart and disappeared down the post-game tunnel, those chants gave way to loud boos directed at the players.

The manner of the defeat was almost as damaging as the scoreline. Bournemouth supporters repeatedly taunted Carrick with chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning”, while thousands of United fans streamed towards the exits before the final whistle.

Former United winger Ashley Young said the performance suggested the squad was no longer responding to its manager.

“The fans are behind him and backing him because he’s a legend of the football club,” Young said on the Sky Sports broadcast.

“But the players on the pitch showed nothing. They didn’t run, they didn’t look like a team together. You could tell today that it was like they’d given up.”

The pressure on Carrick was intensified by his decision to leave captain Bruno Fernandes on the bench four days after the Portugal midfielder publicly criticised United’s tactics following a 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como.

Carrick had insisted before kickoff that omitting Fernandes was a “pure football” decision. Television cameras repeatedly caught the midfielder looking dismayed as United lurched towards another defeat.

Jamie Carragher says Michael Carrick needs to be “relieved of his duties” as Manchester United boss ❌ pic.twitter.com/Si2mALWmzV

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 25, 2026

The third goal summed up the chaos. After United lost possession high up the pitch, goalkeeper Senne Lammens raced from his area but completely misjudged a long ball forward, allowing Evanilson to loft the ball into an unguarded net.

It was United’s afternoon in miniature: disorganised, fragile and punishingly exposed.

Harry Maguire, who wore the captain’s armband for the day, insisted Carrick had the full support of the dressing room.

“We’re fully behind Michael,” Maguire said. “Coming into the team last season he turned things around and got Champions League football this season. As individuals, we’re not playing well enough.”

Carrick looked close to tears when asked about the supporters’ backing after the match.

The Manchester United fans are singing the Michael Carrick song because I think they know what’s going to happen here.

Gary Neville

“To be in such a difficult situation and go through a day like we have done and a spell like we have done is certainly difficult to take,” he said. “So there’s real mixed emotions in there for sure.”

He rejected suggestions his acknowledgement of supporters after the final whistle had been a farewell.

“No, not from me; just appreciation for the fans and what they’ve showed me.”

Former United defender Gary Neville said the crowd’s support reflected a belief among fans that Carrick’s fate had already been sealed.

“The Manchester United fans are singing the Michael Carrick song because I think they know what’s going to happen here,” Neville said.

Even Bournemouth boss Marco Rose expressed sympathy for the beleaguered Manchester manager.

“I feel a lot of empathy for my colleagues,” he said. “We are just humans, and we try to do our job the best possible way. At the end, it’s never easy for us, and I feel with Michael.”

Coetzee, who last played a Test against Sri Lanka in 2024, is the only change to the team which won the second Test in Gqeberha. Nortje picked up a mild groin strain, midway his fourth over.

“You want the guy who can play the enforcer role, especially when the wicket gets flat,” Proteas captain Temba Bavuma said on Monday. “He’s probably the closest guy in terms of like-for-like for [Nortje].”

While Coetzee is capable of hitting the 145km/h mark, the 26 year old’s career has been blighted by injury. In his last Test, in Durban, he picked up a groin injury that kept him out of action for the remainder of 2024/25 season. Upon his return to the national team, he then suffered a rib injury while bowling in a T20 International in Windhoek.

“We did consider the fact that he hasn’t played for a while. But he’s been with the team, getting his workloads in. We believe he’s a guy who has the ability to make a big play for the team,” Bavuma explained.

Next stop: Cape Town! ✈️ 🇿🇦

The Proteas are on the move from Gqeberha to the Mother City for the 3rd and final Test against Australia, with the series decider loading! 🏏

🎟️ Get your tickets now at https://t.co/MJjMnWuplb#Unbreakable #SAvAUS pic.twitter.com/x0bln8RTcU

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 23, 2026

Coetzee faced competition from Corbin Bosch, who can hit 140km/h too and is a better batter, and Dane Paterson, who knows Newlands well but isn’t as quick as Coetzee, although he probably offers more control.

Simon Harmer also retained his place ahead of Keshav Maharaj, which Bavuma said was a very tough decision.

“Kesh, he’s been a stalwart for us, and he’s won many games for us. I think he understands the cricketing reason behind it. Australia have a plural of left-handers in their top seven. So a guy like Simon turning it away from them, he becomes a real threat,” Bavuma explained.

Harmer took two wickets in Gqeberha, bowling an extended spell in the second innings because of Nortje’s absence.

“Kesh, he’s a team man. He’s one of my confidants within the team, so he will and has been valuable to the team, pouring into the guys, offering a helping hand tactically as well. But yeah, that’s one of the tougher decisions I’ve had to be a part of.”

Although spirits in the Proteas team are high after the innings and 31-run win in Gqeberha, there is also a realisation that the batting has fired only sporadically — albeit spectacularly in Bavuma’s case in the previous Test — and the South Africa captain admitted he’d like more consistency from the rest of the batting order.

View this post on Instagram

“You want to be consistent, right? We haven’t had the luxury of a solid top three or four. But while we’re still trying to find that consistency, that stability there, we’ve still been able to get the right type of results.”

Bavuma’s career-best 179 gave the selectors some wiggle room for Newlands. They have stuck with the top seven that played there, with Marques Ackerman staying at the top of the order alongside Aiden Markram. Ackerman is Markram’s fourth opening partner in the last three years.

“Aiden’s an easy-going guy. I don’t really think it negatively affects his processes. He’s been welcoming to anyone who’s been given the responsibility of partnering with him. Ackerman, he’s the guy there at the top. And hopefully for him, everything goes well and he’s able to make it his own.”

Markram and Bavuma have been the Proteas’ most consistent batters, and the captain explained that they were happy to shoulder the burden of scoring the bulk of the team’s runs.

“Sometimes certain batters are going to have to do the heavy lifting for the team. We’re very much comfortable with that as a batting group.”

Australia’s captain Pat Cummins said his side would wait until Tuesday morning before naming their starting team.

SA team: Aiden Markram, Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Temba Bavuma (capt), Matthew Breetzke, Ryan Rickleton, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Simon Harmer, Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee

TimesLIVE

Brown, 37, was given an eight-month suspended sentence at London’s Southwark Crown Court after he admitted a charge of affray over the attack on Abraham Diaw at the Tape nightclub in February 2023.

The R&B star and his vocal coach Omololu Akinlolu, 40, pleaded guilty in July, having denied more serious charges of attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm and assault causing actual bodily harm.

Judge Tony Baumgartner said: “This was serious, public violence. In your case, Brown, it involved the repeated use ... of a bottle, including twice striking Diaw to his head.”

Brown’s suspended sentence means he does not immediately go to prison unless he commits another offence.

Some of Brown’s fans queued outside court from around 7am GMT, about an hour before the building opened, and Brown thanked the judge before leaving the dock and nodding towards his supporters in the public gallery.

Brown, a two-time Grammy winner, was arrested in May 2025 having returned to Britain for the first time since the incident and was initially denied bail, throwing his worldwide “Breezy Bowl XX” tour into doubt.

But Brown was eventually released after promising to pay a £5m security fee, allowing the tour to go ahead.

This court case is the latest involving Brown since he was charged with assaulting his then-partner Rihanna in 2009, with a photo of her bruised face making headlines around the world.

Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe said Brown pleaded guilty to the 2009 assault of Rihanna and was sentenced to five years’ probation. He also admitted a 2013 assault on a fan he was accused of punching when asked for a photograph.

Reuters

Story audio is generated using AI

Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi has spoken out against a complaint about halaal products dominating SA foodstuffs, saying it is divisive and Islamophobic.

A viral social media video by Sokhana Saliwa raised concerns about SA’s Muslim minority “dictating” how citizens eat. Saliwa argued that almost all food products and restaurants were becoming halaal-certified, despite the vast majority of South Africans identifying as Christian.

“My problem is that the number of these restaurants is growing,” Saliwa said in the video.

“Almost every restaurant now is becoming halaal. I’m not attacking Muslims, but I’m not a Muslim and the majority of people in this country are not Muslim. The food we eat should be prepared in ways that are not Islamic, because we do not believe in Islam. It should be prepared according to what the vast majority prefers. Even snacks and chips are certified halaal, even though most consumers aren’t Muslim.”

Islam is a minority religion population in South Africa. But why are they slowly but surely replacing our food with halal? What is really happening? Is this the take over we have been hearing about? pic.twitter.com/dahxAWf3fx

— Mpho🌸 (@msmonakhisi) October 21, 2026

The video triggered an intense online debate, with some users alleging that non-Muslim South Africans were being excluded from government catering contracts due to strict halaal requirements.

Zibi dismissed any suggestion that the Islamic faith was forcing halaal practices on to non-Muslims.

“This is Islamophobia, but it uses very clever language,” he said. “When they use terms like ‘replacement,’ they are trying to convince non-Muslims that we will soon no longer be able to find food that suits our preferences.”

Zibi emphasised that every religion is entitled to its own dietary practices and warned against creating unnecessary divisions among South Africans. “They want us to fight and squeeze out Muslim South Africans, even though we have many religions in South Africa.”

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“Muslim South Africans have a right to halaal food, and when they go to the local supermarket, that food should be available. Similarly, Jewish South Africans have a right to kosher food, and supermarkets and local butcheries must cater for them too. This is not replacement; it is unity in diversity. We must be able to live alongside South Africans who practice different faiths.”

Zibi warned that these narratives were part of an attempt to divide South Africans against one another along religious, racial and ethnic lines. “We must not allow it to happen. The way they will try to make us fight each other is by making us forget our history and succumb to misinforming narratives.”

Halaal food refers to items permissible for consumption under Islamic dietary law. Forbidden products include pork, its by-products and alcohol.

Practicing one’s faith should never be viewed as a threat to others, said Zibi. “We must ask ourselves: what are these people trying to achieve by pointing out religious divisions? We must refuse to be made ignorant. Muslim and Jewish South Africans are our brothers and sisters. We live here together and this country belongs to all of us.”

TimesLIVE

Story audio is generated using AI

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has come to the defence of North West mining tycoon Solomon “MySol” Madibela, calling him a “solid entrepreneur” after EFF leader Julius Malema launched an attack against him.

Speaking to supporters at a party rally at Letlhabile Stadium outside Brits in the North West on Saturday, Malema labelled MySol a “small boy”, and called on local mines to serve the community rather than enrich the businessman.

“These mines will service our people,” Malema said. “These mines will not service MySol. MySol se foot. I will repeat, MySol se foot. You must tell him that he’s a small boy to me.

“I’m not scared of boys who go around butchering mines. I’m not scared of boys who think they’ve got money; here, it’s a park station. He must go around and ask about me. I don’t play with chancers who play in small towns. I’ll put you in your place.”

This was not the first time Malema targeted MySol, having previously questioned the source of his wealth.

Malema’s latest comments follow claims MySol made on an episode of the Podcast and Chill network, where he alleged that a certain political party leader hated him after he declined an invitation to the party’s gala dinner.

“I don’t want to help any political party,” MySol said at the time, adding that he is not affiliated with any political organisation. “Some of these political parties even go to the clients to say, ‘Why don’t you terminate his work?’”

Following Malema’s remarks, screenshots of WhatsApp statuses allegedly posted by MySol circulated on social media. In those posts, MySol reportedly called Malema a “small boy”, and mocked his appearance, telling him to eat pap and milk to get proper nutrition.

Addressing the friction between the two, Mbalula took to X to say he would reach out to Malema to understand the dispute and resolve it.

“MySol is a solid SA entrepreneur. Whatever the fight is about, I will reach out to Julius to understand. Let’s settle this amicably,” Mbalula wrote.

Although MySol maintained he is politically unaligned, he was seen campaigning alongside Mbalula and other ANC officials at the party’s January 8th celebrations in Madibeng earlier this year.

“As the community of Madibeng, we love the ANC,” MySol said at the event. “We just ask the leadership to remember us and improve the lives of the people in Madibeng.”

He added, “people don’t understand why I love the ANC. The ANC has fought a battle. Today, we are able to participate alongside big companies and are given opportunities. Everything has its shortfalls, but it is for us to talk to our leadership to fix their shortcomings and do better. Let’s vote for the ANC.”

At the same event, Mbalula thanked MySol, praising him as a positive example for Africans for keeping his roots in mind through his business success. He even joked about asking MySol to lend him one of his luxury cars for a weekend.

“He got himself into business through the opportunities provided by our democracy, but he doesn’t forget where he comes from. We are proud of you as an African,” Mbalula said.

“When we see you driving around in your cars... white people think all black people are thieves. I’m so happy with your cars, even if you can just give me one or lend it to me for a weekend.”

TimesLIVE

The footballer was fatally shot during a home invasion in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, in October 2014.

Video courtesy of SABC.

Sowetan

Already the country’s oldest president, Lula overcame a first-round loss to pull off a surprise runoff victory against senator Flavio Bolsonaro on Sunday, securing 51.8% of votes and a record fourth term just two days before his 81st birthday.

He will take office on January 5 after winning what he has said was his last election, hanging on to power in a country that has swung dramatically to the right since his first electoral victory in 2002.

Fiscal policy is biggest challenge

“Lula has shown that he still is the dominant political figure of his era, but he is weaker,” Michael Ahn Paarlberg of the Center for International Policy think tank said.

Brazil’s incoming Congress is its most conservative since the country’s return to democracy in the 1980s, with Bolsonaro’s party and its allies enjoying majorities in both chambers.

“He’s likely to be a lame duck from the start,” said Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations professor at Sao Paulo’s Getulio Vargas Foundation, who predicted Lula would struggle to build a coalition to pass much of his agenda.

As of Monday morning, Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, had yet to concede, and Lula faced the prospect of adversaries in Congress who did not recognise his win, analysts said.

On the broad macroeconomic outlook, things are not looking great

Monica de Bolle, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics

In addition, Congress has amassed significant power over government spending in the past decade, which could frustrate Lula’s promises to maintain his signature welfare programmes.

Meanwhile, his government forecasts meager 2.3% economic growth next year, adding to fiscal challenges worsened by high interest rates and public debt that has grown past 82% of GDP, the highest since the pandemic.

“On the broad macroeconomic outlook, things are not looking great,” said Monica de Bolle, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

A hostile Congress “will make it very hard to push any reform through Congress and even try to manage the budget”, she said.

Lula’s promises to ensure that minimum-wage increases remain above inflation are among those that clash with growing pressure to get debt under control. Lula’s aides have also signalled that he will keep pushing to curtail tax breaks, but legislators have repeatedly resisted measures that raise the effective tax burden.

“Fiscal policy remains Lula’s biggest economic challenge,” said Andres Abadia, chief Latin American economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, as growing mandatory spending and high interest costs leave little room to cut deficits.

Analysts said an economic crisis could even spur Lula’s impeachment, with some drawing comparisons to Brazil’s 2014-2016 crisis, which preceded the impeachment of Lula’s ally Dilma Rousseff.

“I think the campaign for Lula’s impeachment begins now,” said Paulo Kramer, a political scientist who worked on former president Bolsonaro’s first campaign and has spoken to people close to his son.

Investors reacted nervously on Monday morning, sending Brazilian assets sharply lower as markets reassessed the country’s fiscal outlook under Lula.

Senate stumbling block

Congress is likely to block or slow Lula’s appointments to key roles in institutions such as the supreme court and the central bank, analysts say.

For the first time since Brazil returned to democracy, the executive branch will be clearly at odds with the Senate, said Lucas de Aragao, a partner at Brasilia-based consultancy Arko Advice.

“Lula will have some room to negotiate in the lower house by giving centrist parties more space, but in the Senate he will have to bargain issue by issue and adjust his legislative agenda to fit what the opposition wants,” Aragao added.

Bolsonaro’s allies in the incoming Senate have also vowed to impeach justice Alexandre de Moraes, escalating their long-running fight with a powerful judiciary that has often aligned with Lula, blocking key right-wing legislation and shaping policy on everything from indigenous rights to the internet.

Reuters

Story audio is generated using AI

Water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina says 27 new cases of gastrointestinal illness were recorded in Bronkhorstspruit over the past 24 hours.

Majodina was briefing the media on Monday after an oversight visit to the Bronkhorstspruit water treatment plant believed to be responsible for 833 people falling ill from drinking contaminated water.

The plant has been shut down to allow for cleansing and the restoration of its chlorine supply.

According to Majodina, the new cases may have occurred because, “some people kept water [even after the government warned them not to come into contact with tap water], while others were getting water from private tankers. And we don’t know where that water was treated.”

“It does not mean there is an outbreak,” she added. “Those people [patients] come in and go out and the hospital records statistics. Even if you come in for a minute or two, it gets recorded.”

A government delegation, led by deputy president Paul Mashatile, visited the treatment plant as part of the work of the inter-ministerial committee on water and sanitation, which he chairs.

It was reported that the water was contaminated after the treatment plant ran out of chlorine for several days during September and October.

Of the 833 who were recorded to have fallen ill, 328 were children aged four and younger. “You would understand that the immune system of children at that age is weak,” said Majodina.

WATCH | Minister Pemmy Majodina says 833 cases have been recorded of people treated for gastrointestinal illness in Bronkhorstspruit. pic.twitter.com/ScBVW9DmSc

— Sowetan (@Sowetan1981) October 26, 2026

She added that only three people affected by the water were currently in hospital. “Since October 7, the admissions have not exceeded more than three days. People have not been very critical, and there are no reports of ‘returns’ after treatment.”

During the same briefing, Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya announced short-term interventions to ensure residents had access to water. “Water tankers are moving between 8am and 8pm. There are two hydrants where the water tankers draw water from. We have 36 water tankers provided by the city. Coca-Cola has been generous and they have added three tankers as well.”

Moya said she had asked the Tshwane metro police department to follow the water tankers to ensure that the water they collected was safe, and to verify where the tankers were sourcing it from.

She revealed that the city had ordered an external investigation into the chlorine supply arrangements, including the procurement processes and decisions that led to a shortage at the Bronkhorstspruit water treatment plant.

“Anyone who is found to have been negligent in their responsibilities in terms of chlorine non-availability, or communication of chlorine non-availability, will be fired. However, there are other external investigations that are happening as well, such as criminal investigations that have been opened,” she said.

Asked whether she believed the Bronkhorstspruit crisis had tainted her name and her local election campaign, Moya said the focus was now on resolving the crisis. “Worry less about the reputation and the campaign. We are dealing with something serious here. We are dealing with people’s lives, which have been put at risk, and the situation needs to improve before we care about what it means for us,” she said.

Sowetan

During a recent rally, Malema took direct aim at the businessman, labeling him a “small boy” and declaring “there’s no MySol who will enjoy mining money alone”.

The confrontation didn’t stay on the stage as Madibela quickly fired back via WhatsApp, sparking a viral back-and-forth that has polarised opinions across the country.

Malema’s supporters argue he is standing up for impoverished mining communities, pushing back against unchecked corporate accumulation and ensuring local wealth actually benefits the public.

Critics view his remarks as dangerous populist intimidation, targeting a successful self-made entrepreneur and mixing political clout with private enterprise.

TimesLIVE

Those targeted include commanders from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese armed forces, and leaders of armed groups allied to the army, in what London said was its latest effort to hold perpetrators of abuses accountable.

The measures come a year after the fall of al-Fashir, the North Darfur capital that became a focal point of Sudan’s war, where civilians were subjected to a prolonged siege, reported mass killings and widespread sexual violence.

Britain said the action followed the publication of UK-funded research by the Centre for Information Resilience, which documented what it described as systematic starvation and conflict-related sexual violence against civilians by both sides in the war.

It pledged an additional £15m (R331.1m) in humanitarian and survivor support for Sudan.

Reuters

The company launched public offerings of about $35bn in common stock and convertible preferred stock. It also said it plans to launch a separate at-the-market share sale programme of up to $60bn after its new non-voting Class C shares begin trading, which is expected in the first quarter of 2027.

Meta has stepped up spending on data centres, computing capacity and AI products to compete with rival AI heavyweights OpenAI and Anthropic.

The social media company had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $82.45bn, slightly exceeding its long-term debt of $80.92bn as of September 30, according to its quarterly filing from last week.

The company has committed to spend about $825bn in the future, primarily driven by its growing investments in data centres, AI-related infrastructure and cloud computing power.

Meta said chip companies Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom have expressed interest in purchasing up to $5bn of Meta’s Class A common stock in the offering.

Last week, Meta raised the lower end of its annual spending forecast, now expecting capital expenditure to be between $135bn and $145bn this year, up from $130bn to $145bn expected previously.

Meta reported a $2.12bn cash burn in the third quarter, marking its first negative free cash flow in more than 10 years, compared with a positive cash flow of $10.63bn a year ago.

The company reported third-quarter revenue of $64.60bn, ahead of Wall Street estimates of $63.37bn. It also projected fourth-quarter revenue between $73bn and $76bn.

Reuters

Matlou welcomed the recent dismissal of four officials found guilty of various forms of misconduct, saying Sassa would not tolerate wrongdoing that undermined the integrity of the social grant system.

“The dismissal of these four officials demonstrates that our efforts to strengthen accountability and protect the social grant system are yielding tangible results,” said Matlou. “We are sending a clear message to every official that no one is above the law, no one is beyond accountability, and no one will be allowed to abuse their position at the expense of vulnerable beneficiaries and the South African taxpayer.”

Since April 2025, Sassa has received 134 cases involving alleged misconduct and fraud by its officials. Of these, 106 have been finalised, while 28 are pending.

Of the finalised cases, 65 officials were dismissed. Other disciplinary outcomes included written warnings, final written warnings and suspensions without pay. Some officials resigned during disciplinary proceedings, while 16 cases were withdrawn, and four officials were found not guilty.

Matlou said the agency was moving beyond identifying irregularities to ensuring allegations were investigated, disciplinary processes concluded and appropriate action taken against officials found guilty of transgressions.

“Our anti-fraud strategy is coming to fruition. We are strengthening our systems, closing loopholes, pursuing allegations of wrongdoing and ensuring that those found guilty face the consequences of their actions,” he said. “This is what accountability looks like in practice. We will not allow individuals to turn a public institution entrusted with the welfare of our people into a vehicle for personal gain.”

The Eastern Cape recorded the highest number of dismissals since April 2025, with 19 officials dismissed. Mpumalanga and Gauteng each had 13 dismissals, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 11.

Matlou said the figures highlighted the need for continued vigilance across all provinces and operational units. The agency would continue strengthening internal controls, oversight mechanisms and investigative capacity.

He also expressed concern about death threats received by Sassa officials dealing with cases involving alleged misconduct and transgressions.

Matlou condemned attempts to intimidate, threaten or obstruct officials carrying out their responsibilities to protect the integrity of the social grant system.

He said Sassa would continue supporting officials who acted within the law and in the public interest, while ensuring allegations of misconduct were handled through established investigative, disciplinary and law-enforcement processes where applicable.

The CEO said the fight against fraud required sustained commitment, professional courage and co-operation across the agency, particularly where officials faced intimidation or resistance.

He pledged to tighten controls, strengthen fraud prevention and detection, improve the investigation and resolution of reported cases, and apply consequences to officials found guilty of wrongdoing.

TimesLIVE

This was trainer Sanele Mthalane’s response when pressed for a comment on allegations that they accepted the fight purely because Brad Norman of Warriors Ascent made them a purse offer they could not refuse.

”First and foremost, Asanda and Soboois are evenly matched ... both have five fights, and I still maintain that Asanda’s loss was political, which means, in my eyes, she has one loss, three wins and a draw,” he said.

“Sobooi has five fights with only one knockout. How is that about a mismatch?

“Secondly, yes, the purse money is good, but that was not the motivating factor for us.

“We have no promoter dedicated to us, so such an opportunity outside of KwaZulu-Natal is big for Asanda, and imagine her winning the fight.”

Mthalane from Lindelani in Durban described Mkhwazani as a complete boxer.

“She can make her own changes and adjustments during a fight,” he said.

Soboois raised eyebrows in February when she outboxed Smangele “Smash” Hadebe over eight rounds to win the WBO Africa belt.

Despite an immense gap in professional experience — Hadebe entered the ring with 21 fights under her belt compared to Soboois’s four — the 24-year-old southpaw from Khayelitsha dominated the pace with sharp timing and precise counter-punching.

In the main event, Wasim “Kleurling” Chellan from Cape Town and Martin “Tiger” Achebi from Kenya will fight for the vacant ABU welterweight belt.

Hot prospect Ardy “The Eagle” Katompa, born in the DRC and based in Cape Town, will face Lopez “The Pressure Cooker” Maluleke of Limpopo in an eight-round international featherweight bout.

Katompa will look to chalk up his ninth win, with three losses and two draws.

Maluleke blows hot and cold, as his record shows: three wins and four losses.

All fights on the cards at Warrior Ascent Promotions’ “Fright Night” at Fourways Farmers Market will be televised live by SuperSport from 7pm.

The strike, due to take place on November 25 and 26, is the latest example of disputes over pay and working conditions across Britain’s National Health Service, which have led to more than a dozen rounds of industrial action since 2023.

The government’s proposal of a 2.4% rise to the body that sets doctors’ pay for the 2027/2028 financial year is a “significant real-terms pay cut by all current measures of inflation,” the BMA said. It noted that senior doctors had seen a 25% cut to their pay in real terms over the last 17 years.

The strike can be avoided if Britain’s health minister commits to adequately funded formal negotiations on both pay and working conditions, the BMA said in a statement.

The headline rate of CPI inflation in September was 3.5%, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday.

Health secretary Yvette Cooper said the BMA’s decision was “very disappointing” following what she called constructive discussions between her department, the NHS and the BMA.

“With colleagues across the NHS, I am determined to support staff and patients through the tough winter period,” she said.

“I hope the BMA will stay united with us in that effort, and not take irresponsible action that would place our health service under even greater pressure at this crucial time.”

The government had said in its evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration, published on October 19, that its plan for a 2.4% rise did not have to make “trade offs against headline government health commitments”.

Reuters

Serbia woke to a new era on Monday after Vucic, a frequent visitor to Moscow and in Serbian politics as prime minister or president since 2014, was humbled at the ballot box in a result that sparked nationwide celebrations, though few had an idea of how the Balkan country’s new student-backed leaders would govern.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had taken note of the result, lavished praise on Vucic, and said he hoped Serbia’s new rulers realised that co-operation with Russia, traditionally a vital supplier of energy to Serbia, was in their own country’s interests.

“We greatly appreciate the contribution that Mr Vucic has made to the development of our bilateral relations. We are aware that Mr Vucic will remain active in politics, and we hope that, even while in opposition, he will continue to contribute to the development of our bilateral relations,” Peskov told reporters.

Serbia, although it has aspirations to join the EU, did not sign up to EU-backed sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine and has continued to develop close economic, political and military ties to Moscow.

“As for the new political force that will come to power as a result of the elections, we wish to express our hope that its actions will also be constructively directed towards the further development of relations, and that these new political forces will understand that co-operation with Russia is in Serbia’s interests, because it benefits Serbia,” said Peskov.

“For our part, we intend to continue to do everything we can to foster the development of our relations with Belgrade. But, as you know, it takes two to tango,” added Peskov.

Reuters

The 49-year-old officer, who is stationed at KwaZakhele police station, allegedly shot his wife at their home in Bumbane Street, NU 4A, at about 7am before taking his own life.

The woman survived the shooting and was taken to hospital with three gunshot wounds.

According to Brig Nobuntu Gantana, two children were inside the house at the time but were not injured.

The firearm used was the officer’s service pistol.

Police have opened an attempted murder case and an inquest docket as they investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting. No further information could be released at this stage.

Eastern Cape police commissioner Lt-Gen Vuyisile Ncata described the incident as deeply distressing and said counselling and support would be made available to those affected.

“Our thoughts are with the injured wife as she recovers, with the two children who were in the house, and with the family,” Ncata said.

He acknowledged the trauma such incidents could cause and appealed to police officers and their families experiencing emotional distress or domestic conflict to seek assistance.

“If you are experiencing emotional distress, domestic conflict or any situation that feels beyond your control, please reach out for help through SAPS wellness services, a trusted colleague or a professional counsellor.

“Seeking help is a sign of strength and support is available.”

The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation.

TimesLIVE

Serbia woke to a new era on Monday after Vucic, a frequent visitor to Moscow and in Serbian politics as prime minister or president since 2014, was humbled at the ballot box in a result that sparked nationwide celebrations, although few had an idea of how the Balkan country’s new student-backed leaders would govern.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had taken note of the result, lavished praise on Vucic, and said he hoped Serbia’s new rulers realised that co-operation with Russia, traditionally a vital supplier of energy to Serbia, was in their own country’s interests.

“We greatly appreciate the contribution that Mr Vucic has made to the development of our bilateral relations. We are aware that Mr Vucic will remain active in politics, and we hope that, even while in opposition, he will continue to contribute to the development of our bilateral relations,” Peskov told reporters.

Serbia, although it has aspirations to join the European Union, did not sign up to EU-backed sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine and has continued to develop close economic, political and military ties to Moscow.

“As for the new political force that will come to power as a result of the elections, we wish to express our hope that its actions will also be constructively directed towards the further development of relations and that these new political forces will understand that co-operation with Russia is in Serbia’s interests, because it benefits Serbia,” said Peskov.

“For our part, we intend to continue to do everything we can to foster the development of our relations with Belgrade. But, as you know, it takes two to tango,” Peskov added.

Reuters

Opinion polls point to a tight contest, with neither Netanyahu’s ruling Likud bloc nor an opposition alliance centred on former military chief Gadi Eisenkot expected to secure the 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset needed to govern.

That raises the prospect of lengthy coalition negotiations or even another election, all at a time when one of the key drivers of the Israeli market rally — the global frenzy around AI — has also started to splutter.

Since the October 7 Hamas attacks in 2023, the Tel Aviv stock market has soared 130%, far outpacing Wall Street’s 80% gain, while the shekel has climbed 25%, one of the world’s strongest currency performances.

Analysts attribute some of that strength to Israel’s tech sector and the AI boom, while defence spending, which has nearly doubled to around 8% of GDP, has also provided a boost.

With both Netanyahu and Eisenkot vowing to maintain pressure on Hamas and Iran, markets are focused on their broader policy differences. JPMorgan estimates the shekel could swing as much as 3% depending on the result.

If Netanyahu is reelected it might increase the chances of further escalation with Iran, whereas a defeat might be seen as lessening the tensions

Charlie Robertson, Equity Bank’s chief economic adviser

An opposition victory that improves relations with Western allies and halts a judicial overhaul that sparked mass protests in 2023 could strengthen the currency, JPMorgan said, while another Netanyahu-led government could weaken it.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, while stopping short of backing a candidate, said a government without far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich would signal that Israel was “turning a new page,” potentially helping rebuild its international credibility and expand the Abraham Accords with its neighbours.

IBI Investment House also expects an opposition victory to lift the markets. “From a capital markets perspective, this would likely be reflected in a decline in Israel’s risk premium, appreciation pressure on the shekel, and a positive reaction in the local market,” IBI’s chief economist Rafi Gozlan said.

According to prediction market Polymarket, close to 60% are betting on Eisenkot becoming the next Israeli prime minister to 27% for Netanyahu.

“The most significant issue is what the result will mean for the region,” said Equity Bank’s chief economic adviser Charlie Robertson. “If Netanyahu is reelected, it might increase the chances of further escalation with Iran, whereas a defeat might be seen as lessening the tensions.”

But the prospect of gains under an opposition government does not mean investors expect Israeli assets to suffer if Netanyahu remains in power. Stocks and bonds have proved remarkably resilient through years of war and political upheaval, and some investors remain confident in the economy regardless of the election outcome.

Union Investment’s Sergey Dergachev has been buying Israeli bonds ahead of the election, betting the economy and companies he favours will remain fundamentally strong. “We are very constructive on Israeli credits going into the election,” Dergachev said, adding that bonds were less prone to major swings and the region’s intertwined conflicts should eventually ease.

Risks remain

Tel Aviv shares were up around 1% in the final session ahead of Tuesday’s vote, taking their year-to-date gain to about 12%.

However, both they and the shekel have pulled back some 10% since May. Analysts again point to the strong link to tech given global AI indexes have also been dropping, although there has been one nagging issue throughout the last three years.

Despite the sharp stock market rally, Copley Fund Research data show that foreign investors have actually been edging away. The share of global funds holding Israeli equities is at now at record low 19%, down from 34% in 2023.

TS Lombard’s Christopher Granville cited central bank estimates that the war had cost the economy more than $55bn (about R911.7bn) by last year, equivalent to 8.6% in cumulative lost GDP growth.

Israel’s fiscal position is another focus. Public debt has risen to nearly 70% of GDP, around 10 percentage points higher than in 2022, while the budget deficit is expected to remain around 4.5% of GDP, versus less than 2% before the conflict.

Central bank head Amir Yaron stressed last week the need to “preserve adequate fiscal policy space” given the Iran war.

Fundamental strengths

Like stocks, Israeli government bonds have rallied, returning about 30% over the last two years, more than double the main emerging market indexes.

The main risk for investors is an inconclusive result that prolongs political uncertainty, delaying budgets, reforms and investment, some investors believe.

The best way to play it for us is through other Middle East countries, and for us Lebanon is a good proxy

Jean-Charles Sambor, TT International

That uncertainty can produce sharp short-term swings. Tel Aviv Stock Exchange research covering the last 10 elections found volatility in leading share indexes rose by as much as 45% in the weeks after voting compared with a typical week. But initial losses were typically recovered within a month, with the indexes posting an average gain of about 1.7%.

Over a longer horizon, the TA-125 returned an average 16.4% in the year following elections, compared with a long-term annual average of 11.5%, the research found. Political deadlock often weighed on stocks before voting, but the effects typically faded within months, said Nissan Avraham, an analyst at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s research unit.

That record supports the view that elections matter less for Israeli companies than many investors assume.

Lior Yochpaz, chief investment officer at insurance company Menora Mivtachim, said businesses have continued to thrive despite years of political upheaval, judicial overhaul proposals and regional conflict, helped by a relatively business-friendly environment.

For some investors, however, the more attractive election trade lies outside Israel. TT International’s Jean-Charles Sambor said an opposition victory or weakened Netanyahu government could ease regional tensions and benefit Lebanese bonds.

“The best way to play it for us is through other Middle East countries, and for us Lebanon is a good proxy,” Sambor said.

Reuters

Scottish referee Ru Campbell was the official in charge for just the fifth time at URC level and it is fair to say neither the Bulls nor Ulster were particularly impressed by his performance. Leading 21-7 at halftime, the Bulls nearly came unstuck in the second half as they were punished with a string of penalties and yellow card for captain Marcell Coetzee.

“We were not clinical for 80 minutes and Ulster showed a lot of fight but there’s a lot of clarity we need from the referee’s side,” Ackermann said after his team hung on to a five-point lead until the final hooter, with Curwin Bosch kicking a late penalty to deny the northern Irish side a well-deserved bonus point.

Grobbies muscles his way to the try line for the bonus-point try 💪🐂#VURC | #SSRugby pic.twitter.com/rombZTFyOx

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 24, 2026

“There were big moments where there seemed to be a lot of grey areas. I don’t know how many URC games he has done, but maybe it was just the occasion. If we had lost, then it would have been something we would have had to really make an issue of, some clear and obvious things for us.

“Two or three times we were penalised at the breakdown, in the scrums we were hardly rewarded for our dominance and there was one time Elrigh Louw was penalised for a clean that was technically perfect. There was also the question of blocking at the lineout; all we ask for is consistency.”

Coetzee said at least half-an-hour after the game he still did not know what his yellow card was for.

Ulster can't stop the Vodacom Bulls captain 🐂🔵

Marcell Coetzee goes over for a first-half brace 👏

📺 Stream #VURC on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/DEGUzuXC2z

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 24, 2026

“The referee was far away from me when he gave me the card, I wanted clarity but he just showed me the card,” Coetzee said.

There were six Bulls players involved in the Springboks’ last Test, the disappointing loss to Australia in Perth, and Ackermann expects to still be able to choose from them for the coming weekend’s match against Scarlets. After that, there is a five-week break in URC action before the Bulls’ big local derby against the Lions at Ellis Park.

Flyhalf Handré Pollard, who had a fine game, is possibly an exception for the Scarlets match as he injured his hamstring late in the game.

“It was the first game where we really suffered some casualties, but the positive is a few of them are just head knocks, nothing long-term. Handré has done a hamstring and time will tell how long he’ll be out. Canan Moodie is on his return-to-play protocol for concussion, and because of his past we are taking it easy with him,” Ackermann said.

TimesLIVE

A witness at an observatory in South Korea overlooking the heavily armed border on Monday saw three North Korean armoured vehicles positioned in clear view near the frontier.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency on Monday identified three vehicles as self-propelled 122-mm howitzers, saying their deployment near the border marked a rare public display of such artillery.

The three North Korean armoured vehicles had their gun barrels pointed south and Reuters also observed about 20 to 30 North Korean soldiers carrying out fencing work inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).

“It is highly unusual [for North Korea] to expose its self-propelled artillery so conspicuously,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University in Seoul.

“By deliberately displaying it, North Korea is signalling through action, not words, that it intends to enforce its border policy through force rather than dialogue or negotiation.”

It is also warning South Korea to exercise caution about escalating border friction, aiming to prevent an accidental clash, he added.

North Korean state media KCNA reported that in the letter sent on Sunday, the country’s UN representative said Seoul was using the landmine incident to depict Pyongyang’s border construction as a military incursion.

North Korea warned in the letter that violations of its sovereignty could trigger self-defence measures and that South Korea would be “wholly accountable for all the ensuing consequences”.

Pictures show North Korean drills

The letter is a response to a South Korean letter to the Security Council last week, which said a September 21 blast in the DMZ was planted by North Korean troops and constituted a violation of the Korean War Armistice Agreement.

The UN Command, which oversees the DMZ, has said a North Korean mine across the line violated the armistice. Pyongyang has denied responsibility. The UN Command on Monday said it would not comment on specific military activities.

A spokesperson for South Korea’s unification ministry said that the North Korean letter appears to repeat North Korea’s existing position and seeks to justify its so-called border line marking work.

The ministry had no separate comment on the placement of the armoured vehicles. Seoul has proposed dialogue with North Korea to defuse border tensions.

North Korea’s letter also repeated accusations that South Korea had opened fire on North Korean personnel, calling that a violation of the UN Charter, which bars the threat or use of force against another state’s territorial integrity.

Seoul has said its military issues warning broadcasts and fires warning shots to send North Korean soldiers back across the line when they cross the military demarcation line (MDL), which bisects the DMZ.

North Korean troops have been building tactical roads and fences and laying mines near the MDL in recent years.

Yonhap also reported on Sunday that North Korean troops were conducting drills on the coast of Kaepung county, about 1.5km from the observatory.

In 2015, there was a similar incident in which South Korean troops were injured by North Korean mines. Then, Seoul resumed anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts across the DMZ, triggering a military standoff. After North Korea expressed regret, the standoff ended with a high-level inter-Korean agreement.

Reuters

Attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have nearly emptied the skies over Riyadh this month, aviation data showed on Monday, with cancellations grounding almost nine out of every 10 scheduled flights at the Saudi capital’s airport.

About 86% of scheduled flights at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport — 4,071 out of 4,736 — were cancelled between October 8 and October 25, according to the latest data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

The Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia this month, targeting airports, ports and oil facilities with ballistic missiles and drones. Riyadh’s airport, the kingdom’s second-busiest after Jeddah, has been struck repeatedly, including an attack on October 10 that killed 13 people, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade.

Saudi authorities partially reopened the airport on Sunday after a halt that had started on October 10. Domestic flights resumed from Terminal 1, while national carriers were allowed to operate international services from Terminal 2.

However, the Houthis said they had attacked Riyadh’s airport again on Monday, calling it a “military target”. The attacks have prompted international airlines to suspend services to the Saudi capital into November, while Delta Air Lines has postponed the launch of its Riyadh route until next year.

The disruption has forced several events in Riyadh to be cancelled or postponed, including Saudi Arabia’s marquee investment conference, as flight cancellations hamper travel to and across the kingdom.

The upheaval also spread beyond the Saudi capital. More than 7,800 flights, or 45% of all scheduled departures from Saudi airports, were cancelled between October 8 and October 25, according to Cirium. The peak came on October 12, when cancellations exceeded 60% of scheduled flights nationwide.

Several major airports recorded severe disruption, including Riyadh at 86%, Dammam at 42% and Abha at 46.7%, where the Houthis have claimed strikes. A number of smaller regional airports saw the vast majority of flights cancelled, including Najran, near the Yemeni border, where all flights were cancelled.

Reuters

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The ongoing trial of Vusimusi Cat” Matlala has put brakes in the case of alleged cartel member Katiso “KT” Molefe, whose matter was supposed to start on Monday but has now been postponed to July 2027.

That is because two of the accused in Molefe’s case are also the accused in Matlala’s case.

As a result, it was decided at the Johannesburg high court that Molefe’s case will only begin once Matlala’s has concluded.

Molefe, Michael Pule Tau, Tiego Floyd Mabusela and Musa Kekana face 35 charges that include the murders of DJ Sumbody and of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart, who was a victim of a suspected mistaken identity killing.

While their matter did not sit and all the parties agreed to a postponement, judge Thifhelimbilu Phanuel Mudau gave a stern warning for the case not to drag in a similar manner to that of Senzo Meyiwa, which was a murder trial in 2014. His alleged killers were arrested in 2020. The trial started in 2022, but had to start afresh in 2023 after the initial judge on the matter was suspended.

“Let’s look at Senzo Meyiwa’s case, and maybe I’m citing that by way of example. We can’t have that happening,” Mudau said.

We are unfortunately proceeding at a glacial pace there

Elize Le Roux, prosecutor

Prosecutor Elize Le Roux told the court that the lawyer in the Molefe case is the same as in Matlala’s case, making it impractical for the trials to proceed simultaneously.

She said the other matter was expected to continue for the remainder of the current term, and would resume in the first term of next year.

“We are unfortunately proceeding at a glacial pace there,” Le Roux said.

She explained that the state’s aim was to conclude the other trial by the end of the second term next year, allowing the Molefe matter to begin on July 19 2027. “That is our aim. That is our committed aim,” she said.

Le Roux also acknowledged the impact of the delay on the accused, saying the court was “acutely aware” that Molefe, Tau and Mabusela remain in custody.

Molefe’s lawyer Michael Hellens confirmed that the defence did not oppose the postponement. He said the legal teams had been given early notice of the arrangement and had cleared their diaries accordingly.

“We’ve all cleared our diaries and taken other work, and we agreed to the postponement,” Hellen said.

If it means the whole year, let it be. Line up your witnesses. That’s how it should be so that we can take up other cases and free up court space

Judge Thifhelimbilu Phanuel Mudau

Mudau questioned why the matter was being set down for only one term, and insisted that the parties plan for a continuous trial.

“A running trial means exactly that. In other words, you start to begin. If it means three days running, one day after the other, that is how it should be. Otherwise, you’ll be running a trial for the next five years,” the judge said.

“It’s not in the interests of anyone, least of all the accused.”

He instructed the legal teams to line up their witnesses and block-book sufficient court time so that the trial could run continuously once it begins.

“If it means the whole year, let it be. Line up your witnesses. That’s how it should be so that we can take up other cases and free up court space,” he said.

The judge also stressed that the lawyers needed to plan their diaries around the trial, saying the court’s efficiency could not be held hostage by other commitments.

“Counsel’s diary is counsel’s diary. This court’s efficiency and our trust must run.”

Sowetan

According to the South African Weather Service (Saws), on Monday cloudy and cool conditions are expected along the east and south coasts. Otherwise, partly cloudy and warm to hot conditions are expected, with isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms possible over the central and eastern parts of the country.

Saws senior forecaster Lehlogonolo Thobela said on Tuesday cloudy and cool conditions are expected along the east coast and the adjacent interior, with widespread rain/showers possible along the coastal areas of the Eastern Cape and the southern parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

“Otherwise, partly cloudy and warm to hot conditions are expected, with isolated to scattered thunderstorms possible over the eastern parts of the country,” said Thobela.

The weather service issued a yellow level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours, damaging winds, hail and lightning in KwaZulu-Natal for Monday. It warned this might result in localised flooding and damage to infrastructure and settlements over most parts of KwaZulu-Natal, except in the extreme northeast, and the extreme northern parts of Eastern Cape.

A yellow level 1 warning was issued for damaging winds that could cause localised damage to settlements, agricultural losses and disruptions to transport routes and travel services in the western parts of the Free State and extreme eastern parts of the Northern Cape.

High fire danger conditions are expected over the North West, central and eastern Northern Cape, most parts of the Free State and Limpopo, and in places in western KwaZulu-Natal and western parts of the Northern Cape.

Partly cloudy and warm-to-hot conditions were expected in Gauteng, with isolated afternoon showers and thundershowers in the south.

TimesLIVE

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Durban City coach Eric Tinkler has heaped praise on his players’ commitment after they reached the Caf Confederation Cup group stage for the first time.

The Citizens qualified after defeating AS Port Louis 2000 of Mauritius 3-0 at the Cote d’Or National Sports Complex on Sunday, winning 6-1 on aggregate.

The players deserve enormous credit. They showed hunger, commitment and togetherness throughout the tie

Eric Tinkler, Durban City coach

Gaston Sirino, Haashim Domingo and Ethan Brooks scored the goals to secure a comfortable win and a first appearance in the group stage of continental competition for Durban City.

“The players deserve enormous credit. They showed hunger, commitment and togetherness throughout the tie. Playing away from home in continental competition is never easy, but we remained focused on our objectives and delivered when it mattered,” Tinkler told the club media department.

“We will enjoy this achievement, but we must remain grounded. The group stages will bring a different level of competition and we need to prepare properly, continue improving and make sure we represent Durban City with pride.”

After taking a 3-1 advantage into the return leg on Sunday, Tinkler emphasised the need to avoid complacency if they were to get the job done. They kept their focus in the second leg, won the match and advanced, leaving Tinkler satisfied.

“I’m very pleased with the performance. We came here knowing we had a job to do, despite winning the first leg and the players approached the game with the right mentality,” he said. “We were disciplined, clinical in front of goal and managed the game well.”

Tinkler added that they will not rest on their laurels and will continue to work hard to achieve more.

“This is a very important achievement for Durban City. It’s our first-ever continental campaign and reaching the group stages is a proud moment for the club, the players, the technical team and everyone who has supported us.

“We are delighted, but we also know there is more work ahead.”

Durban will now switch their focus to the Carling Knockout last 16, where they will host Stellenbosch at Chatsworth Stadium on Wednesday at 7pm, eager to progress to the next stage.

Sowetan

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The N12 freeway near Lenasia and Nana’s Farm is in the process of being reopened after protest action, with motorists warned to expect heavy congestion on connecting roads as traffic backlogs clear.

Johannesburg metropolitan police department (JMPD) spokesperson Xolani Fihla said protesting crowds had dispersed and law enforcement officers were working to secure and reopen the freeway in both directions between K43 and Abubakar Asvat Drive.

“Progress has been made in stabilising the area and restoring traffic movement,” said Fihla.

Officers had also begun clearing rocks, debris and burnt obstructions from K43, also known as Klipspruit Valley Road, and Abubakar Asvat Drive.

Traffic was flowing slowly along both roads, according to the department.

Public order policing units, together with JMPD and South African Police Service members, were in the final stages of securing the N12 and facilitating its safe reopening.

“While the situation on the ground remains tense, significant progress has been made by law enforcement officers to stabilise the area and restore mobility,” added Fihla.

Joint operations between the police and JMPD continued in and around the affected areas.

Officers are expected to remain deployed to monitor the perimeter, prevent further protest activity and ensure the safe movement of vehicles.

The department warned motorists using K43, Abubakar Asvat Drive and the N12 to drive with extreme caution while clean-up operations continued.

Although traffic movement was gradually being restored, Fihla said it would take time to completely clear residual backlogs.

Heavy congestion was still expected on secondary connecting routes, including Nirvana Drive (R554) and the Golden Highway (R553).

Motorists were urged to be vigilant and allow for additional travel time when using roads in the affected areas.

TimesLIVE

Home affairs spokesperson Carli van Wyk said 1,002,773 citizens had used its “Home Affairs @home service”, which allows people to apply for replacement Smart ID cards at participating bank branches without prior bookings or paperwork.

Van Wyk said an application takes an average of five minutes to complete, with the process eliminating paperwork and manual procedures that could create opportunities for corruption and manipulation.

The initiative forms part of efforts to reduce long queues at home affairs offices while improving the security and efficiency of applications for identity documents.

Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber said the milestone demonstrated the public’s willingness to embrace digital public services.

“We are deeply inspired by the scale at which the public has embraced our Home Affairs @home reforms, and by the difference this programme has made to the lives of more than 1-million South Africans in seven months,” he said.

Schreiber said the reforms were aimed at addressing longstanding challenges in the department by improving security, reducing queues and paperwork, and combating identity theft.

According to Schreiber, the department plans to expand the services available through participating banks to include passport applications, first-time Smart ID applications and home delivery of documents.

He said the expanded services would eventually be available at more than 1,000 bank branches across the country.

“Within a matter of months, five-minute digital applications for all Smart ID and passport services, and the option to have these enabling documents delivered to your doorstep, will be available at more than 1,000 bank branches throughout the country,” he said.

The planned expansion will be complemented by the department’s digital ID system, which is intended to further modernise how South Africans access and use identification services.

The latest milestone also comes as the department pushes to replace the 14.7-million fraud-prone green bar-coded identity books still in circulation.

Schreiber previously announced the department would stop producing green ID books on March 31 2027 and withdraw their recognition as valid identification by March 31 2028.

He encouraged South Africans to switch to Smart ID cards ahead of the deadlines.

Citizens can find their nearest participating bank branch through the home affairs online portal.

TimesLIVE

Apartheid state assassin Eugene de Kock is taking the stand.

Video courtesy of SABC.

Sowetan

In a statement on its WeChat account, Audi, a premium Volkswagen subsidiary, said:

• Audi is formalising a dual-brand strategy in China to better address the shift toward intelligent mobility and electrification.
• SAIC Audi will be dedicated to developing, producing and selling four-letter AUDI-branded vehicles. It will sell four-ring Audi cars until the end of 2027.
• FAW Audi will focus on four-ring models including the next generation of intelligent combustion engine vehicles.

Audi said the split will enable faster decision-making, more targeted product development and customer experiences

Reuters

The patient is the Uganda-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja and Nigeria’s first Ebola case in more than a decade.

Health minister Muhammad Ali Pate said in a post on X that the woman was clinically much improved, “stable, conscious, communicating, and her clinical laboratory test results closing towards baseline”.

The patient was evacuated along with her spouse, who has remained asymptomatic, Pate added.

The Swiss foreign ministry and Uganda’s health ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Scientists have been trying to work out how Nigeria’s Ebola case caught the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, amid conflicting accounts of whether she travelled to Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the outbreak was announced in mid-May.

Switzerland said last week that she had not travelled to DRC, contradicting statements from Ugandan officials.

Her travel documents show she had not visited DRC, Africa CDC director-general Jean Kaseya said in an interview.

Nigerian authorities have said she had been on holiday in Uganda and travelled through Entebbe airport on October 3.

One of the theories scientists are investigating is a potential link between the patient in Nigeria and the first case in Kenya, a man who had travelled from DRC and who also travelled through Entebbe airport on October 3.

Reuters

Held every five years, the elections will be an important gauge of the political landscape ahead of the 2029 national vote, with support for the ANC continuing to erode.

Here are the key battleground metros:

Johannesburg: the prize

Africa’s richest city has churned through seven mayors since the 2021 local elections as successive coalition governments have unravelled.

The pro-business DA gained an early advantage by naming former Cape Town mayor and Western Cape premier Helen Zille as its mayoral candidate months ahead of its rivals. The 75-year-old political veteran has run an energetic campaign focused on deteriorating infrastructure and poor service delivery.

Recent polls put the DA above 30% and the ANC above 20%, raising the possibility of a coalition between the two parties, which have governed together nationally since the ANC lost its parliamentary majority in 2024. Both parties could first seek deals with smaller parties rather than share power.

Tshwane: ActionSA the kingmaker

Tshwane, home to the administrative capital Pretoria, underscores the importance of smaller parties in South Africa’s fragmented municipal politics.

The ANC governed the metro until 2016, when the DA captured it in a major urban defeat for the governing party. Coalition politics subsequently proved volatile, and the DA lost power in 2024 after its coalition partner ActionSA backed an ANC-led no-confidence motion against its mayor.

Tshwane has since been governed by a multi-party coalition led by ActionSA. The party, founded in 2020 by former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, is a centre-right party that campaigns on anti-corruption and a hard line on immigration.

Cape Town: DA bastion

The DA is heavily favoured to retain Cape Town, which it has governed since 2006 and where it has held an outright majority since 2011.

Polls suggest the party should remain above 50%, though some analysts expect a tighter contest as voters grapple with soaring property prices and persistent gang violence.

The DA is also targeting Nelson Mandela Bay, one of South Africa’s most turbulent coalition metros and currently governed by an ANC-led coalition.

Ethekwini: Zuma wildcard

The economic hub of KwaZulu-Natal, which includes the port city of Durban, could deliver one of the election’s biggest blows to the ANC, with former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party (MKP) threatening to displace it.

Zuma backed MKP after his bitter split with the ANC in 2023. Polls suggest the party could win 40%-50% of the vote, while ANC support could fall into the low teens. MKP’s rise helped drive the ANC’s losses in the 2024 national election.

Ekurhuleni: corruption test

Ekurhuleni, home to OR Tambo International Airport, could provide another measure of the ANC’s decline in Gauteng, where voters have cited concerns over corruption and crime.

Polls suggest ANC support could fall from 38% in 2021 to about 25%, leaving it neck-and-neck with the DA.

Buffalo City and Mangaung: last strongholds of the ANC

Buffalo City, which includes KuGompo City, in the Eastern Cape and Mangaung, home to Bloemfontein, in the Free State remain the ANC’s strongest metropolitan bastions, making them important tests of how far the party’s urban support has eroded.

The ANC won 59% in Buffalo City and 51% in Mangaung in 2021, helped by deep-rooted loyalty to the former liberation movement.

Reuters

Moody’s rates South Africa Ba2 with a positive outlook. The issuer did not announce a rating action.

The government cut its fiscal 2026 consolidated deficit target to 3.9% of GDP from 4.0% in the policy statement, helped by a R17.1bn upward revision to gross tax revenue.

Moody’s forecasts government debt at 84.9% of GDP by fiscal 2028, from about 86.8% in fiscal 2025, saying debt has probably peaked.

Debt affordability remains weak, Moody’s said, with interest absorbing 18.8% of general government revenue in fiscal 2025.

Draft legislation to set fiscal rules for budgeting and debt was credit positive, Moody’s said, but without a binding numerical target the legislation’s credibility would require consistent application.

Reuters

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Record-breaking winning streaks, consecutive podium finishes after starting at the back of the grid, and an overall spectacular sophomore drive from Kimi Antonelli have all culminated in the young Italian possibly claiming the Circuit of the Americas as his championship crowning circuit.

Today, Antonelli could cross the start-finish line in Texas a champion, while Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finish fifth and ninth, respectively.

At this stage, his priority should be race management and ensuring he finishes on the podium in the last six races, which would be enough to secure him the championship. But the 20-year-old would most probably see the idea of racing without aiming to win as sacrilege; such is his unrelenting ambition.

With the pace that Russell is exhibiting this weekend, especially in qualifying yesterday, it is unlikely that scenario will come to pass. “Mr Saturday” is doing his best to make sure his Silver Arrow teammate does not see that trophy at the weekend — or any other weekend — as the British driver still has a mathematical chance of winning it all, even if in reality that chance is slim.

Russell, as with the rest of the grid, will have to contend with what Max Verstappen has described as an “unacceptable” track due to the uneven surface in Texas. While, the Circuit of the Americas is a favourite among the drivers, as Verstappen has said, its lumpy nature is unavoidable, as it is built over soft, clay-like soil that moves up and down as weather, rainfall, and ground moisture levels fluctuate over time.

It means that, regardless of the efforts of the track’s management, headed by Bobby Epstein, there is little that can be done, as even the repaving of turns nine and 11 before this weekend has had minor effects on improving the track’s state. The consequences of these bumps have already been seen in Friday’s free practice session as Lando Norris and others found themselves off the track at the apex of turns one, 11 and 20.

Overtaking dives

Although it had little effect on the quality of qualifying, the racing tonight could be dictated by what happens in those corners, as the cars fight for control and when attempting overtaking dives.

As expected, Ferrari looked strong with Charles Leclerc topping the practice session timings. Their advantage, however, is slim, as he was less than a hundredth of a second ahead across the practices, although the sweeping consecutive corners in the first sector and first half of the second highlight the Scuderia’s superiority in the corners and their ability to accelerate out of them.

Their compact power unit’s deficiencies in generating top-end speed and synchronising with the battery to generate power compared to their rivals mean that over a race distance, Leclerc and Hamilton will have to call on their expertise if they want to make something of their race.

It’s a reality Hamilton has had to accept all season long, as he has dragged his car to competitive race finishes at times this season. Despite mounting what looked like a title challenge for part of the season, the Ferrari team still has much work to do before they can aid their man in chasing that elusive eighth championship.

Being behind his teammate by some margin all weekend doesn’t bode well for his race tonight. However, having driven beyond expectation in a race in and a race out, it wouldn’t be beyond the man who’s won the most times around this circuit to manage another brilliant drive.

Russell has, over the course of a remarkable season for the Mercedes team, turned a rocket ship into a U-boat in his failing bid for the championship. While the rocketman Antonelli has skipped swimmingly across the F1 sea, collecting win after impressive win, Russell has been flaccid. He is firmly in crunch time and must point his ship squarely in the direction of victory and sink his challengers to stand any chance of at least delaying what seems inevitable.

The move comes after the US-Israeli war with Iran severely disrupted energy supplies to Asia shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, prompting countries to draw down inventories and raising concerns about stockpile levels globally. Asia imported two-thirds of its oil supplies from the Middle East before the war.

“Saudi Arabia and Singapore are announcing our joint intent to establish an arrangement for Saudi crude oil to be stored at the Jurong Rock Caverns from the second half of 2027,” Tan See Leng, minister for energy, trade and industry, told the Singapore International Energy Week conference.

“This arrangement enhances the resilience of the Saudi crude oil supply chain in Southeast Asia, as well as contributes to Singapore’s energy security and resilience in the event of supply disruptions.”

Tan said Saudi Aramco will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Energy Market Authority and JTC Corp on Monday and aimed to conclude negotiations in a few months’ time.

“Bringing supply closer to key Asian markets would strengthen the flexibility of our supply network and support Singapore’s security of supply and preparedness,” Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud said in a video recording at the conference.

While China, Japan and South Korea have built large oil stockpiles, most other Asian countries have less of a buffer in the event of supply shocks

Located at a depth of 150 metres below the ground, the rock caverns at Jurong Island can store up to 1.47-million cubic metres, or roughly 9-million barrels of liquid hydrocarbons such as crude oil and condensate.

Saudi Aramco currently stores crude in Japan and South Korea, where local governments have priority to buy the supplies in the tanks in the event of an unexpected shortage.

The crude storage capacity in Okinawa was expanded to 8.2-million barrels in September 2017 in an agreement with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC), Aramco Japan said on its website.

In 2023 Aramco inked a deal with Korea National Oil Corp to store 5.3-million barrels of oil in South Korea’s reserve facilities in the port of Ulsan for five years.

Elsewhere, Japan is in talks with Asian countries to ​boost crude reserves across the region, part of ⁠the Partnership in Wide Energy and Resources Resilience ​Asia (POWERR Asia) initiative proposed earlier this year by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi backed by $10bn (about R165.76bn) in ​financial support.

While China, Japan and South Korea have built large oil stockpiles, most other Asian countries have less of a buffer in the event of supply shocks.

Reuters

Their task will involve trying to work out how the female patient, the Uganda-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, caught the Bundibugyo species of Ebola. Her travel documents show she had not visited the outbreak epicentre in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kaseya said in an interview in London.

Finding out how she became ill matters to ensure that the deadly Bundibugyo outbreak, already the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record, is not spreading silently in as-yet undiscovered locations, and to help trace and isolate all contacts.

‘Many unknowns’

“We have so many unknowns,” said Kaseya. “I’m bringing a group of scientists in Abuja because … we need to be led by science.”

One of the theories the scientists will investigate is a potential link between the patient in Nigeria and the first case in Kenya, reported earlier this month in a man who had travelled from DRC. On Friday, genomic sequencing showed that the viruses that infected the two patients were closely related.

The patient in Nigeria had been on holiday in Uganda and travelled through Entebbe Airport on October 3. The patient in Kenya, who has since died, was likely in the airport at the same time, as their flights were about 40 minutes apart, although they did not depart from the same gate and it is not clear whether they had any contact, Kaseya said.

Kaseya said while genomic sequencing had shown that the viruses were similar, it did not mean that one of the patients had directly infected the other, and the patient in Abuja, whose condition is improving, has said she does not remember meeting the Kenya patient.

We have so many unknowns. I’m bringing a group of scientists in Abuja because we need to be led by science.

Africa CDC director-general Jean Kaseya

However, he said they were not excluding any options, including that there may have been indirect contact through another person, for example. Ebola spreads through close contact with the infected bodily fluids of a person with symptoms, according to the World Health Organisation.

Investigation ongoing

Kaseya said all countries involved were now willing to collaborate in the investigation, after what he described as tension last week when Uganda’s government insisted the patient in Abuja had been to DRC, while Nigerian authorities suggested she had not and was infected in Uganda, which has been Ebola-free since August.

Kaseya said the team, which will be led by the co-discoverer of Ebola, Congolese expert Jean-Jacques Muyembe, would also look at more sequencing data to work out where the Kenyan patient was infected.

The Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in DRC has now caused almost 10,000 cases and more than 4,600 deaths in DRC, and spread to three other countries in Africa — Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. ​The disease can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding. There is currently no approved vaccine or treatment for Ebola Bundibugyo.

Reuters

A Reuters witness at an observatory in South Korea overlooking the heavily armed border on Monday saw three North Korean armoured vehicles positioned in clear view near the frontier.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency on Monday identified three vehicles as self-propelled 122-mm howitzers, saying their deployment near the border marked a rare public display of such artillery.

The three North Korean armoured vehicles had their gun barrels pointed south and Reuters also observed about 20 to 30 North Korean soldiers carrying out fencing work inside the demilitarised zone (DMZ).

“It is highly unusual (for North Korea) to expose its self-propelled artillery so conspicuously,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University in Seoul.

“By deliberately displaying it, North Korea is signalling through action, not words, that it intends to enforce its border policy through force rather than dialogue or negotiation.”

It is also warning South Korea to exercise caution about escalating border friction, aiming to prevent an accidental clash, he said.

North Korean state media KCNA reported in the letter sent on Sunday, the country’s UN representative said Seoul was using the landmine incident to depict Pyongyang’s border construction as a military incursion.

North Korea warned in the letter that violations of its sovereignty could trigger self-defence measures and South Korea would be “wholly accountable for all the ensuing consequences”.

Photos also show North Korean drills

The letter is a response to a South Korean letter to the UN Security Council last week, which said a September 21 mine blast in the DMZ was planted by North Korean troops and constituted a violation of the Korean War Armistice Agreement.

The UN command, which oversees the DMZ, has said a North Korean mine across the line violated the armistice. Pyongyang has denied responsibility. The UN command on Monday said it would not comment on specific military activities.

A spokesperson for South Korea’s unification ministry said the North Korean letter appears to repeat North Korea’s existing position and seeks to justify its border line marking work.

The ministry had no separate comment on the placement of the armoured vehicles. Seoul has proposed dialogue with North Korea to defuse border tensions.

North Korea’s letter also repeated accusations that South Korea had opened fire on North Korean personnel, calling that a violation of the UN Charter, which bars the threat or use of force against another state’s territorial integrity.

Seoul has said its military issues warning broadcasts and fires warning shots to send North Korean soldiers back across the line when they cross the military demarcation line (MDL), which bisects the DMZ.

North Korean troops have been building tactical roads and fences and laying mines near the MDL in recent years.

Yonhap also reported on Sunday that North Korean troops were conducting drills on the coast of Kaepung county, about 1.5km from the observatory.

In 2015, there was a similar incident in which South Korean troops were injured by North Korean mines. Seoul resumed anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts across the DMZ, triggering a military standoff. After North Korea expressed regret, the standoff ended with a high-level inter-Korean agreement.

Reuters

The watchdog found that the movie, Hebrews to Negroes: Wake up Black America, serves to trivialise “immense suffering” and perpetuate anti-Semitism.

“The explicit text comparing Jews to ‘parasites among the nations’ is an egregious act of dehumanisation,” the board said in a government notice. “This language has a well-documented history of justifying discrimination, violence and genocide, clearly demonstrating hatred.

“The content, as presented, incites hatred and spreads dangerous misinformation, failing to provide the objective and informed perspective required for a bona fide documentary. Acknowledging that a bona fide documentary must adhere to historical accuracy, by denying the Holocaust the film fundamentally fails this criterion.”

The three-hour-plus film, produced by Ronald Dalton Jnr, amplifies longstanding anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish power, control and greed, including false claims that Jews control the media, and disputes the identity of modern Jews.

The board found that the documentary amounts to incitement to cause harm on five grounds:

• It promotes Holocaust denialism.
• The explicit text comparing Jews to “parasites among the nations” is an egregious act of dehumanisation.
• It promotes anti-Semitic views.
• The frequent and unmitigated use of racial slurs such as “negro”, “kaffir” and “coolie” constitutes hate speech.
• It incites hatred and spreads dangerous misinformation.

The banning of the documentary followed a formal complaint from the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), which argued that the film promotes racist stereotypes and anti-Semitic tropes that amount to unlawful hate speech based on religion and ethnicity.

The SAJBD was alerted to the film in June 2023 when it was screened at the Soweto Theatre. It welcomed the Film & Publication Board’s decision to issue a “refused classification” ruling, in terms of which the distributor must remove the film from all platforms in South Africa.

‘Strong message’

“In refusing classification to this offensive film [the board] has sent a strong message that the right to freedom of expression does not amount to a licence to defame and propagate hatred against an entire group of people simply because of who they are and what they believe,” the SAJBD said.

“The SAJBD is encouraged to see how the various regulatory systems and institutions that are in place in South Africa to ensure that freedom of speech is not allowed to degenerate into hate speech are successfully fulfilling their mandate, and how in so doing they are helping to safeguard the fundamental right to dignity and equality of all citizens of our country.

“Among other anti-Semitic slurs, the film portrayed Jews as a nation of liars who falsified history as a matter of strategy and as a malign hidden hand behind world events through their supposed control of the banking and educational systems and the mass media. It further associated both Jews and their religion with the devil and other images of extreme evil.”

South Africa has had to manage a fractious relationship with the US after relations between Pretoria and Israel reached a historical low marked by mutual diplomatic expulsions, an International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case and deep political friction.

South Africa lodged a landmark case against Israel at the ICJ in December 2023, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

The friction has spilt into academic discord in South Africa. The University of Cape Town adopted controversial resolutions regarding Israel in June 2024, which led to a major legal battle, a financial backlash and internal campus divisions.

Business Day

Organised by Broad Arrow Auctions, the Global Icons: Winter Memorabilia and Artwork sale opens on November 9. Among the items on offer are four lots connected to Hunt and his racing career.

The British driver won the 1976 Formula One World Championship with McLaren, beating Austrian rival Niki Lauda by one point after a dramatic season. Hunt recorded 10 Grand Prix victories between 1973 and 1979 before retiring from Formula One at the end of the 1979 season.

The championship was decided at the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway on October 24 1976. Racing in heavy rain, Hunt finished third to secure enough points to take the title from Lauda, who had withdrawn from the race.

The auction includes trophies from Hunt’s early racing career, a drawing signed by 21 Formula One drivers, a helmet featuring a tribute to the former champion and a signed print.

James Hunt’s early racing trophies

Three original trophies awarded to Hunt during his 1968 Formula Ford season are estimated to sell for €6,000-€8,000 (about R111,742-R148,977). They are being offered without reserve, meaning there is no minimum price the seller requires for a sale.

The trophies date from the early stages of Hunt’s racing career, several years before he reached Formula One and won the world championship.

Drawing signed by 21 Formula One drivers

A drawing of Hunt associated with the 1976 German Grand Prix carries an estimate of €2,500-€4,000. It is being sold directly by the Hunt family and offered without reserve.

The drawing features original signatures from 21 Formula One drivers, including Hunt, Lauda, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jody Scheckter, Ronnie Peterson, Alan Jones and John Watson.

Other signatures include those of Carlos Pace, Chris Amon, Clay Regazzoni, Jochen Mass, Jacques Laffite, Patrick Depailler, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Arturo Merzario, Harald Ertl, Henri Pescarolo, Henri Stommelen, Mike Lunger and Vittorio Brambilla.

Kimi Räikkönen’s James Hunt tribute helmet

An Arai GP-6 helmet featuring a James Hunt tribute design is another highlight. Estimated at €8,000-€10,000, it is being offered by the Hunt family without reserve.

The helmet carries the livery worn by Kimi Räikkönen at the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix while driving for Lotus. The design was created with the support of Hunt’s family.

Two exact replicas were produced. One was presented to the Hunt family, while the other was given to then-Lotus team principal Eric Boullier.

The helmet was subsequently used by Freddie Hunt, James Hunt’s son, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It retains its original Goodwood 2016 and MSA Approved for Motor Sport 2014/15 scrutineering stickers.

The helmet will be sold with a personal note from James’s other son, Tom Hunt, providing additional provenance.

Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One World Championship with Ferrari and recorded 21 Grand Prix victories during a career that included spells with Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari and Lotus. He retired from Formula One at the end of the 2021 season.

Signed James Hunt print

A framed print of Hunt by Michael Thompson completes the selection. The limited-edition print is one of 750 produced and bears Hunt’s original signature.

It carries an estimate of €1,000-€1,200 and is being offered without reserve.

The lots can be viewed in Broad Arrow Auctions’ online catalogue for the Global Icons: Winter Memorabilia and Artwork sale.

TimesLIVE

This is the view of Mokebe Thulo, CEO of the Association for Alcohol Responsibility and Education (Aware.org.za).

Thulo was speaking to TimesLIVE Motoring in an interview at its Johannesburg offices after the release of new three-year data around driving under influence (DUI) arrests.

The organisation has partnered with the Joburg metro police department (JMPD) on a case study themed “Drive sober, stay alive” for six months.

She said the partnership would see if co-ordinated activities would result in more impactful outcomes, reducing the number of drunk drivers on roads.

Males aged 25-44 biggest offenders

The JMPD recorded 26,578 DUI arrests between 2023 and 2025, but there is no data for how many arrests resulted in prosecution.

Aware.org also assists the JMPD with blood testing kits, evidential breath alcohol testing (EBAT) machines and personnel for data capturing.

“The gap isn’t in sterner laws. We have sufficient policy in place, but it’s about the follow through. If someone is arrested, they need to go through the system,” said Thulo.

“One of the gaps we’ve seen is evidence. A lot of the systems still rely on blood. You need proof. We know that in the case of South Africa. We have a huge backlog when it comes to blood, so a lot of cases end up getting thrown out of court.”

According to Thulo, wider use of EBAT machines could help.

“It works differently to a breathalyser and is admissable in court, but it is expensive. Machines have to be purchased and calibrated, officers must be trained, and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) must be trained to use the evidence.”

Thulo said it was concerning that the percentage of alcohol found within drunk drivers has steadily increased.

She said that “96% of DUIs are related to males. Most incidents happen between 6pm and midnight, and the [prevalent] ages of offenders range between 25 and 44.

“We know resources are always a problem. We need more roadblocks, more enforcement, more people must be arrested and be prosecuted.”

Encouraging responsibility

“The biggest solution is behavioural change but that takes time.”

According to Thuso, Aware.org’s “No to Under-18s” initiatives are crucial to long-term behavioural change.

“We are teaching them to make good decisions. If they come out of adolescence with a healthier outlook, we will have far less problems when it comes to road safety.”

Aware.org also operates a programme named “Shifting Gears” with the National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders (Nicro).

“This is for road use offenders who have been caught and redirected by the courts, with first-time offenders typically undergoing a six-week course. This includes counselling, video lessons on the dangers and the psyche behind decision-making. After the intervention, these people are tracked for 12 months and 95% do not reoffend, which proves it works.”

Thulo called for greater accountability among motorists, particularly as the festive season approaches.

“When it comes to drinking and driving, you have a choice. You can make alternative means. As road users we all have a part to play.”

JMPD efforts

JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla said its purview was “delivering rock-solid dockets, compliant blood samples and intact evidence” to ensure convictions stick.

Fihla said Johannesburg residents and visitors can expect high-frequency static and mobile roadblocks along major arterial roads, freeway off-ramps and nightlife hotspots over the festive season.

“We are also deploying mobile testing units for immediate roadside screening, allowing us to process cases rapidly.

“Beyond alcohol, we are cracking down on speeding, reckless driving, unroadworthy vehicles and unlicensed drivers.”

Asked about consistent, year-round efforts, Fihla said the JMPD “runs dozens” of “targeted operations and major roadblocks every single month across all regions of Johannesburg”.

Regarding bribery, he said the department has a “strict zero-tolerance policy towards extortion and misconduct” within its ranks.

“Every roadblock is supervised. On top of that, our internal affairs unit investigates every complaint, and any officer caught soliciting a bribe faces immediate suspension, internal disciplinary action and criminal charges.

“We also want motorists to know their rights. You are entitled to ask any officer for their name or badge number. Never pay a bribe. Instead, report it immediately to our JMPD anti-corruption hotline at 0800-203-712.”

What happens if you are arrested

Fihla said: “An officer conducts a roadside breathalyser screening. If you test over the legal limit, which is 0.24mg per 1,000ml for regular drivers or 0.10mg per 1,000ml for professional drivers, you are immediately arrested.”

“From there you are transported to an alcohol evidence centre or police station, where a further breathalyser test using an EBAT device will be conducted, or a medical professional must draw a blood sample within two hours.

“You are then booked into police custody for processing. Depending on the docket, bail may be considered, or you will remain in custody until your court appearance. Ultimately you will face the magistrate under the National Road Traffic Act, where you risk a criminal record, severe fines, licence suspension or actual jail time.”

TimesLIVE

Story audio is generated using AI

Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) responded to seven separate emergencies across Table Mountain in Cape Town in a single day, matching its highest daily number of incidents as rescue teams warn of growing pressure ahead of the busy summer hiking season.

The incidents on Saturday included injured hikers, a collapsed visitor, stranded tourists and a technically challenging cliff rescue that left volunteers on the mountain overnight.

According to WSAR, 235 mountain rescue incidents had been recorded across its operational area by October 25 this year, compared with 39 during the same period in 2000. This represents an increase of more than 500% over 26 years.

The organisation said the current figure had also exceeded its previous record of 200 incidents recorded by the same point in 2024, with 68 days remaining in 2026 at the time of its statement.

WSAR said the figures did not necessarily mean hikers were becoming more careless, but highlighted the increasing demands on volunteers, specialist rescue teams and partner agencies.

We don’t share these numbers to suggest people are becoming more careless, or that anyone should think twice about asking for help. More people are needing assistance, and we’re asking more of the volunteers, specialist teams and partner agencies who respond

Wilderness Search and Rescue

“We don’t share these numbers to suggest people are becoming more careless, or that anyone should think twice about asking for help,” WSAR said. “More people are needing assistance, and we’re asking more of the volunteers, specialist teams and partner agencies who respond.”

One of the most demanding operations involved a 24-year-old hiker who fell about 4m while attempting to scramble up a break in the cliffs above Union Ravine, away from established trails.

The man sustained injuries and became stranded on a small ledge, prompting technical rescue teams to abseil down the cliffs to reach him and provide medical care. Rescuers then used ropes to raise him about 130m to the top of Table Mountain.

With the cableway not operating, the team carried him to the toilet facilities near the upper cable station, where they arrived at about 4.30am on Sunday. They sheltered there while waiting for conditions to allow a safe evacuation. Shortly after 8am, the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway team assisted in bringing the injured hiker and rescuers down the mountain despite strong winds.

WSAR praised the cableway staff for remaining on duty beyond their normal closing time on Saturday to help transport rescuers and specialist equipment before returning to assist on Sunday morning.

Other incidents

Earlier incidents included a female hiker who was airlifted after falling and sustaining injuries, and a 56-year-old American visitor who collapsed while hiking Platteklip Gorge.

The Western Cape government health and wellness emergency medical services and Air Mercy Service rescue helicopter were dispatched to assist the visitor, who was airlifted to safety and transferred to an ambulance for further treatment.

Another hiker suffering from severe cramps near the top of Platteklip Gorge received treatment from an emergency medical services paramedic and SANParks Table Mountain National Park rangers before being assisted to the upper cable station.

Our rescuers are ordinary people who make themselves available to help others. They have families, careers, responsibilities and plans of their own — but when someone needs assistance, they respond

WSAR

A couple who encountered difficulties descending the technical sections of the India Venster trail also called for assistance, but later reported they had managed to slowly continue their descent.

In Cecilia Forest, a 24-year-old woman who twisted her ankle was assisted by a paramedic to the parking area, where a friend collected her.

The seventh incident involved a 32-year-old Tunisian visitor hiking alone on an unfamiliar route from the India Venster trail. When darkness fell, he realised he could no longer navigate the terrain safely and called for help. Rescuers abseiled from the cable car before crossing the mountain to locate him along the Grotto Fountain Cairn Traverse and guide him to safety.

WSAR said the incident required resources to be diverted while teams were dealing with the overnight cliff rescue. The organisation said hikers should call for help as soon as they realise they are in difficulty rather than continue into increasingly dangerous terrain. However, it warned simultaneous emergencies forced rescue teams to make difficult decisions about deploying personnel and equipment.

With the summer hiking season approaching, WSAR said the growing number of incidents had prompted a broader conversation about mountain safety and the demands placed on those who volunteer to help people in distress. WSAR’s operations are supported by volunteers who fit rescues around full-time jobs and family commitments.

“Our rescuers are ordinary people who make themselves available to help others,” the organisation said. “They have families, careers, responsibilities and plans of their own — but when someone needs assistance, they respond.”

TimesLIVE

The attack, in which gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church on Friday in the village of Hamoud in Karak governorate, about 120km southwest of the capital Amman, also wounded 40 others. The shooting lasted several minutes, witnesses said.

Jordan’s public security directorate said security forces located the three suspects early on Monday hiding in an abandoned house in Karak. The suspects refused to surrender and opened fire on security forces, who returned fire and arrested all three after they were wounded, the directorate said in a statement carried on state media.

No security personnel were injured, and a number of firearms and ammunition were found in the suspects’ possession after their arrest.

“Terrorism has no place among us,” the directorate said, adding that the suspects had met their “just fate”.

The public security directorate did not identify the suspects’ affiliation or say whether they belonged to any militant group.

Jordanian authorities have said the attack was carried out by “extremist terrorists”, but it was too early to determine whether they had links to known groups inside or outside Jordan. There has been no claim of responsibility.

Interior minister Mazen al-Faraya said on Monday authorities were reviewing the circumstances that led young people towards extremism and would hold accountable anyone found to have participated in the attack.

King Abdullah, a US partner in the fight against Islamist militant groups, has ordered security forces to respond with an “iron fist” to the rare attack on Jordan’s Christian minority.

Such violence is highly unusual in Jordan, a relatively stable state in the Middle East, though authorities say they have foiled several Islamist militant plots over the years.

Reuters

Legislators unanimously backed the deployment of National Army units to Madama in northern Niger, near the Libyan border, at the site of a former French base used during Operation Barkhane, the statement said.

No troops have been officially deployed yet, according to a Niger security source. But Niger presidential chief of staff Gen Bacharou Ibro Amadou has been visiting the Kawar area in the Bilma department of Agadez region since October 19. He travelled to Madama for talks with local military commanders before returning to Dirkou to meet military and traditional authorities on plans for the base.

The move highlights a rapid improvement in ties between Algiers and Niamey after a period of strain.

Algeria opposed the 2023 coup that brought Niger’s current military leaders to power. Relations worsened last year, when Niger recalled its ambassador from Algiers after Algeria shot down a Malian drone near their border.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are all ruled by military leaders who seized power in coups and later formed the Alliance of Sahel States.

Niger, like other countries in West Africa’s Sahel region, is battling insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State. Algeria, which shares a border with Niger, has traditionally regarded stability in the Sahel-Sahara as a key regional security priority.

Ties have improved this year. Niger President Abdourahamane Tiani visited Algiers in February, and Niger defence minister Salifou Mody travelled there on October 20 with a delegation of defence experts for talks on security cooperation.

Algeria has also deepened its economic interests in Niger. State energy company Sonatrach is working with Niger and Nigeria on the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, which is intended to create a new export corridor for African gas to international markets, particularly Europe.

Sonatrach said in 2022 that it had signed a production-sharing agreement with Niger’s petroleum ministry for the Kafra region, where two exploration wells held proven reserves of 168-million barrels and 100 million barrels, respectively.

Reuters

Molefe, Tau, Mabusela and Kekana have been charged with the November 2022 murder of Oupa John Sefoka, known as DJ Sumbody.

Video courtesy of SABC.

Sowetan

Tinubu, 74, faces a contest ahead of a January 16 election likely to be dominated by the economy and security. His main challengers include former vice-president Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, who finished second and third respectively in 2023.

Thank you for this massive showing up. It is a promise. Come 2027, January 16, you must go out massively and elect me again

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu

By midday thousands of supporters of the president’s All Progressives Congress party had filled most of the 10,000-capacity Ranchers Bees Stadium, with more arriving as the rally started.

“Thank you for this massive showing up. It is a promise. Come 2027, January 16, you must go out massively and elect me again,” Tinubu told the crowd.

Tinubu says opposition created problems

Since taking office in 2023, Tinubu has scrapped fuel subsidies, devalued the naira and introduced other reforms credited with improving public finances, foreign reserves and investor sentiment. The measures have also fuelled Nigeria’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

Petrol prices rose to about 1,400 naira (R17.45) a litre in Lagos and Abuja in September and as much as 1,500 naira (R18.13) in parts of northern Nigeria, adding to pressure on household budgets.

Tinubu dismissed opposition complaints about hunger and poverty, arguing his rivals created the problems.

“They created the hunger. They created the poverty. We are trying to eradicate it,” he said.

Phrank Shaibu, a spokesperson for Abubakar’s campaign, said the president was attempting to dodge responsibility.

Mr President, blaming the opposition for hunger is either delusion or a staggering case of political amnesia

Phrank Shaibu, spokesperson for former vice-president Atiku Abubakar's campaign

“Mr President, blaming the opposition for hunger is either delusion or a staggering case of political amnesia,” he said.

Security will provide another test. Nigeria continues to battle armed bandits and kidnappers in the northwest and a 17-year Islamist insurgency in the northeast, where militants have stepped up attacks on military positions.

Tinubu nevertheless enters the race with a formidable political machine. His camp said he has the backing of 32 of Nigeria’s 36 state governors, potentially giving him an unprecedented organisational advantage, though past elections have shown governors cannot always deliver their states to presidential candidates.

His toughest electoral test could come in the north, where Abubakar, a veteran northern politician with an established support base, will seek to erode the president’s vote.

Tinubu has said he will not attend campaign rallies in all 36 states as he needs to remain focused on governing. The party’s proposed timetable has him personally attending rallies in 12 states, culminating in a major closing rally in his home state of Lagos on January 9.

Reuters

Real Madrid recorded just a second victory in eight games against Barcelona on Sunday night, with the return of Jose Mourinho to the fixture haunting the reigning champions.

In the first Clasico of Mourinho’s first spell at Real Madrid, Barcelona ripped his side to shreds in a 5-0 win at Camp Nou. A 2-1 win in the first Clasico of his second spell suggests Mourinho’s Real Madrid can challenge Barcelona’s recent LaLiga dominance in his first season back in Spain.

Though the chances were shared out evenly, with Barcelona racking up more shots on goal, more possession and more passes throughout the match, those statistics were not an honest reflection of the game. Real Madrid played as if they had the answers to the test Barcelona posed.

“The lads played an extraordinary match,” Mourinho said in his press conference afterwards.

“Very organised, focused, and showing the courage to play the ball out from the back against an opponent that applied a lot of pressure.”

Time and again, Mourinho’s side moved the ball with urgency and precision in their own half to escape Barcelona’s pressing.

Fede Valverde was praised for playing through injury by Mourinho, but above all he embodied the presence of mind to identify where the space was whenever the ball was turned over.

The Uruguayan did so from the right-back position, despite stating in September 2025 that he was “not born to play as a fullback.”

Valverde later denied he had expressed any unwillingness to play in defence, but a number of Spanish outlets took this as a suggestion he was not pleased about doing so, and perhaps he was not on board with then-manager Xabi Alonso’s style of management.

For a third game in a row, the Real Madrid captain started at right-back and delivered a captain’s performance. Valverde’s impressive showing in his unfavoured position demonstrated Mourinho not only is finding tactical solutions to get the best out of his players, but is winning over the Real Madrid dressing room.

Mourinho remarked that leaving Camp Nou just three points behind Barcelona “gives us peace of mind, and it’s well deserved.”

The victory over Barcelona should help to boost morale and build unity within the Real Madrid squad. More importantly, Mourinho now has evidence his methods can help return Real Madrid to the summit of Spanish football.

“If we win today but lose at El Sardinero, it counts for nothing, because Madrid isn’t playing to win at the Camp Nou,” Mourinho said.

“They’re playing to win the championship” — a statement that now looks closer to reality after two defeats in September had sown early doubts about Mourinho’s plans.

“This country is giving lessons to everyone,” she shouted as her convoy entered the capital, leaning out of the sunroof to shake hands and hug raucous supporters.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, who was prevented from challenging deposed leader Nicolas Maduro for the presidency in 2024, has been out of the country for 10 months and spent the previous year in hiding following the disputed election.

On Sunday morning, Machado appeared at a church in western Lara state and was greeted by bystanders who sang the national anthem and shouted “liberty!” as she left in an SUV, a Reuters witness said.

She then travelled to the capital in a journey that took eight hours because of crowds. By the time she neared Caracas, festooned in rosaries handed to her by followers, the highway was all but blocked by cheering supporters.

“For the reunion of every family, for freedom of every political prisoner, for the freedom of Venezuela,” she wrote on social media.

Machado’s return was coordinated with the US, Panamanian and Colombian governments, according to a person briefed directly on her movements, who added Trump approved her return and was kept informed about it.

At the White House on Sunday, Trump said he did not know anything about Machado’s return and suggested the US would continue to back Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

“She’s a very nice woman,” he said, referring to Machado. “But we’re doing really well in Venezuela.”

The White House and the state department did not respond to Reuters questions on the matter.

Return previously delayed

Machado’s efforts to return have tested her relationship with the Trump administration, which she sought to cultivate as an ally even before it captured Maduro in January and took him to New York for trial.

Trump has repeatedly expressed support for Rodriguez, a former deputy to Maduro, and hailed deals on oil production and other business ventures by US companies in the South American country. Trump said in September it was too soon to consider democratic elections in Venezuela.

US officials have asked Machado at least once to delay her return, Reuters reported in June, and she has made several failed attempts to enter the country. Her team did not disclose details of how she returned.

Machado travelled in a private plane from Panama to Colombia and crossed overland on Sunday to Venezuela, four people familiar with her trip told Reuters.

One person briefed on her movements said the flight took place late last week, and US security contractors guarded her during the journey. Rodriguez and the country’s authorities were warned by the US not to interfere or threaten her safety, the person said.

“The conditions allowing for the safe return of Ms Machado to Venezuela are the direct result of the US-supported reconciliation talks which have already seen hundreds of political prisoners freed and hundreds of political opposition figures return from exile,” US secretary of state Marco Rubio said in a statement on Sunday.

What does Machado’s arrival mean? All paths are opening up for us, the future is opening up, we have a light, and we are going all the way to the end

Zuleima Granadillo, 61, education ministry employee

“We expect all political actors to support these talks which represent the best chance Venezuela has had in thirty years to peacefully achieve not just a free and fair election but an enduring democracy.”

A faction of the opposition and the interim government held a round of talks this month, with the aim of remaking the top court and electoral council, among other goals, ahead of eventual elections. The talks have not included Machado’s political movement.

The Venezuelan communications ministry, which handles all press queries for the government, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Machado’s return.

Supporter cheer Machado on route

“Maria Corina Machado will achieve liberty and democracy in Venezuela,” said Hernan Adames, 69, as he celebrated with other supporters in Barquisimeto.

Zuleima Granadillo, 61, an employee at the ministry of education, waited for Machado at a point on the highway in Aragua state, closer to Caracas.

“What does Machado’s arrival mean? All paths are opening up for us, the future is opening up, we have a light, and we are going all the way to the end,” she said.

“This dictatorship is already over with the arrival of our leader.”

Machado plans to meet victims of the deadly earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June, as well as the families of political prisoners, the international community and various leaders from the democratic movement in Venezuela, David Smolansky, her top foreign affairs adviser, told Reuters.

“She will work proactively for a date for free and fair elections,” he added.

International energy firms committed last month to expanding projects in the country in a signing ceremony overseen by Rodriguez and US energy secretary Chris Wright.

Machado has said that only a “serious, democratic government” can provide the stability needed by investors.

She had been barred by Maduro’s government from exiting Venezuela, but she secretly left in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after spending more than a year living mostly in hiding.

Machado’s Vente Venezuela movement released an app on Saturday to ‌collect voter registration information from Venezuelans abroad. The group hopes eventually to share data from the app, which was built by 15 staff over the last 18 months, with a reformed electoral council so users can be officially added to voter rolls.

Edmundo Gonzalez, a former presidential candidate for Machado’s movement who has been living in Spain, said on X he would soon join her in Venezuela.

Reuters

Now in its 25th year, Standard Bank Private WineX 2026 will bring together 9,000 wine enthusiasts under one roof once again to transform the city into the wine capital of Africa at Sandton Convention Centre from October 28 to 30.

Sponsored by Standard Bank Private, WineX has evolved far beyond its origins to become a multi-sensory blend of wine, art, music and entertainment.

The annual event continues to create wealthier life experiences that bring people together through the joy of shared moments.

What makes this event a diary essential? Guests can explore an exceptional line-up of 700 wines and brandies from more than 120 exhibitors, ranging from legendary award-winning cellars to exciting boutique producers whose vintages may become tomorrow’s cult favourites.

Bringing the best of the Cape Winelands to the heart of Gauteng, WineX invites visitors to broaden their tastes, deepen their appreciation and discover something new.

The magic of WineX lies in making the world of wine welcoming to everyone, from curious first-time tasters to seasoned collectors.

Newcomers can engage directly with passionate winemakers, ask the questions they have always wanted to ask and build their knowledge with confidence. There are no “secret codes” and no elitism — only a shared enthusiasm for wine, learning and wealthier connections.

Wine enthusiasts can explore an array of wines so vast that even the most dedicated cannot hope to cover everything on offer. Discover rare gems, limited releases, and exclusive tastings that aren’t available anywhere else, making it a blend of the best.

It is an invitation to discover more, share richer moments and enjoy experiences that make life feel wealthier.

Event details — Standard Bank WineX

• Dates: Wednesday October 28 to Friday October 30 2026

• Time: 5pm to 9pm (no first entry after 8.30pm)

• Venue: Sandton Convention Centre, Maude Street, Sandton

Tickets, which include a tasting glass, are available online at Webtickets and at the door: Thursday October 29, R325; Friday October 30, R395 per ticket. Entry is restricted to guests aged 18 and older.

Enjoy exclusive savings with your Standard Bank card: save 30% when you purchase tickets using your Standard Bank credit or Evolve card. And save 10% when using your Standard Bank debit or cheque card. Discounts are limited to four discounted tickets per transaction.

Discounts are also available to Friends of WineX, including members of the Cape Wine Academy, Wine Wizard subscribers, Wine & Spirit Education Trust students, sommeliers, wine clubs and Rotary clubs.

Wednesday October 28 is by invitation only for Standard Bank clients and guests.

This article was sponsored by Standard Bank Private WineX.

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The ministry said it rejected any statements that “undermine the dignity of its people or diminish their standing”.

At Saturday’s rally in Perry, Georgia, Trump said, “[US Senator] Jon Ossoff personally sponsored a bill to bring armies of migrants from terror-infested countries like Libya, Yemen, Haiti, Somalia. Remember what I called them? Shithouse countries,” in a reference to remarks made during his first term

The US was committed to ties with Libya, Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday night, calling its people “proud, resilient, hospitable and deserving of peace and prosperity”.

“We respect the Libyan people and the sacrifices that brave Libyans made fighting IS, the common enemy of both our peoples, but Libya cannot remain a corridor for illegal migration, and this must end now,” he wrote.

Libya’s rival administrations in the east and west denounced Trump’s remarks, rejecting attempts to draw Libya into what they called “electoral debates”.

Reuters

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The Range Rover Electric made a steep rock climb at JLR’s Gaydon proving ground in the UK feel as demanding as a Johannesburg speed bump. We had crossed sand and gravel before reaching the rocks, and the big SUV picked its way up and over with ease.

JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) has given its first electric Range Rover an equally powerful advantage back at the factory: it can share a production line with versions powered by other technologies. For a manufacturer selling luxury vehicles into countries with vastly different charging infrastructure, that flexibility provides a way to keep serving customers as buying preferences change.

“We know that the penetration rate of full-electric Range Rovers will be different in the different regions of this world,” Martin Limpert, Range Rover global MD, told Business Times at JLR’s Gaydon headquarters.

“That was part of the construct from the beginning: we can build the plug-in hybrid, the mild hybrid, the EV, all on the same plant in Solihull, on the same production line. So we’re flexible and we can adjust our supply to the demand of the individual markets.”

A plug-in hybrid can cover part of a journey on battery power and recharge from a socket. A mild hybrid uses electrical assistance alongside its combustion engine. Building these alongside a fully electric model gives JLR room to change the mix leaving the factory as orders come in.

South African manufacturers could learn from JLR’s example. With 70.5% of South Africa’s light-vehicle production exported in 2025, factories here need the capacity to follow demand across markets moving towards electrification at different speeds.

Some of that investment is already happening, for example, at BMW’s Rosslyn plant, where a R4.2bn upgrade included electrification and workforce training. The plant builds plug-in hybrid and combustion-engine X3s on the same line, and is the sole global producer of the plug-in hybrid version.

At Solihull, JLR’s inclusion of a fully electric Range Rover brings further engineering demands. The company developed its own batteries and electric drive units, the assemblies that combine the motors with equipment delivering power to the wheels. Its engineers had to accommodate those components while preserving the vehicle’s off-road capability.

Limpert was candid about a decision that contributed to the programme taking longer than planned.

“In the beginning, we thought an architecture where we have a permanent-magnet motor on the rear axle and an induction motor on the front would do it. But the more we tested it, especially in terms of repeatability… that was not provided with that technology.”

We could have said, ‘Oh yeah, well, it’s an EV. People’s expectations are going to be different.’ But we didn’t

Simon Fairbrother

Simon Fairbrother, programme chief for Range Rover and Range Rover Sport Electric, offered another example. Fitting the electric drive unit changed the length of the driveshafts connecting it to the wheels. Keeping the existing suspension components would have restricted how far the wheels could move up and down.

“Range Rover’s got 450mm of wheel articulation, and that’s one of the things that gives us the off-road capability,” he told Business Times.

“We could have said, ‘Oh yeah, well, it’s an EV. People’s expectations are going to be different. We’ll just restrict the wheel articulation and it’ll be fine.’ But we didn’t. We changed the suspension component so that we maintained that 450mm of wheel articulation.”

On the rocks at Gaydon, the engineering produced a vehicle that made rough ground thoroughly enjoyable. However, the business case also depends on what happens after an owner leaves the showroom.

Limpert identified home charging as a distinction within markets, as well as between them. A customer with a house can have a very different ownership experience from someone living in an apartment in the same city.

“There will be places like Tokyo, Singapore, maybe also … Cape Town or Johannesburg, where it’s apartment living and the installation of a home charger is not as easy.”

Fairbrother also recognised a South African customer group that has already invested in much of the supporting infrastructure. “Many of the more affluent people in South Africa have already got solar power and battery banks and so on. For them the car’s perfect.”

JLR’s approach gives South African manufacturers a challenge for factory upgrades: how much scope will it provide to supply the vehicles that export markets want next? In short, skills and component suppliers have to develop alongside assembly lines.

• Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, and author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI – The African Edge”.

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Choosing a seat in a boardroom may soon be based on the language in which you choose to hear a presentation. Logitech for Business demonstrated the possibility in a recording screened at its Logitech Rise event in Cairo last week: a single speaker system played English to one side of a room and French to the other, simultaneously.

The demo was part of what the computer accessories company called its biggest enterprise product launch ever. It featured among new conferencing equipment, as a technology called Sound Shape, which directs sound to specific areas of a room. Speakers using the system are due for release in mid-2027.

Anyone who has struggled through a business presentation in their second or third language will appreciate the prospect. Understanding the subject can be demanding enough. Translating it in your head is a private obstacle course.

For a South African company training employees from different language backgrounds, this could mean people sharing a room while following the material in a preferred language. A business bringing together teams from across Africa could make an English and French session possible in the same space.

While the demo used separate language feeds, AI can allow automatic translation of an original feed. According to Jawad Jabalane, the Africa head of Logitech for Business, the company is working with Microsoft and Zoom on bringing customers AI options in its speakers. It is also working with Google.

“The job of Logitech is to ensure that anything provided and created, or advanced AI provided by those alliances, are fully embedded into Logitech hardware,” he told Business Times.

Sound Shape’s immediate business proposition addresses a more common irritation: not hearing the person addressing the meeting. In a large room, increasing the volume for those at the back can punish everyone at the front, while additional speakers bring added installation demands.

Karthik Rajagopal, vice-president of engineering at Logitech for Business, has seen the challenge firsthand: “You’re pulling cable, cutting into ceilings, working around lights, sprinklers, HVAC [airconditioning], and every room is different. Installation takes longer, costs more, and becomes much harder to standardise.”

For companies fitting out several offices, each room’s peculiarities can create another installation project. That is just the start, if sound quality is taken seriously.

Traditional speakers are like a light bulb, spreading energy in every direction. These new Rally speakers are like a flashlight, focusing sound energy precisely where it is needed

Karthik Rajagopal

“Now you have to put the room offline, run tests, make calls, tweak it to make this particular room sound right. It works, but then you have to do it all over again in the next room, and suddenly every large room becomes its own custom project.”

Logitech’s remedy puts the sound source at the front. The Rally Speaker 2 Pro uses 32 small speaker drivers to control where the audio goes, with coverage extending to 14m. A Max model uses 64 drivers and extends coverage to 20m.

Rajagopal summed it up neatly: “Traditional speakers are like a light bulb, spreading energy in every direction. These new Rally speakers are like a flashlight, focusing sound energy precisely where it is needed.”

The same control could help in offices with rooms separated by movable partitions. Rajagopal described independent audio zones that could reduce sound leakage across a partition and areas deliberately excluded from coverage. This would work well for a business dividing a large training space into smaller rooms. The attraction for an employer is consistent audibility across a training room, with fewer speakers to install and connect.

The Logitech Rise event included the launch of a conferencing device called the Rally Bar 2, which provides occupancy detection, and can help businesses assess how they use office space.

But Sound Shape offers a more practical prospect: equipment that could help people share that space across languages.

South African customers will want to hear it for themselves, Jabalane told Business Times. As a result, Logitech is preparing its Johannesburg office for demonstrations. He has a refreshing assessment of local buyers: “They know what they are speaking about. They know what they want. Trust is the most important thing between end users and vendors.”

Jabalane is upbeat about the reception of the range in this country. “It’s a developed market, as Morocco is, as Egypt is, compared to some others. South Africa is one of the easiest markets to work with and to work in.”

• Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, and author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI – The African Edge.

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Clicks Group CEO Bertina Engelbrecht is steering the retailer beyond its traditional pharmacy roots, betting on specialist health care, medical consumables and the fast-growing GLP-1 weight-loss market to drive its next phase of growth.

The health and beauty retailer, which increased its pharmacy market share to 24.7% and now operates 835 pharmacies and 225 clinics, is building new growth platforms through specialist pharmacy services, digital health care and adjacent categories as it seeks to diversify earnings and strengthen its position in South Africa’s increasingly competitive health-care market.

Among the biggest opportunities, according to Engelbrecht, is the rapid growth of GLP-1 medicines, which are used to treat diabetes and are increasingly prescribed for weight management.

Patients pay between R2,000 and R3,000 a month for these treatments, limiting access for many consumers. Engelbrecht believes broader adoption will follow once generic alternatives receive regulatory approval and prices fall.

“When the price dies down significantly, let’s say to 30% maybe, over the two-to-three-year period, then you’ll get more people using it specifically for weight loss,” she said.

“So I think in the short term that [GLP-1] is the biggest opportunity.”

The opportunity extends beyond simply dispensing medication. Clicks is assessing how its growing network of health-care services, including weight-management clinics, can support customers using GLP-1 treatments and create additional revenue streams through ongoing care and monitoring.

The retailer also sees significant long-term potential in specialist health care, particularly oncology.

“Oncology is a large and growing market, and we have got almost 0% exposure to that market,” Engelbrecht said. “Anything that we do with it is going to be accretive for us.”

The move forms part of Clicks’ strategy of expanding across the health-care value chain through specialist pharmacy business UniCare. The group currently operates five UniCare pharmacies and believes the network can eventually grow to between 15 and 20 sites. UniCare is also expected to underpin services such as 24-hour medicine delivery and specialist pharmacy support.

Another growth engine is emerging through pharmaceutical wholesaler UPD following its acquisition of medical consumables distributor Mr First Aid.

The business supplies hospitals with products such as medical-grade gloves, masks, plasters and other consumables, providing Clicks with access to an estimated R8bn market. Beyond hospitals, the group sees opportunities in mining, industrial and workplace health-care settings.

“If you think about mining companies in South Africa, they’ve got huge clinics, for example, and so there are opportunities for us to go into mining, factories and industrials,” Engelbrecht said.

The acquisition enables Clicks to leverage UPD’s distribution network while expanding into health-care segments that are less constrained by medicine pricing regulations. Medical consumables are particularly attractive because the market remains highly fragmented and offers consolidation opportunities.

Digital health care is another pillar of the group’s strategy.

Clicks is trialling an on-demand pharmacy service that allows customers to order over-the-counter medicines for delivery rather than travelling to a store. The company already delivers about 10,000 prescription orders a week and is using the pilot to refine operational and regulatory processes ahead of a wider rollout.

The group aims to increase online sales from less than 2% of turnover currently to about 10% over the medium term.

While health care remains the primary focus, Clicks is also pursuing selective opportunities beyond South Africa. The group has secured a master franchise agreement for Botswana and is close to finalising a similar arrangement in Mauritius. Interest has also emerged from Zimbabwean entrepreneurs looking to expand the Sorbet beauty brand into that market.

“The brand is incredibly well known in the rest of Africa, and I think it has legs to grow,” Engelbrecht said.

Clicks is also looking to extract greater value from its beauty portfolio, which includes The Body Shop, Sorbet and ARC. Engelbrecht said The Body Shop had faced challenges after ownership changes at its international parent company but was showing signs of recovery as new product innovation returned.

“It has an incredibly loyal customer base,” she said. “The really important thing is [that] innovation drives footfall traffic in the beauty range.”

Business Times

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ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe drew a comparison between the ANC and the biblical figure David, whom he described as someone who made mistakes, sought forgiveness and expressed gratitude for being forgiven.

“Those who go to church will know of a man called David. If you read he is doing one of the three things. He is committing a mistake or a sin. He asked for forgiveness and he is grateful that he has been forgiven,” he said.

Mantashe said the ANC’s approach was to acknowledge shortcomings and correct them, arguing that delays in delivering services did not mean the party had abandoned its commitments.

“That’s how we behave. We commit mistakes. We don’t pray to be holy. We commit a number of mistakes but we correct them. If we said we’re going to build houses, we build them. Sometimes we build houses and it takes too long to put electricity in those houses. But ultimately we put [in] that electricity,” he said.

Mantashe urged voters to stick with the governing party in the November 4 local government elections arguing that breakaway parties lack the experience to deliver change.

Addressing community members at Meloding Community Hall in Virginia, in the Free State, Mantashe acknowledged that the ANC had made mistakes but said the party had corrected them and remained on a consistent path.

“We are asking you to vote for the ANC on November 4. Now, ANC is one party [that] is straightforward. It can commit mistakes, correct them, later down [make more] mistakes, correct them but it is walking on a straight line,” he said.

Mantashe also took aim at breakaway parties formed by former ANC members, saying voters who turned to new political formations should not expect them to deliver results immediately.

“There are many parties breaking from us and forming new things. You can follow new things and hope that will effect change. Really to you, if we started from sub A, we are now at the level of matric, your new party will not start at matric, it will also start at A,” he said.

He argued that newly established parties would face similar challenges to those experienced by the ANC because they lacked the governing experience the party had accumulated over the years.

“They were committing the same mistakes we have committed for a number of years because they are new, they have no experience. We have experience, we’ve committed mistakes, we’ve rectified them, and we commit other mistakes, and we rectify them,” he said.

Read: Mbalula questions DA’s role in GNU after ConCourt clash

The ANC chairperson also defended the party’s record on education, insisting its commitments should be distinguished from political promises.

“The ANC doesn’t make promises. The ANC makes commitments.”

Using school fees and feeding schemes as examples, Mantashe said government-funded education meant parents did not have to pay school fees at no-fee schools while the state covered the cost of meals provided to pupils.

“If it says it will give children free education, it’s a commitment at the beginning. We don’t believe it. Then we go to our communities, we find a no-fee school and we don’t understand that a no-fee school is a free education. It’s not a no-fee school, it’s a free school. Government pays the fees, whereas a parent doesn’t pay and we give you free education and we give you food in the school. It’s not free food. Somebody pays for that food,” he said.

TimesLIVE

Audi chief executive Gernot Döllner stood alongside Trump at a rally in Perry, near Macon in central Georgia, on Saturday, as the US president said Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group, planned to build an assembly plant in Georgia that will produce 200,000 SUVs annually.

“This decision was preceded by many months of careful planning and intense negotiations,” Döllner told reporters on Sunday. “If the American president invites you, you accept the invitation. That is what respect for the office and for the country in which we invest demands.”

A final decision on the investment will have to be taken by Volkswagen’s supervisory board for it to go ahead.

Georgia has competitive election races for the US Senate and its governor and Trump is eager to make the case that his auto tariffs are helping the US economy and boosting US manufacturing.

In Germany, the tariffs have added to the pressures on European industry and tension between Volkswagen management and workers, who face job cuts and possible plant closures.

Trump’s tariffs on cars, steel, aluminium and ​parts cost Audi around €1.2bn (about R23.26bn) last year as it imports all its vehicles for the US market from Europe or Mexico, Audi has said.

Critics of the tariffs say they have also been damaging in the US, where they have increased vehicle prices and delayed some carmaker investments.

A spokesperson for Germany’s IG Metall union said the decision by Döllner to extend a hand to Trump during the election was “hard to understand”.

“Trump has never failed to make it clear what he is after: he wants to weaken our domestic economy, particularly the automotive sector,” the spokesperson said.

Christiane Benner, head of the IG Metall union and Volkswagen’s deputy supervisory board chair, said it was “right and necessary” to improve the company’s position on the US market with a new plant. “However, firm prospects for workers at all sites, particularly those here in Germany, must be clearly defined and set out,” she said.

Döllner declined to give full details on the investment deal with the US, including whether it involves tariff relief for the company.

An opportunity if German workers benefit

Olaf Lies, state premier of the German state of Lower Saxony, Volkswagen’s second-largest shareholder, said that expanded production in the US was an opportunity provided German workers also benefit.

“Growth in America must secure jobs and value creation here and must not displace them,” he said.

Audi said the investment will create approximately 4,500 jobs. Construction is scheduled to begin next year, with production starting in the early 2030s, Audi said.

The plant is expected to assemble the Audi Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs, a US official told Reuters.

Audi also plans to build 25,000 vehicles a year in neighbouring South Carolina, the official said. Some of the vehicles, now built in Europe, would be exported, the official added. Those vehicles will be assembled at a $2bn plant of VW’s off-road brand Scout Motors that is under construction in Blythewood, near the state capital, Columbia, the official said.

“We regard the region as a key market for profitable growth,” Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said. “A potential Audi plant in the US would create further conditions for this.”

A gold Audi with manufacturer licence plates was parked outside Trump’s rally on Saturday.

Reuters

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The N12 freeway has been closed in both directions between K43 (Klipspruit Valley Road) and Abubakar Asvat Drive due to protest action at Nana’s Farm in Lenasia, causing major traffic disruptions.

The Johannesburg metro police department (JMPD) confirmed officers are on site to control traffic and manage the disturbance. Department spokesperson Xolani Fihla warned the situation remains extremely tense.

Motorists have been urged to stay clear of the area for their safety.

According to Fihla, K43 is blocked near the N12 interchange, while Abubakar Asvat Drive is closed to incoming and outgoing traffic.

“Motorists travelling between Lenasia, Eldorado Park, Soweto and Johannesburg South must bypass the affected zone using the R554 (Nirvana Drive), Golden Highway (R553), Chris Hani Road and main road through Eldorado Park,” Fihla said.

TimesLIVE

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ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has urged KwaZulu-Natal residents to back the governing party, saying its survival depends on the freedom and wellbeing of South Africans.

Addressing community members at Emamnedwini Hall in uMshwathi on Saturday, Mbalula said those who wanted the ANC to collapse were threatening the interests of the people while acknowledging that individuals within the party were responsible for its problems.

“People want the ANC to die. The death of ANC is the death of people in South Africa. We are seeing this happening in Cape Town; our people are being called refugees in Cape Town,” he said.

Mbalula urged residents to defend the party, saying KwaZulu-Natal communities had to protect the freedom they enjoyed.

“A person who damages the ANC, we should not have their time. The problem is the person, not the party. It is this person who has been given a job but doesn’t work but puts their hand in the till,” he said.

On the campaign trail before the November 4 elections, he said the party’s engagement in uMshwathi aimed to discuss the rising cost of living, upgrade water and electricity infrastructure, and ensure residents could exercise their democratic right to choose their preferred ANC councillor candidates.

Mbalula said water, electricity and housing had been among the ANC’s priorities since 1994.

“We have since 1994 prioritised three things. One is water; it is a basic essential for our day-to-day lives. The next thing is electricity, and we are dealing with the transformers issue here in UMshwathi. I have called Eskom to ask them to deal with the transformer issues here in uMshwathi. The third is housing; people need to have shelter. That is the work of the ANC.”

He also called for more employment opportunities in uMshwathi, pointing to the intervention by the ANC-led government to keep sugar producer Tongaat Hulett operating and protect jobs.

“The ANC has a strong foundation; it’s an organisation that was founded by kings and queens, Inkosi, and by traditional healers and religious leaders, from our first leader, president Langalibalele Dube who hailed from KwaZulu-Natal. Here in UMshwathi we need more employment opportunities for our people.

“Tongaat Hulett was on the brink of closing, but the ANC-led government intervened and ensured that Tongaat Hulett continues to operate and our people’s jobs are saved.”

Mbalula also promoted the government’s plans to ease pressure on households, citing measures announced by finance minister Enoch Godongwana in the medium-term budget policy statement.

The government planned to cut the fuel levy from November 4 to help reduce fuel costs and, in turn, ease pressure on food prices.

The measure was intended to provide relief to households already struggling with the cost of living, adding that the government had also increased social grants and committed to addressing water shortages.

Turning to local government, Mbalula acknowledged the challenges facing councillors, describing them as the first point of contact for residents seeking help with everyday problems.

“Being a councillor is very hard. It is easier being an MEC because you are far away from the people. The first person that deals with the day-to-day issues affecting our people every day, the first person community members go to when they encounter issues, are councillors.”

Councillors needed to treat communities well and communicate openly when municipal constraints prevented them from resolving problems.

“Our councillors must be treated well and also treat our communities well because sometimes they can’t finish issues because they don’t have the money, but when they encounter problems in the municipalities, they must hold community meetings to explain to the community and give solutions.”

Mbalula expressed confidence in the ANC’s councillor candidates in the area, saying residents regarded them well.

“We are very confident that our councillor candidates here are councillor candidates who are loved by the people.”

TimesLIVE

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By Elias Biryabarema

Ugandan citizens returning to the country with a history of travel to Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will be quarantined for 21 days, health minister Chris Baryomunsi said on Sunday as Uganda tightened Ebola precautions.

Uganda says it is Ebola-free after declaring an end to its latest outbreak in July but there has been concern among health experts after two people who had recently passed through the country later tested positive in Kenya and Nigeria.

Uganda says it is investigating the Nigerian case, which involves the wife of a Swiss diplomat who visited the country last month.

Ugandan officials said they were reviewing genomic sequencing, travel information, interactions and movements in coordination with Nigerian authorities and international partners.

Swiss authorities had said the woman contracted the virus in Uganda. Baryomunsi pushed back, saying Switzerland was “speaking prematurely”. He said the woman’s relatives from West Nile visited her in Kansanga, a suburb of Kampala, and that those relatives had visited the DRC.

“What evidence do they have that she never travelled there?” he said. “We should speak science, not politics.”

Kenya’s first Ebola patient had travelled from the DRC to Uganda and taken a flight from Entebbe airport to Nairobi on October 3. The patient died two days later.

Both the Kenyan and the Nigerian cases travelled through the same Ugandan airport on the same day but there was no physical interaction between the two, Diana Atwine, the health ministry’s permanent secretary, told the press conference, citing a review of the airport’s CCTV system.

Baryomunsi said all 60 contacts linked to a Kenyan Ebola case had completed their 21-day monitoring period and been discharged.

Read: Late Ebola detection in Nigeria raises alarm as virus spreads across Africa

“The ministry has intensified traveller screening at Entebbe International Airport and all land border crossings. All travellers intending to enter Uganda by air, land or water must complete the passenger locator form,” he said.

Genomic analysis of Nigeria’s only confirmed Ebola case showed the virus was closely related to the strain detected in Kenya’s index case, though Nigerian authorities said there was no evidence that the Kenya case travelled to Nigeria or had a direct connection.

Uganda borders the DRC, where the outbreak began, and has previously battled Ebola outbreaks.

Reuters

Five Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter said that restrictions on Starlink that disrupt connections for drones flying faster than 160km/h persisted.

Trump said on Thursday that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had restored Ukraine’s Starlink access.

The caps have been in place since October 13 as relations between Kyiv and Washington deteriorated.

“We are currently not observing any lifting of speed limits on Starlink,” Serhiy Beskrestnov, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on the Telegram app.

“There are isolated instances where Starlink may travel slightly faster than the speed limit, but this is likely due to the SpaceX algorithm or specific usage conditions.”

Our people are waiting for positive news, hoping that the restrictions will be lifted and our defenders will have the capabilities they need to protect lives

Denys Sienik from the Ukrainian embassy in the United States

A source from the defence ministry and two other Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter also confirmed the restrictions.

Ukraine’s problems with Starlink came after Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel and waived new sanctions on Moscow. Trump also told Ukraine to stop its attacks on Russian oil refineries and said that Zelensky should be replaced.

Zelenskiy said that the restrictions complicated Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russian jet drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. They also hampered Kyiv’s military efforts along the front line, where Starlink terminals were used to fly drones into occupied Ukrainian territory.

“Our people are waiting for positive news, hoping that the restrictions will be lifted and our defenders will have the capabilities they need to protect lives,” said Denys Sienik from the Ukrainian embassy in the US in a post on X.

“Unfortunately, as of today, nothing has changed. We continue to wait.”

Reuters

J&J had gained access to the drug through its $3.05bn (R50.6bn) deal to buy Halda Therapeutics last year.

The company was testing JNJ-6143 in patients with advanced prostate cancer who had received multiple treatments.

Its novel approach selectively kills cancer cells by interfering with a protein they need to survive.

In the trial, 77% of 31 evaluable patients receiving the 50mg dose saw their PSA levels, a blood marker used to monitor prostate cancer, fall by at least 50%; in 48% of patients, PSA levels fell by at least 90%.

Among patients whose tumours could be measured using imaging, 69% had a confirmed complete or partial response.

“It adds a new mechanism of action to J&J’s prostate cancer portfolio,” a Johnson & Johnson spokesperson said.

Common side effects were nausea and elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels. One patient discontinued treatment due to adverse effects.

The data were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

Reuters

Problems with Elon Musk’s SpaceX-owned systems came after US President Donald Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel while pressing Kyiv to stop striking Russian oil refineries.

Ukrainian officials said the restrictions, which capped operations at speeds of 160km/h, hampered the military’s ability to intercept Russian attack drones and forced the cancellation of some operations.

“The main thing for today is that Starlink and Starshield have resumed operations at their pre-restriction speeds. The speeds are now at the level we need,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the Telegram app.

According to Zelensky, the speeds started returning to normal overnight. Ukraine’s defence ministry said on Saturday the connection remained stable at over 400km/h.

Ukraine does not rely on the systems for long-range drone operations on Russian territory, including attacks on refineries.

But Starlink remains vital for front-line communications, and the deployment of Starshield-enabled medium-range attack drones has helped Ukraine gain the upper hand in several areas of the battlefield this year.

Limitations order

The restrictions sparked outrage in Ukraine, particularly as they coincided with disruptions to allied warnings about incoming Russian missile attacks. Kyiv later said it continued to receive US intelligence.

Neither Musk nor the US government has acknowledged responsibility for restricting Starlink or Starshield in Ukraine. Both have said publicly that any such decision could only have been taken by the other.

Reuters has reported that the order to throttle Starshield came from inside the White House. Previously, US administrations had several times asked SpaceX to turn Starlink on or off in various countries, sources said.

On Friday, contradicting his previous statement that the services had been fully restored, Trump said that if problems persisted, he would “get it straightened out”.

Reuters

Domestic car sales are set to fall to 18.5-million vehicles in 2026, versus 23.7-million in 2025, before rebounding by a median 2% in 2027, said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association.

Behind the recovery will be the fading of short-term headwind, easing cost pressure and improved product offering, though competition is likely to become increasingly polarised, Cui said.

Reuters

They have shown resilience... they have a lot of confidence. They are a well-coached team, very disciplined and well-organised. They can run as well, so it will not be an easy game.

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou

Pirates, who are the Carling Knockout defending champions, have already beaten Milford this season, recording a 2-0 win at home in the first game of the campaign back in August.

“The advantage, the positive point is to play at home but I think it will be a difficult game. If you remember when we played Milford in the first game of the season, I said that we are not going to see many teams beat them,” Ouaddou said.

“They have shown resilience... they have a lot of confidence. They are a well-coached team, very disciplined and well-organised. They can run as well, so it will not be an easy game.”

Going into this fixture, Pirates ooze confidence after qualifying for the CAF Champions League group stages, beating Namibian side Africa Stars 4-0 in the second leg of the preliminary round at Orlando Amstel Arena on Friday. Bucs won the away leg 1-0 the previous Saturday in Botswana.

Pirates failed to advance to the group stages of the Champions League after they were eliminated by Congolese side FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo in the second preliminary phase in October last year.

“I love to say a Champions League without Pirates, it’s not the same taste. So we come back, happy for the fans, happy for the club. It was one of the targets. Credit has to be given to the boys,” the Sea Robbers mentor said.

“We know that we had a difficult first half. Even though we two goals, in terms of control, it was not what I was expecting, and after the second half it was much, much better in terms of control.”

After the Carling Knockout fixture against Milford, Bucs face their biggest rivals, Kaizer Chiefs, in the league at a sold-out FNB Stadium on Saturday (3.30pm).

Sowetan

The reigning Cup champ lost the lead on the backstretch but raced back for a dramatic win in the Nascar Cup Series’ 34th race of 2026, the YellaWood 500, on a damaging day for playoff drivers at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala.

The No 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver watched Austin Hill get by him in a two-lap shootout following a red flag and fell back to 11th. Larson roared to the front, got a push from Ross Chastain in the low lane and beat teammate William Byron all the way from eighth by 0.041 seconds for his first Talladega victory.

He became the 13th different winner in the past 13 Talladega races.

“I don’t know, I got really lucky with kind of how everything worked out there,” said Larson, who stretched his lead over second-place Denny Hamlin to 73 points, 74 over Christopher Bell and 79 over Chase Briscoe.

“I was so edgy in [turns] 1 and 2 with [Austin Hill] pushing me ... Kind of wandered me up the track. He got underneath me. No fault at all to him. He was helping me great all day.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chastain and Cole Custer finished in the top five.

At the front, the three RFK Racing Fords of Daytona summer race winner Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher lined up nose-to-tail and pulled away to lead by more than 43 seconds at lap 50 as pit stops began under green-flag conditions.

Disaster struck for Christopher Bell on lap 56 when he had to slow down his No 20 Toyota while coming too fast to pit road. He looped the yellow car into the inside retaining wall, causing significant damage as the race stayed green. Bell brought it back to pit road under green 10 laps later and lost multiple laps to finish 35th.

Currently third in points, the No 20 driver dropped 69 points to Larson.

Led by Buescher, the blue oval trio took the first three spots in stage 1 with Larson finishing fourth. Polesitter Chase Briscoe was seventh.

The “Big One” on lap 132 created the second caution with 11 laps to go in stage 2. With Joey Logano’s No 22 at the point, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott sparked a melee right at the front of the field on the backstretch that collected a number of Chase competitors.

Of the seven drivers with a realistic shot at winning the title, Blaney finished 38th and dropped 107 points behind Larson. Last week’s winner Tyler Reddick stayed seventh in points but finished 37th Sunday and is 126 out.

On a restart with five to go, Logano held on to beat Larson and Briscoe for the segment’s top bonus points.

As the race neared its end with five circuits left, the No 22 of Logano checked up behind the lapped car of Chastain and was hit by Carson Hocevar. Logano’s car flipped and wound up on its roof as cars slid down the front stretch, and Riley Herbst crashed full speed into the inside wall.

The track safety crew finally were able to get Logano, unhurt, from the Ford, but he came in 34th and is now 100 behind Larson.

Reuters

Substitute Hendrick Ekstein scored the match’s only goal in the second half, helping his side reach the last eight and join Golden Arrows and Siwelele in the quarterfinals.

Usuthu came into this fixture off a good run of four consecutive league wins and looked to translate that to cup competitions, and they did.

They last suffered a defeat on August 26, when they lost 5-2 to Mamelodi Sundowns in a league match in Pretoria, and they will hope to go deep in this competition given their impressive form.

Kruger, on the other hand, were eager to build on their 1-0 win over Chippa United in their last match and register successive wins for the first time in their debut season, but it was not to be.

The hosts started better and had few chances to break the deadlock but failed to convert. Usuthu also had chances to open the scoring but couldn’t convert.

The Village Boys finished the first half stronger as they continued to search for the opening goal. AmaZulu gave them possession while they waited for a counterattack, and it nearly paid off in one transition.

Kruger continued to dominate in the second half and had chances to score but couldn’t convert, while AmaZulu struggled to create as many chances as they did in the first half.

Despite limited possession, AmaZulu opened the scoring through Ekstein from a spot kick in the 78th minute after Kruger’s Tatenda Tavengwa handled the ball inside the penalty area.

Ekstein made no mistake from the spot kick, slotting home to give his side a lead.

The hosts threw everything forward in search of an equaliser, and Lesedi Kapinga came close in the dying minutes, but his shot outside the box was tipped for a corner kick by Usuthu keeper Olwethu Mzimela.

AmaZulu defended well to win, and Kruger coach Abram Mongoya will be happy with how his side performed despite the defeat.

Sowetan

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Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso knows, having brought the Caf Champions League trophy back to Mamelodi Sundowns last season, he has the breathing room to feel that exiting in the preliminary stages this campaign does not put him under immediate pressure.

Downs exited in the final round before the group stages, which they had reached the last 11 seasons in a row, with Friday night’s 1-1 second leg draw against Wiliete SC at Loftus Versfeld in a game Cardoso felt his team “controlled completely, we just failed in scoring the goals we had to score”.

Downs had the lead via Tashreeq Matthews’ 11^th-minute strike but were unable to add to the opener. That allowed Wiliete to equalise via their dangerous attacking line and centre forward Mabululu’s 49^th-minute strike that ultimately saw the Angolan club through on away goals, as the first leg had ended 0-0.

Cardoso’s tenure since replacing Manqoba Mngqithi in December 2024 has been marked by successes such as reaching successive Champions League finals and winning Africa’s most prestigious title last season, their second overall and first since Downs previously won in 2016. Those have been punctuated by disappointments such as conceding an eight-campaign run as Betway Premiership champions to a talented Orlando Pirates last season.

The 54-year-old Portuguese defended his record as having more highs than lows.

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐒 in Pretoria 😯

Mamelodi Sundowns will 𝐍𝐎𝐓 defend their #TotalEnergiesCAFCL crown ❌#SSFootball pic.twitter.com/c4mVYwBi2M

— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) October 23, 2026

He was also asked what the remainder of the 2026-27 campaign holds after such a major blow as a second preliminary round exit from the Champions League as defending champions.

“It means we have to focus even more on the competitions we have to play. We have a qualifying match already for the Carling Cup in three days, then we have an important Premiership match, then we have a final to play in the Caf Super Cup. So there are a lot of trophies to play for,” Cardoso said.

“Of course, we cannot forget what it means to be out of the Champions League. It’s hard for the club, it’s hard for the coaches. As you can imagine, for myself it’s hard after being in the final three years in a row. And it’s hard for the club that was supposed to have been in the group stage 12 times in a row.

“Great empires also come from ashes. Tonight is a dark night, obviously, but it’s a dark night that has to give us the energy and that purpose to move forward and build more.

“Maybe it’s an important lesson for looking ahead because, as I usually say, we are not what happens to us, we are much more what we do with what happens to us.”

Sundowns, facing a punishing schedule in seven competitions in 2026-27 and with an eight-player core of their squad who had no off-season playing for Bafana Bafana at the 2026 Fifa World Cup, have been hit by injuries since lifting the Champions League trophy in the 2025-26 final against AS FAR of Morocco in May.

'Great Empires comes from ashes,' - Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso after Champions League exit.

WATCH presser on PrimeSportsWithMahlatseTV ➡️➡️➡️https://t.co/dMlW6L8a8S pic.twitter.com/sHzZJGSYSY

— Mahlatse Mphahlele (@BraMahlatse) October 24, 2026

After the club was rocked by the tragic death of Jayden Adams, Downs’ injury list in recent months and weeks has included major performers Khuliso Mudau, Grant Kekana, Keanu Cupido, Aubrey Modiba and Ronwen Williams. Star midfielder Teboho Mokoena went off in the away leg against Wiliete and could not pull through to start the second, though Williams and Modiba did make their returns.

Cardoso acknowledged the personnel losses since last season’s final as clearly affecting the Brazilians but also admitted, with Downs’ depth in talent, his line-up on Friday should have had enough firepower to get past dangerous but far less wealthy and experienced Wiliete.

“When you see this team and compare it to the one that finished the Champions League last year, one has nothing to do with the other. Of course we would be stronger with those players. Because it would give us more variability, allow us to choose other options.

“But that is not an excuse at all. We should have won this match with the players we had on the pitch and those who we introduced [from the bench]. Because we created enough to win. Basically we didn’t lose the match, we drew two matches. But we also have progressed in this competition [in the past] because of away goals.

“So we only have ourselves to blame because of the goals we did not score and the misfortune we had [in front of goal] is what it is — it can happen in the game. That’s why the chances you get you have to finish, so you don’t get exposed to a random goal that comes from the sky.

It’s a big blow this one, it’s a big punch in our faces, yes. But what will make us stronger is how we are going to react, because there’s so many more things to win.

Miguel Cardoso

“And if you don’t, as time goes by [without scoring] you can start to feel the pressure from the players not used to this level. But with all respect, there’s no excuses — we all should have done better.”

The coach was asked about conceding the league title in 2025-26, which might have cost him his job had Downs not won the Champions League, and how that now puts pressure on Cardoso for more domestic success in 2026-27, though also frees the Brazilians to especially put resources into the assault to regain the Premiership.

He defended his record, where Downs have in “four years reached two [domestic cup] semi-finals and two finals, two Champions League finals in a row with one star on the shirt, and in this season two trophies already from two finals and leading the league”.

Downs put aside a domestic cup drought going back to 2022 beating Pirates 2-0 in the MTN8 final last month and overcame Al-Ahli Saudi 1-0 for the African-Asian-Pacific Cup, which forms past of Fifa’s ongoing Intercontinental Cup, in September.

The Caf Super Cup, where Sundowns meet USM Alger at Loftus on November 8; Carling Knockout Cup, where they host Marumo Gallants at the same venue in a first round clash on Tuesday, and season-ending Nedbank Cup all also give Downs plenty of opportunities at more trophies, Cardoso pointed out.

“It’s a big blow this one, it’s a big punch in our faces, yes. But what will make us stronger is how we are going to react, because there’s so many more things to win.”

Australia return to the scene of one of the darkest days in the country’s cricket history when the series-deciding third Test against South Africa starts at Newlands on Tuesday.

The battle may be mental as much as one of skill for several of the Australian players, not least former captain Steve Smith, who was at the centre of the Sandpapergate ball-tampering scandal in 2018.

Current skipper Pat Cummins was part of that side, as were fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood and spinner Nathan Lyon, though they say they had no knowledge of the attempt to alter the condition of the ball with a piece of sandpaper.

Smith bore the brunt of the considerable fallout in Australia eight years ago and having not reached the heights he might have expected on this tour, averaging a little over 20 with the bat, he would see this as the perfect time to put that right.

A career-best score and a Test win at St George's Park 🇿🇦👏

Temba Bavuma reflects on the second Test 🎙️#SAvAUS | #SSCricket pic.twitter.com/0jYpm8rgNq

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) October 22, 2026

There has so far been little chatter in South Africa about Sandpapergate but that could change at Newlands, where the first three days’ ticket sales have been strong after sparse crowds at the first two Tests in Durban and Gqeberha.

“He’ll be fine,” Australia opener Travis Head said of Smith. “I think he showed that in 2019 in England.

“We support him. He’s been through a lot in that space and handles it well. Sometimes it brings the best out of him, as we’ve seen in the past.”

The series is level at 1-1 after big wins for both sides in the opening two games and Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey told reporters on Sunday that it looked to be another good Test-match pitch.

“We are still a couple of days out but it looks another great surface,” he said. “If you look back at Durban it was a five-day Test match and a great contest between bat and ball. The same in Port Elizabeth [Gqeberha] and this should be no different.”

Squad Announcement 🚨⁰⁰The South Africa Men’s selection panel has today named the squad for the third Dafabet Test against Australia, which gets underway on Tuesday, 27 October at YesPlay Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town.⁰⁰Fast bowler Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of… pic.twitter.com/kJXxNCTsxT

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 24, 2026

There has never been a Test match played at Newlands in October, and just three in November, all against Australia.

The tourists won the first two in 1902 and 1921, but the most recent November fixture was an eight-wicket victory for South Africa in 2011 when Australia were famously bowled out for 47 in their second innings.

The Proteas will be without fast bowler Anrich Nortje, who injured his groin in the second Test. Captain Temba Bavuma said they would pick horses for courses in terms of his replacement.

“You’ve got guys like Gerald [Coetzee], Pato [Dane Paterson], as well as [Corbin] Bosch, and we have Sen [Senuran Muthusamy] as well, so the options are there,” he said.

“Whoever we decide, we’ll be confident they form part of our best XI for the conditions.”

Reuters

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As different parts of SA continue to battle with dry taps, deputy president Paul Mashatile is expected to visit Bronkhorstspruit, where hundreds of residents suffered from gastrointestinal illness after consuming contaminated water.

Mashatile will be accompanied by:

• water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina;
• her deputy, David Mahlobo;
• premier Panyaza Lesufi;
• Gauteng MEC for infrastructure development, cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Jacob Mamabolo; and
• Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya.

Mashatile’s office said the visit forms part of the work of the inter-ministerial committee on water and sanitation, which he chairs.

The committee is also coordinating government interventions to address water and sanitation challenges, strengthen accountability and accelerate responses to service delivery concerns affecting communities.

While there, Mashatile will visit the Bronkhorstspruit water treatment works to assess the situation, receive an update on the condition of the water treatment infrastructure and engage with relevant authorities on the measures being implemented to restore the safety and reliability of the water supply.

“The deputy president will also visit hospitalised patients following reports of gastrointestinal illness associated with the consumption of contaminated water,” the Presidency said. “The engagement will provide an opportunity to receive updates on the condition of affected residents and the healthcare response.

“Through this visit, the deputy president will assess progress made in addressing the crisis and engage with the City of Tshwane and relevant government departments to reinforce the importance of coordinated action, effective oversight and accountability in ensuring access to safe and reliable water.”

Over 400 cases of gastrointestinal illness were reported in Bronkhorstspruit following the consumption of water suspected to have been contaminated and linked to the Bronkhorstspruit water treatment works. The incident has since raised serious concerns about the safety of the water supply and the potential health risks to communities.

On Friday, Tshwane was hauled before Parliament to account to the health portfolio committee.

WATCH | President Cyril Ramaphosa during his door-to-door campaign trail in Daveyton speaks on the water issues plaguing the metros touching especially on what has happened in Tshwane. https://t.co/iOm0bJsaqq

— Sowetan (@Sowetan1981) October 20, 2026

During the engagement, Anet Muir, the department of water and sanitation’s chief director for water use compliance and enforcement, told the committee that the crisis was not an isolated incident but the culmination of persistent non-compliance.

It was revealed that commitments to address longstanding water-quality failures were not implemented within agreed timeframes, while the treatment works continued supplying water without chlorination.

“None of these commitments were implemented in the time frames that were provided,” Muir told the committee, referring to the city’s corrective action plan submitted after a non-compliance letter was issued in February 2026. The plan included commitments to:

• secure treatment chemicals;
• refurbish filtration equipment;
• address raw-water pumping problems;
• commission high-lift pumps; and
• recruit critical staff responsible for operating the treatment works.

During an inspection on October 14, the department’s officials discovered that chlorination had stopped because the plant had run out of chlorine supplies.

Operational records showed that chlorine was last used on September 23, with the system continuing to operate for another 21 days before shutting down.

Subsequent water testing detected high levels of E coli throughout the supply system, confirming the microbiological risk facing residents.

Muir said the city’s initial warning to residents on October 13 focused on high turbidity (the measure of relative clarity or cloudiness of a fluid) but did not explicitly communicate the danger associated with the absence of chlorination.

Sowetan

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ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has called for young people who leave school without matric to receive financial support through a basic income grant, saying they should not be left without hope or opportunities to build their futures.

Addressing community members at Emamnedwini Hall in uMshwathi, KwaZulu-Natal, before the November 4 local government elections, Mbalula said: “Where we are going now, we are going towards a basic income grant because children are having children while they themselves are still young.

“They leave school without matric. Those children, we are going to take them and give them a stipend in the form of a basic income grant so that they can grow. They mustn’t stay there without hope because they don’t have matric.”

Mbalula said the government was also working on training opportunities and called on municipal councillors to help young people access jobs and income-generating opportunities.

Some employment initiatives were already under way and should not be presented as promises that would only be fulfilled in the future.

Mbalula also urged municipalities to prioritise unemployed people when opportunities became available, saying young people should not be excluded because they lack work experience.

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana left the future of a permanent basic income support scheme unresolved when he tabled the 2026 medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) in parliament on Wednesday.

Instead of announcing a transition to a permanent programme, the National Treasury confirmed that the R370 social relief of distress (SRD) grant would be extended for another year, until March 2028.

The extension provides continued support to existing beneficiaries but does not establish a permanent basic income grant.

Treasury said it would continue working to link SRD beneficiaries to employment, training and business opportunities through MzansiXchange, which is a government data exchange platform intended to support beneficiary verification and connect people to economic opportunities.

The uncertainty surrounding a permanent grant comes as South Africa continues to grapple with high youth unemployment.

Official labour figures for the second quarter of 2026 showed that unemployment among people aged 15 to 34 rose to 47.4%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from the previous quarter.

The number of unemployed young people increased by 264,000 to 5-million.

Treasury has also flagged legal and fiscal risks surrounding the SRD grant while the government awaits the outcome of its appeal against a high court ruling on the grant’s regulations.

Read: Cheaper petrol, gloomier growth: parties split on budget

The ruling, if upheld, could expand the number of people eligible for assistance and significantly increase the programme’s cost. Preliminary estimates cited in the MTBPS suggest the annual funding requirement could rise from about R36bn to R74bn partly because millions more people could qualify.

The potential increase in expenditure is one of the fiscal considerations facing the government as it weighs the future of income support for unemployed people.

Mbalula’s comments refocus attention on the role a basic income grant could play in supporting young people excluded from employment and training opportunities.

TimesLIVE

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A 56-year-old man has died after he was allegedly stabbed during a suspected road rage incident in Lorraine, Gqeberha.

According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), the incident happened on Circular Drive at about 8.27pm on Friday.

SAPS spokesperson Capt Andre Beetge said Walmer police were investigating a murder case after the incident.

“Walmer is investigating a murder case that emanated during a suspected road rage incident. The incident happened in Circular Drive, Lorraine at about 20:27 on 23/10/2026,” Beetge said in a statement.

“It is alleged that the driver, 56, of a white Honda Accord was involved in a suspected road rage incident with the unknown male driver of a blue or silver SUV. The exact make and model is not available and SAPS are requesting information from any person that might have seen the incident or knows the driver of the identified vehicle,” he said.

During the altercation, the SUV driver allegedly fatally stabbed the Honda Accord driver.

Beetge said the SUV driver attempted to drive away but lost control of the vehicle a short distance later and crashed into a wall near the intersection of Circular Drive and Henri Botha Street.

He died at the scene.

Police are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident, knows the driver of the SUV or has information that could assist the investigation to come forward.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the SAPS Walmer detectives.

TimesLIVE

Myanmar-based energy broker Dynamic Wave ordered the shipment, agreeing in a sales contract inked with Thailand’s Tawan-Oil Trading to supposedly take delivery of a similar amount of South African diesel. But the $15.8m (about R261.9m) agreement, which Reuters viewed, was a charade: there was no such trade between South Africa and Myanmar in 2025, according to data from the UN and Vortexa, a shipping and energy data provider.

In reality, Reef carried jet fuel from Iran to Myanmar, according to records of fuel shipments to Myanmar, as well as satellite images and analysis by SynMax Intelligence, which tracked the tanker’s journey from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas to Southeast Asia.

The deception was needed because the US in 2023 imposed targeted sanctions on Myanmar’s jet-fuel industry. The US did so citing the deadly bombing campaign waged by the Southeast Asian country’s military on civilian targets as part of an effort to crush a rebel-led insurgency. All purchasers of Iranian oil and fuel are also exposed to sweeping American sanctions.

Details of how Myanmar disguised purchases of Iranian jet fuel, as well as the entities involved in the transactions, are reported here for the first time.

Myanmar’s military junta was involved in the ruse. Days before Reef arrived, Myanmar’s foreign exchange regulator told the client of Dynamic Wave that it would issue import documentation that labelled the delivery as diesel “instead of jet fuel,” according to a copy of the agency’s November 30 letter seen by Reuters. The document, which was provided to Reuters by the activist group Justice for Myanmar, did not explain the purpose of the mislabeling.

The letter from the regulator also authorised Dynamic Wave and its client, National Energy Prime Aviation Services Company, to pay Tawan for the shipment.

Neither Dynamic Wave nor its client, which is part-owned by Myanmar’s military-backed government, responded to questions about the fuel shipment.

Spokespeople for Myanmar’s military-backed government and foreign exchange regulator, as well as the Iranian foreign ministry, also did not return requests for comment.

Tehran was the Myanmar military’s primary supplier of jet fuel between October 2024 and December 2025, with much of the trade carried out by the tankers Reef — since renamed Maris — and Noble, a Reuters report revealed in January.

The scheme uncovered by Reuters underscores both the reach and limits of Washington’s power. The lengths taken to disguise the trade suggest US sanctions are biting. But Iranian jet fuel has continued to flow, earning Tehran valuable foreign currency and providing Myanmar with the means to conduct both commercial aviation and air raids.

The US treasury did not respond to questions about jet-fuel shipments between Iran and Myanmar.

Jet fuel, airstrikes and civilian casualties

Myanmar’s generals seized power in 2021 from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The coup sparked a civil war, during which the military has killed thousands — including many civilians — in aerial assaults, the UN said in August.

Myanmar’s foreign ministry said in response to the UN allegations that the military “exercises maximum restraint to avoid civilian harm”.

Justice for Myanmar, which also shared the fuel sales contract with Reuters, published a report on Monday concluding that Myanmar’s junta was importing jet fuel mislabelled as diesel.

The organisation, which supports further sanctions on Myanmar’s jet fuel imports, said it obtained the documents from a junta-run server that was briefly publicly accessible.

Reuters found a dead link to one of the documents on the DuckDuckGo search engine, indicating it had once been hosted on that server. Delivery dates and fuel quantities in the documents also match Iranian jet fuel shipment records that were separately reviewed by the news agency.

Thai bank connection

The sales contract for Dynamic Wave’s fuel shipment stipulated that the payment be transferred into Tawan’s account at Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Thailand’s oldest bank.

Tawan was identified by UN experts in a 2024 report as a jet-fuel supplier to Myanmar’s military. The firm has not commented on those allegations.

SCB was described as a major facilitator of Myanmar military procurement in that report.

The bank said after the report’s release that it adheres to anti-money-laundering laws and that its Myanmar-related transactions were legitimate and not connected to the arms trade.

Reuters could not determine whether SCB was aware of the nature of Tawan’s business.

Thai regulators in 2024 ordered banks to closely scrutinise transactions involving Myanmar in order to comply with sanctions and anti-money-laundering laws.

SCB did not respond to repeated requests for comment about its commercial relationship with Tawan.

Tawan and the Bank of Thailand, which supervises the kingdom’s financial industry, also did not respond to questions.

The December shipment was not the first time jet fuel arrived in Myanmar disguised as diesel.

Dynamic Wave in May 2025 agreed to buy from Tawan 202,000 barrels of what a second contract, also obtained from the junta server, described as South African diesel. The agreement stipulated that the diesel should arrive at Yangon within a month and that Dynamic Wave would pay $26m into Tawan’s SCB account.

The invoice for that contract contained discrepancies suggesting the tanker actually contained jet fuel.

The density of the fuel listed in the document matched the specifications for jet fuel rather than diesel sold in Southeast Asia, according to Joshua Heyne, a jet-fuel expert at Washington State University, and data from Platts, the energy-industry information provider. In addition, the price of the fuel was more than 50% higher than a global diesel benchmark.

Noble called at Yangon on June 17 carrying just under 200,000 barrels of jet fuel earmarked for Dynamic Wave, shipment records show.

Like Reef’s December shipment, Noble’s cargo was loaded at Iran’s Bandar Abbas according to SynMax’s analysis of satellite imagery. As it made its way to Myanmar’s commercial capital, Noble transmitted location signals that made it appear as though its destination was the port of Chittagong in Bangladesh, according to SynMax.

The manager of the Reef and Noble tankers did not respond to questions sent via its listed website.

Shipments of jet fuel between Iran and Myanmar have continued this year, Reuters reported in October, citing SynMax analysis and satellite imagery.

Reuters

The Briton started in sixth place on the grid at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, collected a five-second penalty for an incident with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and said he had no explanation for his lack of pace other than “just not being quick enough”.

“I need to try and understand why it is. It’s strange when you’re so far off, so hopefully there’re some answers somewhere. But I don’t have one,” he told Sky Sports television.

The result left Antonelli on the brink of a coronation, the title surely his for the taking in Mexico next weekend, with Russell still his closest rival but now 123 points behind and with a maximum 125 to be won.

“The pace wasn’t good on the first stint,” Russell told reporters. “But when I came out of the pits on the hard [tyres], I probably did six laps where I was lapping the same pace as Kimi. But then I caught up with Oscar and I just couldn’t overtake.

“Six good laps, 50 bad laps. I want to understand why the pace was so bad on the first stint.”

Team boss Toto Wolff said Russell had struggled.

“George, for all of us in the team is a champion and has won in every category and I think he merits to be put in the group of the very best ones. We’ve seen that last year,” said the Austrian.

“This year we see this variability in results. When we land the car in a way that suits him, he’s absolutely fast. But when it drops out of that operational window, he struggles. He struggles more than maybe Kimi.

“We just have to work it out with him, how there can be such a difference in driving, in performance. Because George is not half a second slower, three tenths slower than Kimi. That’s absolutely not the case.”

Reuters

The 20-year-old Italian did all he could to put the championship out of reach of his rivals in Texas but Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes teammate George Russell did just enough to delay the inevitable with fourth and eighth, respectively.

Antonelli now needs to score only two points — a ninth place — in Mexico City to be sure of the title even if Russell wins.

“It was the result we needed and the whole team deserve it so much,” he said of his first win since Spain last month. “I know we’re very close. We try to finish on a high and hopefully we can clinch it very soon.”

Leclerc second and Verstappen third

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished second, 13.078 seconds behind, in Sunday’s race at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third and helped by a late virtual safety car that slowed a chasing Hamilton who finished one second down the road.

The win from pole position on a one-stop strategy was Antonelli’s ninth in of the season and he now leads Russell by 123 points and Hamilton by 124, with a maximum 125 remaining to be won, and that reducing to 100 after Mexico.

“The main headline is that for me [it is] the best race he’s delivered so far,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

“The race of a champion who isn’t the champion yet, but exceptional”.

McLaren’s reigning champion Lando Norris finished fifth on a one-stop strategy after being passed by both Verstappen and Leclerc on lap 47 of 56 with his tyres struggling. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was sixth, and ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Liam Lawson was ninth for Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly took the final point for Alpine.

Antonelli made a flying getaway and was 2.3 seconds clear at the end of the opening lap while the Ferrari pair took the fight to slow-starting Verstappen for second place.

Leclerc went ahead, before being passed again by the Red Bull and nearly made contact with Hamilton after the uphill scramble off the grid.

The virtual safety car was briefly deployed on lap two to allow marshals to clear debris and Russell, who had started sixth, had to serve a five-second penalty at his sole stop after stewards ruled he had gained an advantage on Piastri on the opening lap at Turn 13.

Russell was then unable to find a way past the McLaren.

“Six good laps, 50 bad laps,” he said of his race. “I want to understand why the pace was so bad on the first stint. The penalty was a bit ridiculous as well, but that’s the least of my worries after such a bad weekend.

“For me, as long as we’re in the constructors’ [lead], that’s the main thing. Obviously I’d like to finish best of the rest, but P2, P3, P5 is not champion, so it doesn’t mean anything.”

Haas’s Ollie Bearman also collected a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Gasly and retired at the half-distance.

Reuters

The 20-year-old, set to become the youngest ever Formula One champion in Mexico next weekend, won by more than 13 seconds on a one-stop strategy.

His teammate and closest title rival George Russell, 123 points behind with 125 still to be won, started sixth and finished eighth, just enough to keep the championship hanging by a thread.

“On Kimi’s side the main headline is that for me that’s the best race he’s delivered so far,” Wolff said.

“Getting off the start with the inferior tyre and then controlling it at all times. The race of a champion who isn’t the champion yet, but exceptional.

“I think he’s outperformed the car. His driving style glues with the car.”

Wolff, reminded that Antonelli has had some special wins this season, including at his home Italian Grand Prix from the back of the grid and Monaco and Spa, accepted that sometimes he struggled to remember past races.

“Both of them were pretty good,” he said in reference to Monza. “But the headline, this is the best, we can keep.”

Antonelli was happy to agree with the boss.

“I think it was one of the best because of how we built up during the weekend,” he told reporters. “It was also a great team effort today, especially with the strategy, believing in the one-stop. Yeah, it was a really great team effort, and they all deserve this result today.

“Monza, we clearly had the fastest car. We were just super quick, so of course it was incredibly special coming from the back,” he said.

“But it was also a track where it was relatively easy to overtake, and we were so quick. But definitely, Monza was a super special one, and one I will remember forever. But this one probably, in terms of execution, was better. The way we built the performance throughout the weekend was very good.”

Reuters

Lula, an icon of the global left and the most dominant force in Brazilian politics this century, defeated senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

The senator, who led the election’s first round but lost in the runoff by more than 4-million votes, said he would ask for the result to be annulled due to a Sunday supreme court ruling that extended voting for two hours.

Bolsonaro’s refusal to concede defeat has echoes of his father’s reaction after losing to Lula in 2022. Jair Bolsonaro never accepted his loss and was later given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup to remain in power.

The scale of Flavio Bolsonaro’s loss to Lula — by more than twice his father’s losing margin — and the fact his campaign also asked for an extension due to rain in the south make an annulment unlikely, analysts said.

Mario Braga, a Latin America analyst at the risk consultancy Rane, said there could be right-wing protests in coming days, but “it’s very improbable it will lead to the reversal of the result”.

Comeback king

Lula’s victory marks another comeback in a career full of them. The 80-year-old was jailed from 2018 to 2019 on corruption charges that were later overturned, paving the way for him to beat Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 election.

“He is a statesman, a giant,” said leftist federal lawmaker Erika Hilton, who was with Lula in Sao Paulo during the vote count.

At times, Lula’s re-election looked like a long shot as voters soured on him and his Workers’ Party after years of corruption scandals and rising prices, while sweeping social changes left the former metalworker and union leader looking out of touch with an increasingly app-based economy and its growing ranks of informal workers.

A Tokyo-listed exchange-traded fund tracking Brazil’s Bovespa index fell nearly 15% in Asia trade on news of Lula’s victory.

Pollsters said a better than expected turnout had powered Lula to victory. Leonardo Barreto, co-founder of consultancy Think Policy, said voters had chosen Lula’s familiar embrace over Bolsonaro’s novelty.

“People today are choosing between change, with some apprehension and a known path, which guarantees certain rights,” he said.

During the campaign, Lula pointed to a track record of falling poverty and inequality, while unemployment, illiteracy and deforestation hit record lows during his third term.

He warned Bolsonaro would cut welfare spending, backslide on social advances and hand over Brazil’s sovereignty to US President Donald Trump, whose state department led a campaign to get the Bolsonaros back to power.

Lula’s win deprives Trump of a major addition to what has been a growing bloc of friendly right-wing Latin American governments that have embraced Washington’s agenda on security and migration.

Celso Amorim, a former Lula foreign minister, said the leftist “would be very important for establishing a point of balance in Latin America. Lula is that balance”.

Late campaign boost

Lula becomes the first candidate since Brazil’s return to democracy in the 1980s to be elected after finishing second in the first round.

Previously president from 2003 to 2011, Lula campaigned this year on a potent mix of pragmatism and populism that has shaped his career in national politics for half a century, rolling out reforms aimed at improving the lives of workers and poor Brazilians.

These gained steam with late campaign pledges that ranged from free nationwide weekend public ​transport, which has to be formally submitted to Congress, to a ‌15% increase in his trademark welfare programme that is being implemented.

Lula also championed a constitutional amendment that became Brazil’s biggest labour reform in decades, which passed with wide support in Congress.

Challenges ahead

However, Lula’s fourth term could be his most difficult yet after Brazil elected its most conservative Congress since returning to democracy in the 1980s.

Combined, Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party (PL) and allied parties could control more than 280 seats in the lower house and up to 50 seats in the Senate, enough for comfortable opposition majorities in both chambers.

That may deepen recent trends of presidents ceding power to Congress on the budget, major legislation and key nominations.

Lula faces an economy that his government forecasts will grow a meagre 2.3% next year, adding to fiscal concerns tied to high interest rates and public debt that has risen past 82% of GDP, the highest since the pandemic.

The president’s critics blame spending, though borrowing costs have driven most of the increase in debt.

Goldman Sachs said it expects Lula to make modest progress at most to contain spending in a fourth term as he stays committed to a state-led growth model.

Surging household debt also concerns economists. Trying to address the issue, Lula rolled out a provisional ban on online betting and unveiled a new debt relief programme during the campaign.

The incoming right-wing Congress will try to pass structural reforms that favour businesses, experts said, prompting spending cuts that could trigger popular backlash.

Reuters

The event, due to take place in January and which has been held in Saudi Arabia since 2020, would move to a different territory, with the location to be announced in the coming days, the ASO said.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that the Dakar Rally would take place in Africa, citing sources involved in the World Rally-Raid Championship.

“ASO and Saudi Motorsport Company have jointly decided Dakar Saudi Arabia 2027, scheduled from January 1 to 15 2027, will not be held in the kingdom after recent developments in the region,” the ASO said.

“This decision is exceptional and one-off.”

The Dakar Rally is the latest sports event in Saudi Arabia to be disrupted amid attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.

Golf’s Asian Tour postponed the Saudi International indefinitely and cycling’s Urban World Championships was cancelled earlier this month, while the tennis tournament Six Kings Slam was postponed to December.

The World Rally Championship also dropped Saudi Arabia from its calendar.

The ASO said the Dakar Rally would return to Saudi Arabia for its landmark 50th edition in 2028.

Reuters

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said earlier it had destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in the capital Sanaa, including one used to fire a missile towards Riyadh that the coalition said it had intercepted.

The Houthis have been firing ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi airports, ports and oil installations, turning US ally Saudi Arabia into a pressure point in the wider war.

Reuters

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Five luggage bags containing 216 blocks of cocaine weighing about 250kg, with an estimated street value of more than R200m, were intercepted at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The seizure was made by a team comprising officials from the police service, customs and the Border Management Authority.

Police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said this forms part of sustained efforts by law enforcement agencies to clamp down on drug trafficking through the country’s busiest international airport.

Mathe said over the past 24 months, 116 drug mules have been arrested at the Johannesburg airport.

TimesLIVE

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Eastern Cape police have deployed additional resources to investigate the fatal shooting of a 63-year-old Mbhashe local municipality councillor at his homestead in Dutywa.

Ernest Fipaza, 63, was gunned down at his homestead in Bende locality, Taleni Administrative Area, Dutywa, on Friday night.

Police are investigating a case of murder with an additional charge of house robbery.

According to police, two unknown suspects arrived at Fipaza’s home at about 7.30pm on Friday and argued with him.

The argument escalated into a physical altercation, and it is alleged one suspect drew a firearm and fatally shot him.

The suspects allegedly also pointed firearms at Fipaza’s son and demanded the deceased’s firearm.

“They were shown a safe, which they broke open, but did not find a firearm before fleeing the scene,” said police spokesperson Brig Nobuntu Gantana.

Gantana said the suspects are at large.

Eastern Cape police commissioner Lt-Gen Vuyisile Ncata condemned the fatal shooting and announced the deployment of maximum resources to strengthen the local investigation team.

TimesLIVE

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Last week, when Rand Water issued an emergency alert asking Johannesburg residents to use less water, many asked, “What water?”

On Tuesday, Rand Water said the bulk water supply system was under severe pressure and pumping at maximum capacity. Continued high demand increased the risk of supply disruptions, it said, warning that Johannesburg needed to immediately reduce consumption by 15%.

“We are raising serious concerns about extremely high water consumption by several municipalities, including Johannesburg, which is placing increasing pressure on the bulk water supply system,” said Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo. “We have also warned them that their non-revenue water losses need to be addressed.”

But for some Johannesburg residents, there has been no water for a week, and in some cases longer.

The notoriously dysfunctional Commando system, in which the Crosby and Brixton reservoirs and the Brixton tower have been critically low all week, has again meant no water for Brixton, Mayfair West, Greenside, Melville, Crosby and Parktown West.

Part of the problem with the Commando system is that residents who receive water from the Hurst Hill 1 and 2 reservoirs are waiting for leaks to be repaired. Hurst Hill 2 was supposed to be finished in April, but nonpayment of the contractor resulted in the date being pushed out to next year.

But it was not only the Commando system that was out. Across the city there have been water outages, sometimes for days and weeks, while contaminated water alerts were issued in at least three suburbs.

By Friday only the Bez Valley alert was still in place, with water in Malvern and Parkhurst cleared for consumption.

Johannesburg Water is an entity under siege, largely due to severe underfunding, ageing infrastructure which loses almost half the water it buys from Rand Water, and a lack of financial resources and human skills.

Some 32% of water is lost through pipe bursts and leaks. On average, there are 140 burst pipes reported every day in the city. Non-revenue water costs the metro R3bn-R3.8bn a year, alongside an infrastructure renewal backlog estimated at R26.6bn-R64bn.

I can give tutorials about speed showering; we are so good at it, but it is so depressing

Parktown West resident Helen Wilson

Helen Wilson, who lives in Parktown West, has had no water for 10 weeks, yet received a water account this week for R28,000.

Wilson and her husband have installed water tanks so they can do the basics. She cannot rent out her cottage because tenants want water.

“There are 23 houses here in Parktown West that have had no water for 10 weeks,” she said. “For the past week or so there has been a trickle in the middle of the night. My husband is getting up at 2am to make sure the tanks are filling up.

“I can give tutorials about speed showering; we are so good at it, but it is so depressing.”

An Ivory Park resident reported that for the past two months there has been no water in the area every Tuesday. She said no explanation has been given. “We just live with it.”

... the pressure gets so low that the washing machine gets stuck in the middle of a cycle

Kensington Ridge resident Shamima Bhabha

Kensington Ridge resident Shamima Bhabha has had little to no water from March when the Alexander Park reservoir was put on bypass and the system reconfigured.

“Some days there is nothing,” she said. “The past three weeks we have had water from midnight to around 5am, but the pressure gets so low that the washing machine gets stuck in the middle of a cycle.”

Bhabha and her family cope by spending thousands on JoJo tanks, pumps and automated systems to get water into their home.

“We’ve had seven months of this, and I am pretty fed up. My pool looks like a bog, but there is nothing I can do about it. There is no water to fill it, and I am not paying to have it filled. To drain and close it will cost R30,000.

“People here are getting into debt just to live normal lives. And the level of incompetence and lack of feedback is so frustrating.”

Nelson Fernandes, a business owner at Central Park in Selby, near the Joburg CBD, described the situation as “a total joke”, saying electricity interruptions had affected the water supply because the pumps could not operate without power. He said his business had had electricity for only four days in September and three days in October, leaving him struggling to keep his business running and his staff at work.

“I cannot afford the diesel; it’s 280 litres a day to run and then [more money] to buy bottled water for staff to drink,” Fernandes said.

Several other business owners in the area told of similar experiences.

Mayfair pensioner Linda Grobbelaar said on Wednesday that her household had been without water for four days. “We have to pay for water, and we don’t get any. It’s frustrating,” she said.

Her son works from home repairing dental equipment, which is difficult without water.

Grobbelaar, who has arthritis, said collecting borehole water had become physically difficult because of the weight of the containers.

On Wednesday, Johannesburg Water issued a statement asking residents to lower their water consumption, saying it was experiencing “significant strain on its systems” due to high consumption.

“Residents and businesses are urgently requested to reduce consumption, avoid using drinking water for nonessential activities and comply with the level 1 restrictions now in effect,” said spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala.

The level 1 water restrictions are no watering of gardens or filling pools between 6am and 6pm and no washing of cars, paved areas or driveways using hosepipes.

Shabala said Johannesburg Water would implement targeted restrictions in areas with high water losses, excessive wastage and low payment. “The city will intensify bylaw enforcement in areas with illegal water connections.”

• This story was produced by Our City News, a nonprofit newsroom that serves the people of Johannesburg

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Former Road Accident Fund (RAF) CEO Collins Letsoalo faces sequestration proceedings over an alleged unpaid legal bill of more than R1m, with the attorneys pursuing him telling the Gauteng High Court that he acknowledged the debt but said he was struggling financially.

Motalane Attorneys wants the high court in Pretoria to place Letsoalo’s estate under provisional sequestration over R1,059,736.11 allegedly owed for legal fees and disbursements.

In a founding affidavit filed on October 16, attorney Emmanuel Mojalefa Motalane says Letsoalo engaged his firm in May 2025 to provide legal services in an ongoing matter involving the RAF.

The parties allegedly agreed that Letsoalo would pay R3,000 an hour for the work, in addition to reimbursing the firm for disbursements.

Motalane says the firm rendered legal services on Letsoalo’s instructions between May and December 2025, with payment due upon presentation of invoices.

By the end of December, the account had allegedly reached R1,059,736.11.

The attorney says repeated demands between January and October this year failed to secure payment, prompting him to approach the court.

But it is a message allegedly sent by Letsoalo on October 4 that is a key part of the firm’s case.

In the message reproduced in the affidavit, Letsoalo allegedly wrote:

“Hi MJ. I am sorry to learn about this, my brother. I thought we were to appeal against the decision. At this point I don’t have my cash … and had to even make arrangements for even school fees, let alone other expenses. It’s a big struggle for me. Trust me, I would pay any money if I had it.”

Motalane says the reference to an appeal concerned the outcome of the underlying matter in which the firm had been involved.

He argues that Letsoalo’s message acknowledges the indebtedness and demonstrates his inability to pay the amount due.

“The respondent’s message is an unequivocal statement that he cannot pay any of his creditors,” Motalane states in the affidavit.

“He says that he does not have money, that he is under financial pressure, that he has had to make special arrangements just to meet school fees, and that he would pay if he had the money.”

The attorney says he gave Letsoalo an opportunity to make arrangements to settle the account before resorting to sequestration proceedings.

On October 6, the firm issued a letter of demand calling on Letsoalo to settle the debt within five days.

However, Motalane alleges that the amount remained unpaid when he prepared the application.

“The respondent has not paid the sum due to the applicant or any part of it or secured or compounded it in any manner,” the affidavit states.

Motalane further alleges that no proposal to settle the debt through instalments or other arrangements had been forthcoming.

He argues that the circumstances justify sequestration under the Insolvency Act, saying the process would allow a trustee to investigate Letsoalo’s financial affairs and establish the extent of his assets and liabilities.

The attorney acknowledges that he does not know the full extent of Letsoalo’s financial position but says Letsoalo had referred to obligations involving school fees, bonds on properties and other debts shared with him.

Motalane argues that sequestration would enable a trustee to investigate Letsoalo’s movable and immovable property, examine potentially voidable transactions and determine whether assets could be recovered for creditors.

He also contends that the process would prevent the disposal of assets to the detriment of creditors and ensure that any proceeds are distributed in accordance with the law.

“The only manner in which the full extent of the respondent’s financial position with regard to the value of his assets and the extent of his liabilities can be established is by the appointment of one or more trustees to investigate his financial affairs fully,” he states.

The firm is asking the court to issue a rule nisi calling on Letsoalo and other interested parties to show why his estate should not be placed under final sequestration.

The application also seeks an order dealing with the costs of the proceedings.

Letsoalo didn’t respond to questions sent to him.

Sunday Times

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In the strange and pressurised geometry of South African politics, the calendar has conspired to create a perfect storm. Two weeks from today, the nation will go to the polls for critical local government municipal elections. Yet, before citizens can cast a single ballot to register their verdict on service delivery, sanitation and local economic collapse, they have been subjected to the annual ritual of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS).

For the past 32 years, my quantitative analysis, The Lehohla Ledger, has tracked this collision between fiscal reality and political ambition. But the 2026 iteration is fundamentally different. It is not merely a budget speech; it is the opening salvo of the final, desperate municipal campaign.

The Ledger reveals a profound and dangerous pattern: a relentless intensification of crisis rhetoric regarding the “triple challenge” of poverty, inequality and unemployment, juxtaposed against stubborn, almost immovable structural stagnation.

Consider the vocabulary of the 2026 MTBPS. We translated the rhetorical frequency into a normalised “decibel density” metric. In the early years of democracy, these terms registered at a measured, problem-solving volume (around 11.8–15.4 dB). By 2026, “poverty” has amplified to a projected 22.8 dB — the highest recorded level of rhetorical alarm in our dataset. The mentions of “inequality” and “unemployment” follow a similar trajectory, scaling up to signal a government increasingly aware of its own limitations.

The political calculus is obvious: by acknowledging the severity of the crisis in the MTBPS, the incumbent Government of National Unity (GNU) attempts to inoculate itself against blame two weeks before the election. It says to the electorate: “We hear you; we know things are broken.”

Yet this is where the collision with empirical reality occurs. When we plot these amplified decibels against the hard data provided by Stats SA, the disconnect is absolute.

Take unemployment, the apex of South Africa’s crisis. MTBPS rhetoric on unemployment has spiked, hitting a projected 21.0 dB. It is now a central, almost desperate refrain in every budget speech. But the actual, structural reality, validated by the Quarterly Labour Force Surveys, shows that the official unemployment rate has drifted structurally upward from historical bands near 25% to consistently breach the 33% threshold. The expanded definition is pushing past 42%. The political amplification is higher than ever, but the economy is absorbing fewer people than it did when the language was less urgent.

The pattern repeats for poverty. The Upper-Bound Poverty Line tracked by Stats SA shows the headcount of those unable to afford basic needs remains stubbornly high, fluctuating between 55% and 60%.

The core finding of the 2026 Lehohla Ledger is that South Africa is trapped in a rhetorical feedback loop: failure in the real economy generates political panic, which leads to more crisis language in the next budget cycle.

The opposition parties, sensing blood, will dissect the MTBPS not for its fiscal prudence, but for its political vulnerability.

However, the common diagnosis — that this is solely a problem of “implementation” — is insufficient. The Ledger’s deeper analysis, aligned with a recognition of profound institutional atrophy, suggests the failure is structural, etched into an emaciated capacity for effective systems design and design thinking.

As the Sesotho aphorism captures it: “keo khomareli’a kokotane, boko sa eshoa le lenono - fela ke koliamalla ha ho klokomeleha hore e fela e le nete hore hloho ke mothlotlo” (loosely translated, this speaks to the persistence of a systemic rot that is difficult to accept: the idea that one may cling to a structure that is fundamentally hollowed out, and while it may appear solid from a distance, the core is incapable of sustaining life or function, leading to a situation where the ultimate collapse is undeniable, yet the appearance of ‘headship’ or authority is maintained despite the lack of underlying substance).

This aphorism perfectly describes the 2026 MTBPS. The GNU presents a fiscal framework that looks like a budget — it has numbers, columns and allocations — but it lacks the capacity to translate those numbers into functional, human-centred outcomes at the local level. The “head” (the National Treasury) may be speaking with authority and volume, but the “body” (the municipal infrastructure and service delivery apparatus) is emaciated and unresponsive.

The only variable that consistently behaves differently in our analysis is “growth”. It consistently dominates policy vocabulary, registering the highest decibel levels annually (>190 mentions, nearly 23 dB). Growth is positioned as the putative antidote to the triple challenge. Yet, the reality is that real GDP growth remains anaemic, consistently failing to keep pace with population growth, rendering the high rhetorical decibels for “growth” more akin to wishful thinking than empirical policy.

So what does this confluence of budget, ballot and hollowed-out capacity mean for the municipal elections in two weeks?

It suggests that the 2026 MTBPS has failed to offer a credible bridge between the national crisis and the local reality. The GNU’s fiscal strategy, while perhaps stabilising national debt through austerity, starves municipalities of the capital investment and, critically, the design capacity required to fix crumbling infrastructure — the very infrastructure that drives local economic activity.

The ANC-led coalition, attempting to rebrand as the GNU, is running on a platform of “reform and recovery”. But the Ledger proves that the recovery is purely rhetorical. The empirical data shows a steady, 32-year erosion of state capacity and economic inclusion.

The opposition parties, sensing blood, will dissect the MTBPS not for its fiscal prudence, but for its political vulnerability. They will point to the 22.8 dB poverty decibel as a self-indictment by the incumbent. They will argue, with strong justification, that the national economic stagnation is the direct cause of municipal failure, and that the GNU lacks the design thinking to reverse it.

The danger for the ruling coalition is that the voter in a neglected ward — someone facing 50% unemployment and rolling blackouts — will hear the high-decibel lamentations of the MTBPS as a cynical two-week trick. The screaming rhetoric of the Treasury will not mask the whispering reality of the ballot box.

The 2026 Lehohla Ledger stands as a quantitative indictment of institutional atrophy. It demonstrates that South Africa is not suffering from a lack of diagnosis; we have been measuring the crisis for three decades. The failure is one etched in emaciated capacity for systems design and genuine design thinking. In two weeks, the people of South Africa will provide their own verdict on this divergence between decibels, data and a hollowed-out reality.

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South Africa has taken important steps in responding to gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). We have strengthened the legal and policy framework, adopted a National Strategic Plan, established a National Council on GBVF and classified GBVF as a national disaster. These measures matter: they give the country tools and institutions to co-ordinate its response.

But institutions and policies are a foundation, not the final measure of success. The test is whether women and children are safer in their homes, workplaces and communities; whether survivors can get help with dignity; and whether perpetrators are brought to justice.

The recent killings of women in Ekurhuleni have brought that test into sharp focus. Since July, the bodies of 11 women have been found in the area. Police are investigating the cases but have not said that all the deaths are connected. Each woman had a life, a family and a future. Their deaths have left communities grieving and fearful and remind us that protecting women cannot wait for the next national outcry. The president has directed that the cases be prioritised. The response must bring justice for those affected and practical action to prevent further violence.

The scale of the wider crisis is also clear. In the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, from April to June 2026, the South African Police Service recorded 50,511 GBVF cases. Of these, 30,736 resulted in arrests or referrals to the National Prosecuting Authority. These figures show the scale of reported cases and the work entering the justice system. They do not tell us how many cases resulted in convictions, nor whether survivors are safer. Arrests and referrals are important steps, but they are not the end of the process.

We accept that it must help turn the measures already in place into lasting improvements. That calls for effective co-operation between police, prosecutors, health and social services and all spheres of government. It also calls for honest reporting on what is working, where cases are delayed and where survivors are still unable to access support. We should recognise progress where it is made and act decisively where delivery falls short.

For many survivors, the first encounter with the justice system is at a police station. Reporting abuse should mark the beginning of protection, not another ordeal. Complaints must be taken seriously, investigations conducted thoroughly and survivors treated with dignity. Where officers fail to fulfil their duties, there must be consequences.

Justice must extend beyond convictions. Survivors need accessible, compassionate support throughout the process

The recovery plan announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa includes reviewing unresolved cases involving women and children and reducing forensic backlogs. It should be judged by practical results: whether investigations move forward, forensic evidence is processed on time, cases reach court and victims and families receive answers. The National Council on GBVF also has an important role in co-ordinating and monitoring the national response. Its success will depend on whether it can help turn shared commitments into measurable action.

Justice must extend beyond convictions. Survivors need accessible, compassionate support throughout the process. Thuthuzela Care Centres provide integrated services intended to reduce the additional trauma associated with reporting and prosecuting sexual offences. But a service can only help when people can reach it. Transport costs, distance and a lack of information can all create barriers that the government and its partners must address.

Prevention is equally important. We cannot expect to reduce violence while controlling behaviour, entitlement and disrespect are tolerated in our homes, schools and communities. Families, religious institutions, community leaders and men and boys all have a role in challenging attitudes that normalise abuse. Economic vulnerability can also make it harder for a woman to leave an abusive relationship. Access to employment, skills development, safe accommodation and reliable support can expand her choices and strengthen prevention.

Safety also concerns the public spaces women use every day. A woman returning home after work should not have to navigate a dark street because a broken streetlight has gone unrepaired. A girl walking to school should not have to pass along an isolated, overgrown path. Municipalities do not investigate rape or prosecute offenders, but they influence safety through street lighting, transport facilities, infrastructure maintenance and urban planning.

The women’s safety audits announced by the president must lead to practical improvements. Residents should be told what risks have been identified, what action will follow and whether that action has been completed. With the local government elections approaching, communities also have a right to ask whether their safety concerns are being addressed by those responsible for local services.

The ANC will support regular public reporting on three areas: progress on unresolved cases and forensic delays; survivors’ access to support services; and municipal action on safety risks identified through women’s safety audits. Communities should be able to see where progress is being made, where delays remain and who is responsible for addressing them.

We should neither dismiss the progress made nor mistake plans and institutions for the work being finished. The test of our response is whether women and children can move through their communities safely, seek help without humiliation and trust that institutions will act when their safety is threatened. We must be judged by whether the commitments we support make a difference in people’s lives and by whether perpetrators are brought to justice.

• Nokuthula Nqaba is the secretary-general of the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL).

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As South Africa counts down to the November 4 local government elections, a fresh eNCA MarkData poll is attempting to crystal ball the political fate of two of the country’s most volatile economic hubs: Tshwane and eThekwini. But whether these numbers offer a genuine snapshot of voter sentiment or just another layer of pre-election spin remains up for debate.

According to the survey, former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party is tracking just shy of the 2% threshold it supposedly needs to capture the eThekwini metro outright, a claim that will raise eyebrows given the party’s dominant performance in KwaZulu-Natal during the 2024 general elections.

Meanwhile, the survey conveniently highlights ActionSA councillor and current Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya as the “ideal mayoral candidate” for the capital, even as the city battles crippling water and sanitation crises.

The numbers game: sampling and scepticism

The survey sampled a modest “over 1,000 people” per metro, carrying a margin of error exceeding 3%, elections analyst Wayne Sussman notes. Compounding the methodological scepticism, data collection was a hybrid patchwork: conducted strictly in person in eThekwini but via a mix of in-person and telephonic interviews in Tshwane.

Critics will probably question whether a sample size of about 1,000 respondents can accurately reflect the pulse of millions of registered voters in sprawling metros such as eThekwini and Tshwane, particularly when pollsters attempt to predict nuanced outcomes such as voter turnout and shifting coalition dynamics.

Service delivery failures and the blame shifting

Unsurprisingly, the survey heaps heavy blame on the governing parties for systemic collapse. In Tshwane, 62.5% of respondents point fingers at the ANC for service delivery failures, rising to a staggering 74.6% in eThekwini.

Yet the timing of these findings coincides conveniently with political manoeuvres in Pretoria and national interventions. The survey drops as the state scrambles to throw money at the problem, pointing to finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s medium-term budget policy statement, which allocates an additional R21.8bn to local government for basic services. Sceptics may ask whether such massive fiscal injections are genuine municipal lifebuoys or frantic pre-election window dressing.

In Tshwane, currently governed by a fragile multiparty coalition of ActionSA, the ANC and the EFF, voter disillusionment runs deep. A notable 27.2% of respondents describe the metro as “extremely badly run”, and 62.6% state that Moya and her mayoral committee have completely mishandled the water crisis. Despite 62.6% branding the leadership “hopeless”, the poll paradoxically pivots to claim that 25.9% still view Moya as the “ideal” candidate, outpolling the DA’s Cilliers Brink (20.1%).

The financial recovery claims: fact or fiction?

Adding to the political theatre, Tshwane’s mayoral committee insists they are leaving the metro in better shape, boasting that cash reserves grew from R835m in October 2024 to R1.8bn by July 2026, alongside a 98% collection rate. Opposition critics and wary residents, many of whom are dealing with unchlorinated water and failing sewage infrastructure, are bound to question these rosy financial metrics against the grim reality on the ground.

Over in eThekwini, the electoral landscape looks equally polarised. The poll places the MK Party in a strong lead at 48% (with the DA at 25.2% and the ANC languishing at 14.5%), yet insists the party needs a miraculous 2024-style turnout and a simultaneous collapse of the ANC and EFF to win outright. Meanwhile, 62.7% of eThekwini respondents feel the municipal leadership under mayor Cyril Xaba is entirely “hopeless”, demanding a wholesale clear-out of the governing majority.

As political parties scramble for pole position before November 4, voters are left wading through a sea of conflicting polls, statistical margins of error, and polished campaign narratives. Whether these numbers reflect reality or merely shape it will be revealed at the ballot box.

Business Day

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The unfolding water crisis in Tshwane is not just a technical failure or an unfortunate accident. It is a serious, preventable betrayal of public trust. Hundreds of residents have become sick, children have been hospitalised, and the whole community is now afraid of water that should sustain life, not threaten it.

What makes this crisis so serious is not just the presence of E. coli in municipal water, which should never happen in a working system, but also that repeated, clear warnings were ignored. The City of Tshwane’s leadership, including mayor Nasiphi Moya and her senior officials, were not unaware. According to the Sunday Times, they received at least three reports on water quality in the months before the disaster.

In February, the department of water and sanitation sent an official letter of non-compliance. The city replied with a promising action plan, but then failed to carry it out. As a result, a water treatment plant ran for 21 days without the chlorine needed for disinfection, putting residents at risk of a serious health hazard.

This was not an unforeseeable failure. It was the result of a long-standing, worsening problem, highlighted in the 2023 Blue Drop report, which gave the Bronkhorstspruit plant a compliance score less than half of the minimum standard. Month after month, more tests showed non-compliance. Even when E. coli bacteria were found in water samples, the needed actions did not happen. When the city finally warned residents, the message was vague and left out important details about the real dangers, like the risks of bathing or washing dishes with contaminated water.

It is indefensible that it took hundreds of ill people, including many young children with severe gastrointestinal distress, before any decisive action was taken.

The explanations from the mayor and her administration have not inspired confidence. Blaming one plant manager and mentioning failed supplier negotiations do not excuse the lack of back-up plans, the failure of oversight, or the slow response as the crisis got worse. It is indefensible that it took hundreds of ill people, including many young children with severe gastrointestinal distress, before any decisive action was taken.

This is not just a local administrative failure. It is a warning to municipalities across South Africa: water safety cannot be left to chance, and it cannot be managed with apologies and blaming others after the fact.

The legal standard for E. coli in drinking water is zero, because the consequences, as Tshwane now knows, are immediate and severe. The public deserves answers: who was responsible for monitoring chemical supplies? What emergency protocols are in place for supply interruptions? Why were these not used when the danger first appeared? Most importantly, how will the city make sure this never happens again?

The current investigations by the public protector and the South African Human Rights Commission are important, but they need to be matched by real, open accountability and urgent corrective action. The restoration plan for the Bronkhorstspruit plant is a start, but trust will only return when residents see proof that their health and safety come before bureaucracy and politics.

As local government elections approach, voters in Tshwane and elsewhere are right to expect more than promises. They deserve basic safety, honest communication, and a government that treats water quality as the essential foundation of public health. Anything less is a failure of leadership and a violation of the social contract.

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South African rapper Maglera Doe Boy is expanding his creative horizons with his upcoming short film Mzansi, new music and international collaborations, while sharing a mutual admiration with Grammy-winning superstar Tyla.

Filmed in South Africa and Mozambique, the two-part Mzansi marks his acting debut, with a YouTube screening on November 2 and a Johannesburg premiere on November 9.

“Mzansi is based around inter-provincial and cross-border street culture, our fashion, our diversity, and my affinity to the rest of Africa,” Maglera told the Sunday Times.

Two accompanying tracks are forthcoming: Izinja, featuring 25K and Sir Trill, and Ntariana, featuring Young Stunna.

Born Tokelo Moyakhe and raised in Kanana township near Klerksdorp, Maglera has won two South African hip-hop awards and received two BET Awards nominations.

Both Maglera and Tyla are signed to Epic Records, though he believes any collaboration should be creatively driven.

“I’d love to do a song. I’d want any collaboration to be a real moment with us. I wouldn’t want to do things for the sake of doing them just because we’re South Africans.”

He recalled Tyla inviting him onstage at this year’s South African Music Awards in August.

“She was like, ‘Yo, I really wanna show love, like everyone at home. Would you be keen to come on stage and be part of it?’ I was like, ‘yeah, for sure.’ That was fun.”

Fashion is another passion, with his style blending township influences and international luxury.

Asked how he would dress Tyla, he imagined Hollywood-inspired glamour.

“I’d love to see a ‘Broadway Tyla’ in the vibe of elegant Hollywood glam,” he said.

“If we’re going to watch something at the theatre, what would she wear? You know, let’s put on some silk gloves. I love her many sides and nuances, from sexy to classic.”

(A$AP) Rocky is one of the reasons I’m who I am artistically, I think 25% of my lexicon as a creative is from Rocky

Rapper Maglera Doe Boy

Maglera also spoke warmly about Grammy-winning producer Swizz Beatz, whom he considers a mentor.

“He has been like an adviser, a big brother, someone who makes calls for me. He puts me in rooms, like the last time we were in New York he put me together with (rapper) Lil Uzi Vert.”

American rapper A$AP Rocky, with whom he previously collaborated on a PUMA campaign, remains a major influence.

“(A$AP) Rocky is one of the reasons I’m who I am artistically, I think 25% of my lexicon as a creative is from Rocky. The fashion stuff, the visual arts, my love for New York.”

Reflecting on his acting debut, Maglera emphasised purposeful storytelling.

“I think that’s my biggest take — intention. Intention in storytelling, intention in going into a space as a character, intention with the ‘why’ of why we’re telling stories.”

TPC Africa Mobile, which launched in Midrand on Saturday, will use MTN’s network to offer branded mobile services, combining airtime, data and digital financial services through its app.

Moreki, founder of The Perfume Co. Africa, said the idea was inspired by the needs of her existing distribution network, which relies heavily on mobile connectivity to market products, communicate with customers and manage orders.

“We realised that we use a lot of data and airtime, but it would be nice for us to also sell those products that we are already using,” she said.

The move builds on a business that Moreki says has grown a network of more than 300,000 independent business owners across Southern Africa. She plans to use that footprint to distribute the mobile service, particularly in townships and rural areas where affordability and access remain key concerns.

TPC Africa Mobile will offer airtime, data, voice and SMS bundles, alongside services such as bill and electricity payments and wallet functions. Customers will also be able to make cash payments through resellers for services including DStv subscriptions and money transfers.

Moreki said the aim was to bring services closer to communities that often travel to shopping centres to access them.

“We just want to bring convenience at a broader scale instead of just people having to walk to the nearest shopping centre,” she said.

The company plans to recruit resellers from its wider network as well as unemployed people seeking income opportunities. Resellers will earn commissions and receive training in sales, marketing and compliance through online sessions.

Moreki said the group invested about R1.2m in the venture with part of the investment used to brand SIM cards with the company’s identity.

So many things are going up. We just want to also offer something that is affordable

Entrepreneur Bathabile Moreki

TPC Africa selected MTN after market research indicated customers viewed its network as stronger in rural areas. The partnership also gave the company an opportunity to negotiate packages suited to its target market.

Moreki said rising living costs and increasing demand for internet access among entrepreneurs, students and households had created demand for more affordable connectivity options.

“People are now price-conscious. So many things are going up,” she said. “We just want to also offer something that is affordable.”

TPC Africa Mobile joins over 20 MVNOs using the infrastructure of network operators like MTN and Cell C to offer customers data and voice services.

MTN currently hosts about 20 MVNOs, including Standard Bank Connect, FNB Connect and Capitec Connect, making it one of the country’s largest enablers of the segment.

2001 — The Proteas beat India by six wickets in Durban in the final of the triangular ODI tournament also featuring Kenya. Asked to bat first, India were bowled out for 183, with Rahul Dravid top-scoring with 77. Justin Kemp took three wickets for South Africa, and Shaun Pollock and Nantie Hayward two each. Opener Gary Kirsten spearheaded the chase, striking 87 as South Africa reached the target with 47 balls to spare.

2002 — Gary Kirsten scores an unbeaten 154 and Jacques Kallis 107 in the second Test against Bangladesh in Potchefstroom. Herschelle Gibbs, resuming on 36, made 114. Kirsten was out the next day for 160 while Kallis ended on 139 not out when South Africa declared on 482/5.

2002 — Bafana Bafana beat Tanzania 4-3 on penalties to take third place in the Castle Lager Cup competition match in Arusha. Tshepo Ntsoane scored South Africa’s only goal in regulation time.

2002 — In one of the classic local ring wars, Cassius Baloyi fights back to stop former two-time world champion Mbulelo Botile in the 11th round at Carnival City.

2003 — Shaun Pollock takes six wickets as the Proteas bowl out Pakistan for 348 in the second and final Test in Faisalabad.

2007 — The Proteas beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the fourth ODI in Multan to stay alive in the five-match series at 2-2. Younis Khan made 82 as the hosts were restricted to 230/9. South African captain Graeme Smith hit 81 and Shaun Pollock, coming in as a pinch-hitter, smashed 90 from 84 balls as the visitors achieved victory in the 38th over.

2009 — Shandre Fritz scores 42 and Trisha Chetty 31 before the South African women lose their last eight wickets for 18 runs to be dismissed for 101 to lose the second T20 at Newlands by 13 runs.

2010 — Colin Ingram makes an unbeaten 46 off 38 balls as the Proteas score 120/4 to beat Pakistan by six wickets in the first T20 in Abu Dhabi.

2013 — South Africa bowl out Pakistan for 326 to win the second and final Test in Dubai by an innings and 92 runs to share the series 1-1.

2013 — Captain Mignon du Preez scores an unbeaten 79, Marizanne Kapp 72 and Lizelle Lee 65 as the South African women total 274/3 on their way to beating Sri Lanka by 67 runs in the second ODI in Potchefstroom to take the series 2-0. The third and final match was rained out.

2014 — Dane van Niekerk scores an unbeaten 70 as the South African women, needing 133 to win, beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the third and final T20 to win the series 2-1.

2017 — Quinton de Kock hits 59 off 44 balls and AB de Villiers an unbeaten 49 off 27 as the Proteas, on 195/4, beat Bangladesh by 20 runs in the first T20 in Bloemfontein.

2021 — Aiden Markram scores an unbeaten 51 off 26 balls as the Proteas, needing 144, beat the West Indies by eight wickets in a T20 World Cup contest in Dubai.

2025 — England-based Reg Bamford wins his sixth men’s singles world croquet championship men’s singles crown, downing England’s Mark Avery in the final at West Palm Beach in Florida. Bamford, who didn’t drop a game throughout the competition, beat world No 1 Robert Fletcher of Australia, the 2013 world champion, in the semifinals.

Godongwana was responding to RMB chief economist Isaah Mhlanga, who asked at a breakfast forum following last Wednesday’s medium-term budget policy statement why institutional delays and poor co-ordination across government continued to hold back infrastructure development and economic growth.

Mhlanga cited Rwanda’s deal to host Formula One from 2030, asking why South Africa struggled to get major projects over the line despite bidding earlier.

Godongwana said the country’s regulatory framework and constitutional architecture were among the obstacles to investment, alongside capacity constraints and corruption.

He pointed to South Africa’s gas exploration experience as an example of how legal challenges can deter investment.

“Companies that found gas in Namibia started their exploration efforts here but faced repeated legal challenges over environmental issues and eventually gave up,” Godongwana said. “They went to Namibia, where they made discoveries.

“Even the constitutional architecture is a problem.”

His remarks come amid longstanding concerns about delays and regulatory uncertainty facing South Africa’s oil and gas exploration industry. In July, the Offshore Petroleum Association of South Africa (Opasa) said lengthy approval processes and legal proceedings had contributed to a halt in offshore exploration, despite discoveries in the past decade.

Opasa spokesperson Niall Kramer told Business Day that offshore exploration approvals could take three to nine months in some African jurisdictions, compared with up to five years in South Africa. He said successive appeals and court proceedings had delayed projects and weakened investor interest.

The association has called for specialised courts to speed up the resolution of disputes involving offshore exploration. Godongwana said Treasury director-general Duncan Pieterse had raised with the justice department the possibility of establishing environmental courts to speed up the resolution of cases. He did not, however, announce a decision to establish them.

However, not every exit has been about litigation. In July 2024, TotalEnergies announced its withdrawal from offshore Block 11B/12B off South Africa’s southern coast, where it discovered natural gas and associated liquid hydrocarbons at the Brulpadda and Luiperd wells in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

The company said the discoveries could not be developed commercially, citing the economic challenges of producing and marketing the gas for the South African market. Its exit followed the withdrawal of project partner CNR International.

Separately, mineral & petroleum resources minister Gwede Mantashe said last year that litigation had affected exploration activity in South Africa. He cited Shell, which abandoned a seismic survey locally before making oil and gas discoveries in Namibia, and Italian oil major Eni, which he said had faced repeated court challenges before making major oil discoveries in Ivory Coast.

The lack of progress in developing domestic gas resources has heightened concern over future supplies as South Africa approaches the “gas cliff”, the expected end of pipeline gas supplies from Mozambique’s Pande and Temane fields by mid-2028. The fields supply a big share of South Africa’s natural gas needs.

At a parliamentary committee meeting in June last year, industry representatives warned that fragmented policy and regulatory uncertainty were delaying decisions on how to address the expected supply shortfall.

Business Day