First Take SA

Administration of the Sisonke COVID-19 booster dose aimed at healthcare workers, which was delayed on Monday due to technical glitches, is expected to start today. Healthcare workers were the first group of people that were vaccinated in South Africa under the Sisonke Programme, which was a collaboration between the National Department of Health and other health professionals. The South African Me...

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted that it is difficult at this stage to put a time frame as to when load shedding will come to an end as problems engulfing ESKOM are complex. Ramaphosa was speaking at an ANC Thank You event in Soweto, Johannesburg, where he was thanking ANC members for their work during the recent local government elections. For more on some of those complexities that pre...

The ANC says it has yet to enter into any coalition agreements with some of the political parties represented in the 66 hung municipalities countrywide. Meanwhile, ActionSA has been running a poll, asking its supporters to say which of the political parties they should enter into coalitions with. For some analysis of what these coalition talks and possible agreements could mean for the genera...

ActionSA, the party formed by former Joburg mayor, Herman Mashaba, has been running a poll, which ended at midnight, asking its supporters to say which of the political parties they should enter into coalitions with. Party national chairperson, Michael Beaumont...

The ANC says it has yet to enter into any coalition agreements with some of the political parties represented in the 66 hung municipalities countrywide. Party deputy secretary, Jessie Duarte made the assertion at the Special ANC NEC meeting in Irene, Pretoria yesterday (Sunday). The special NEC meeting comes at the back of the local government elections which saw the party failing to secure enough...

The Independent Electoral Commission released the final results of the 2021 Local Government Election at the Results Operations Center (ROC) in Pretoria. The results follow a challenging election campaign that saw political parties try to secure votes, amid a global pandemic and a shorter than usual time frame. Executive Chair of the Institute of Election Management Services in Africa, Terry Tsela...

The Democratic Alliance has recorded a decline of about five percent in votes in the Eastern Cape province despite claiming control of the coastal towns within the Kouga Municipality. The party has also fallen short of its objective of claiming control of the closely contested Nelson Mandela Bay metro, drawing 38 seats out of the 61 seats needed for majority control of the council. One of the othe...

ActionSA in KwaZulu-Natal says it is elated by its performance at the polls in KwaDukuza Local Municipality where it gained five council seats. The party, led by former Johannesburg mayor, Herman Mashaba has also made inroads in Joburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. The party has also made its presence felt in eThekwini municipality, gaining 4 seats thus minimizing the ANC's majority rule.  Provinc...

For some analysis on the latest Local Government election results, here is Dr Kagiso Pooe from the School of Governance at Wits University....

Another new kid on the block during these Local Government Elections which has shown great potential in the City of Cape Town is the Cape Coloured Congress. For an assessment and reaction to how the party has performed thus far, Cape Coloured Congress president, Fadiel Adams...

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) will announce the final results of the 2021 local government elections later this evening. The electoral process had its own challenges with at least over 80 objections lodged with the IEC by the end of business yesterday. But the electoral body says all the objections will be dealt with after the announcement of the results. For the latest election resul...

Political analyst, Susan Booysen highlights what it means to form coalitions in this day and age....

CSIR's Professor Pravesh Debba gives us an update on predictions for the 2021 Local Government Elections....

Clearer pictures are emerging around the country as results come in. Some provinces are still too early to call. However, Observer Paledi Magopa from the Centre for Civic & Democracy Education says councillors are neglecting their civic duties...

The Electoral Commission says issues around shortages of ballot papers were resolved. Voting in the 2021 Local Government Elections ended last night across the country with eight million people having cast their vote by five o'clock yesterday afternoon. To unpack available results thus far is Professor Pravesh Debba from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSRI)....

The Independent Electoral Commission says its all systems go for this weekend's special votes. Approximately 26 million South Africans are eligible to vote in the polls, with over 95 thousand candidates running to capture about 10-thousand-500 seats in the country's 257 municipalities. The IEC maintains that all measures are in place to protect the integrity of the results as the commission launch...

With days to go to the November 1st local government elections, some political parties are complaining about the destruction of their posters. They say that several displayed on lamp posts have been damaged, while others have been defaced on social media. This election campaign has seen many political parties  capitalize on their campaign messaging and branding while some have missed the mark...

Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan, says Eskom is likely to downgrade loadshedding to Stage Three tonight - and move to Stage Two for the rest of the week. This follows the power utility's announcement of the implementation of Stage Four loadshedding, which started at midday today. Eskom says this was due to a shortage of generation capacity and units tripping at several power stations. N...

The Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster Ministers have assured South Africans that citizens will be able to access all areas of the country during the local government elections next week. The Ministers briefing the media on the safety and security situation ahead of the polls, say focus is on four provinces, including Kwa Zulu-Natal and Gauteng with regards to political violence. Aroun...

With just six days left before the Local Government Elections, access to information on political parties, their nominated candidates and the voting process has come to the fore. To help South Africans and in line with its public mandate, the SABC recently launched a dedicated website to bring you up to the minute election coverage and everything you need to know before you cast your vote on Novem...

The African Content Movement leader, Hlaudi Motsoeng has vowed to deliver 'miracles' within the first six months of being voted into municipal councils post the November 1st Local Government Elections. Motsoeneng launched his party's election manifesto in his home town of Qwa-Qwa in the Free State, labeling himself as a man of action. The former SABC COO, is known amongst many other controversies...

As the country heads to the Local Government Elections on November 1, a number of communities say they continue to be overlooked and marginalised. The Unemployed People's Movement and the Gatvol Movement are two such organisations. The movements have accused government of failing to improve the lives of ordinary South Africans in the 27 years since the birth of democracy. Millions of young people...

The November 1st Local Government Elections are just 11 days away and parties on the campaign trail will seek to intensify their messaging in the coming days. Communities across the country have for the past two months witnessed various political parties making promises and commitments on service delivery issues such as the provision of water and electricity, housing, jobs and the rooting out of c...

Despite constituting the majority of South Africa's population and comprising the largest number of voters, women participation as candidates in elections is still skewed in favour of men. In the 2016 municipal elections, women accounted for 58% of voters, and yet just under 40% of the elected candidates were women. Laws such as the Municipal Structures Act require that party lists for local gover...

In the midst of escalating new wave pro-democracy protests; King Mswati has ordered the immediate and indefinite closure of all schools in eSwatini. Pupils and students in the kingdom have been protesting for a number of weeks, boycotting lessons and calling for free schooling, as well as an end to the rule under King Mswati III. ESwatini's  Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini announced the king's...