Election eve: polls open tomorrow, 4 November.
1. Election eve: ballot boxes stolen, arrests in two provinces
- Ballot boxes stolen at a KwaZulu-Natal voting station, the IEC confirms; two Eastern Cape women arrested after trying to take voting material from a police station.
- A Limpopo man was arrested for photographing a marked ballot paper, while special-voting queues hit hiccups around the country.
- KZN police boss Lt-Gen Mkhwanazi: "Criminals will not be on holiday" — officers deployed and warned against political bias, with extra police at Western Cape hotspots.
- The ANC won its Electoral Court battle over disputed Eastern Cape candidate lists.
2. AGOA: US confirms South Africa is out — citrus calls it a "serious blow"
- Washington confirmed late on Monday that it will remove South Africa from AGOA, ending 25 years of duty-free access to the US market.
- South Africa’s AGOA exports had already dropped 57% ahead of the announcement; citrus, vehicles, jewellery, ferroalloys, nuts and spirits are all exposed.
- Citrus Growers’ Association CEO Dr Boitshoko Ntshabele: "This will be a loss not just for us, but the US consumer will lose too." Cosatu is demanding a jobs rescue plan as Pretoria questions Trump’s shifting demands.
3. Gauteng water at risk the day before voting
- Ekurhuleni’s Mapleton pumping station has been dark since 20:30 on Monday after a power and breaker failure — no pumping by 10:30 on Tuesday, reservoirs low and no restoration time given. Rand Water wants the outage treated as an emergency.
- Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Mpumalanga municipalities sit in the firing line, the day before residents vote on service delivery.
- Joburg mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya says Bronkhorstspruit residents must not drink tap water after gastrointestinal illness linked to the treatment works.
4. Agrizzi hit with R1.66bn Bosasa confiscation order — and he is fighting it
- The NPA has obtained a R1.66 billion confiscation order against Angelo Agrizzi over Bosasa; he will appeal.
- Agrizzi says he is "not Rockefeller" and has no money to pay, calling himself the scapegoat while "the politically connected are escaping accountability".
- Bosasa-linked names remain in play: Gavin Watson, Linda Mti, Patrick Gillingham and Vincent Smith.
5. Court sends lottery licence back to the minister
- The High Court ordered the minister to reconsider National Lottery licence bids afresh; ITHUBA welcomed the judgment overturning the Sizekhaya award — another National Lotteries Commission procurement embarrassment.
Madlanga Commission and justice
- The Madlanga Commission served Dr Bejani Chauke, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s former political adviser, with a Rule 10.6 notice requiring him to account for 2022–2023 WhatsApp conversations with the late taxi boss Jotham Mswazi Msibi, including messages carrying sensitive state security information.
- The trail came from data extracted off Msibi’s cellphone, pointing to alleged links between police members, private business interests and surveillance technology.
- Claim under investigation: Msibi, jailed SAPS sergeant Fannie Nkosi and associates allegedly used fraudulent police credentials and official SAPS stamps to obtain about R1 million of cellphone interception and jamming equipment from European suppliers.
- Ramaphosa on Monday: "He will proceed to do what is required and all those matters will be dealt with." Chauke is consulting his legal team.
- Separately, the Hawks are probing Afrirent over a state vehicle contract, and an attorney was shot dead in Johannesburg, rattling the legal fraternity.
Why it matters
Tomorrow’s vote runs on a stolen-ballot story, a water system one breaker away from failure, and an economy that just lost its US trade lifeline — while the Madlanga Commission pulls on a thread that runs from a dead taxi boss into the Presidency’s old inner circle. Watch three things this week: turnout, Rand Water’s reservoir levels, and whether Chauke appears.