Daily news update: Election results, SA buckles under fuel weight, Agrizzi’s trial

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2021 local government election results live: ANC in lead but is its support dropping?

After a day of voting in all 278 municipalities in South Africa, the ballots are cast and the long process of voting and announcing the election results began after polling stations closed at 9pm.

The fight is on to control each of the eight metropolitan municipalities, which are home to more than two-thirds of South Africans and all have enormous budgets.

The vote casting on Monday was all done and dusted, and perhaps one of the few good things that could come out of this looking like the lowest voter turnout in South African democratic history is that the count could be concluded far more quickly than in previous years.

That news may also come as music to the ears of the many parties contesting the ANC for power, as low turnouts tend to shrink its share of the vote.

Local election results and voter statistics: 2021 versus 2016

Now that South Africa’s local elections have come to an end and the results are being tallied, let’s look at voter registration statistics.

Counting ballot papers

Shortly after 6:00 am, 12% of the ballot papers have been counted, with the African National Congress (ANC) leading the pack with 44.67%.

This was followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) with 28.64%, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 7.8%.

Moreover, the ANC currently leads in Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, North West, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

Meanwhile, the DA is dominating in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Babita Deokaran murder suspect fingered Zweli Mkhize in disputed confession

Shocking revelations emerged in the Johannesburg Regional Court on Tuesday when the six men accused of killing whistleblower Babita Deokaran appeared in the dock – including that in a now-disputed confession, one of them fingered former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize as the mastermind behind the crime.

The suspects’ bail application finally began on Tuesday morning, with their counsel – advocate Peter Wilkins – reading into the record an affidavit from accused one, Phakamani Radebe, in support of his bid for bail.

In his affidavit, Radebe pointed to a purported confession he had made after his arrest in August. While the state has since redacted the detail, he in this affidavit revealed that he had implicated Mkhize but claimed he was under duress at the time.

Guests evacuated following fire at Kruger Park

Guests have been evacuated following a fire in the central area of the Kruger National Park on Tuesday.

“Guests have been evacuated from Tamboti and Kingfisherspruit Ranger Post as a precaution. Fire fighting teams are on the scene,” said Kruger National Park in a statement.

Global supply-chain disruption continues while SA buckles under fuel weight

The global supply-chain disruption continues while the local supply chain is under pressure from criminals and from Wednesday, higher, never-seen-before fuel prices. Ships are waiting outside harbours for up to five weeks to offload their cargo and some wealthier industrial nations are using cargo planes to “ship” urgently needed components.

According to the Ctrack Freight Transport Index for the third quarter, the international transportation of goods remains under pressure, while local attacks on the logistics infrastructure had a negative impact on the entire transport sector.

Ex-Bosasa boss Angelo Agrizzi’s corruption trial postponed to December

Former Bosasa chief operating officer (COO), Angelo Agrizzi, is due back in court next month.

The corruption and fraud case against Agrizzi was postponed on Tuesday by the Johannesburg High Court, sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, to 2 December.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) Investigating Directorate (ID), the matter was postponed in order for Agrizzi to undergo a medical examination.

The case has experienced delays in the past few months due to Agrizzi’s ill-health.