Early results show major shift from ANC; Manie Libbok is coming home: Today’s top 7 stories - News24

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- By 17:00 on Wednesday, 12 million voters – 44% of registered voters – had cast ballots, with final turnout projected at around 50%, slightly above the 2021 local government election figure of 46%.

- Turnout in predominantly black wards was noticeably lower than in predominantly white wards, with a gap of about 10 to 15 percentage points recorded across areas including Soweto, Umlazi, Khayelitsha and Tembisa; in Umlazi’s Ward 76, only 405 of 2 193 registered voters had voted by 15:00.

- Voter disillusionment, service delivery failures, extreme heat, social grant payment days and poor party mobilisation were among the reasons cited for the low turnout in black communities.

- Donovan Marx, a Ventersdorp farmer who was shot, stabbed and had his ears cut off in a farm attack on 28 October, is recovering at Mediclinic Potchefstroom, with his family releasing the first photograph of him in hospital.

- His family described his survival as “a testimony of God’s grace” and “the fruit of their prayers”, but cautioned that his injuries remained serious and that he required ongoing specialised care and monitoring.

- Four men have been charged in connection with the attack, which investigators described as planned and premeditated; Marx also suffered a medical setback that required emergency surgery during his recovery.

- Early results point to a significant swing away from the ANC across multiple metros and municipalities, with the CSIR/SABC projecting the party will finish at approximately 37% nationally, compared to the DA’s projected 30%.

- The ANC’s support fell sharply in key areas: in Buffalo City it dropped from 62% in 2021 to 46.3% with roughly 30% counted – with a final projection of around 40% – while in Mangaung, with about a third of votes in, it sat at 29.3% with the DA overtaking it as the biggest party.

- Opposition parties making gains include the DA, ActionSA, MK Party, the IFP, UDM and Patriotic Alliance; in KwaZulu-Natal’s eNdumeni – one of the few completed municipalities – the MK Party took three former ANC wards to become the largest party.

- A Paarl building contractor who failed to pay a R165 000 settlement arising from a shoddy workmanship dispute now faces the forced sale of his family home, valued at approximately R1.68 million on the open market.

- The Western Cape High Court overturned a lower-court ruling that had previously shielded the property from a forced sale, clearing the way for the home to be sold to recover the unpaid debt.

- The case illustrates the legal consequences of ignoring court-ordered settlements, with the contractor’s failure to pay a relatively modest amount ultimately placing a property worth more than 10 times that sum at risk.

- David Jones, the 188-year-old Australian department store chain, has been placed into voluntary administration, with FTI Consulting appointed as receivers and McGrathNicol as voluntary administrators; stores remain open while a sale or recapitalisation process begins immediately.

- South Africa’s Woolworths sold the retailer in 2022 for R4.4 billion – at a significant loss – to Anchorage Capital Partners, whose proposed lifeline from Scentre Group was rejected before the administration filing.

- The collapse follows years of financial difficulty; Woolworths had already sold the David Jones flagship Bourke Street property in January 2025, and the retailer had paid rent only through 30 September.

- Springbok flyhalf Manie Libbok has signed a multi-year deal with the Sharks, with his move to Durban set to take effect from July 2027.

- The signing is described as a homecoming for Libbok, who will bolster the Sharks’ playmaking options with his experience at international level.

- No transfer fee or salary figures were disclosed, and no contract length beyond “multi-year” was specified.

- Paris Jackson, 28, has filed a petition in a Los Angeles court asking estate executor John Branca to transfer $600 million (R9.6 billion) – or a judge-determined amount – to the family trust established after Michael Jackson’s death in 2009 at the age of 50.

- The filing claims the trust, intended to benefit Paris and her brothers Prince, 29, and Bigi, 24, remains unfunded more than 17 years after Michael’s death, despite the estate generating billions; it further alleges that Branca maintains an “iron grip” over the siblings’ access to funds, and that after Paris challenged the estate’s administration earlier this year, her allowance was reduced and she faced “scorched earth litigation”.

- The estate has denied withholding funds, stating that more than $200 million (R3.2 billion) has already been distributed to or for the benefit of the three children, and that full funding of the trust is on hold pending an unresolved IRS dispute that originally sought $700 million (R11.2 billion) in taxes and penalties; a judge is scheduled to hear Paris’ request on 4 December.

These summaries were written with the support of Toqan AI.

News24 surveyed 5,001 registered voters to reveal who leads, what voters want fixed, and which coalitions South Africans could support.

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