Matric pupils will have to adjust their examination schedules after Umalusi announced a break in the NSC timetable to accommodate the 2026 Local Government Elections.

South Africa is having a conversation with Elon Musk's Starlink. And judging by the intervention of the United States ambassador, we are apparently being unreasonable for insisting that a foreign company play by the rules of the country in which it wants to do business.

A few weeks ago, the EFF voted that the allegations that the CFO of the City of Tshwane, Gareth Mnisi faces be classified as “less serious”. Now, the party wants Mnisi to be placed on precautionary suspension. This comes after the South African Revenue Service (Sars) raided Mnisi’s home in Johannesburg and his offices at the City of Tshwane. The raids form part of an investigation into how Mnisi allegedly amassed substantial wealth on a CFO’s salary. EFF demands suspension In a statement on Thursday, EFF spokesperson Thembi Msane said placing Mnisi on precautionary suspension does not mean he is necessarily guilty of any wrongdoing. Mnisi was first suspended earlier in the year after he was implicated in tender rigging, collusion and leaking confidential tender information. “A precautionary suspension is not a punishment. It ensures that the investigation does not disrupt the City’s operations, and it gives Mr Mnisi sufficient time to attend to his matters. “Mr Mnisi remains innocent until proven guilty, and that constitutional right must be respected,” she said. ‘Protecting those facing serious allegations’ However, Msane said no one in the city should be seen to be protecting those facing serious allegations. “The office of the CFO is the custodian of public money. Tshwane’s finances demand maximum discipline in this age of austerity, and residents must have confidence that the person managing the City’s money is beyond reproach. “Fighting corruption means dealing decisively not only with corruption itself, but with the perception of it,” she said. Despite the EFF’s earlier support for Mnisi, the party said it is concerned about instability in the municipality and the allegations that hang over Mnisi. “The EFF notes that this is not the first cloud over Mr Mnisi. He was suspended earlier this year after being implicated at the Madlanga Commission, and was reinstated in July with a final written warning. The city cannot allow this cloud to keep hanging over the municipality. Stability must be the priority,” said Msane. Further demands Msane said her party would write to Mayor Nasiphi Moya, demanding transparent and immediate action on this matter. “Not merely an instruction to the City Manager to seek clarity. Despite our loss of confidence in the mayor following her failures in Bronkhorstspruit, we demand that she act within 48 hours and report to the residents of Tshwane,” said Msane. The EFF also wants the police to “stop playing games” and come up with evidence of criminality, if it exists. “SAPS must be transparent and honest, fast-track any related criminal investigation and make arrests where the evidence warrants it. “Failing this, we will have every reason to suspect SAPS of playing politics. We have already seen this with the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), where cases were withdrawn for lack of merit, damaging public trust and destabilising institutions.”

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 competition attracted more than 65 000 entries from 121 countries and territories, showcasing the beauty and diversity of wildlife around the world. The overall winner and 19 category winners were announced at an awards ceremony at the Natural History Museum in London on 13 October. Judged anonymously by a panel of seven experts, the entries were assessed on creativity, technical excellence and originality. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London, and highlights both the wonders of the natural world and the growing challenges facing wildlife. (For best view, click on image for fullscreen) James Lewin from the UK won the Animals in their Environment category with his photograph The Meeting Place, capturing a young bull elephant spraying a group of zebras gathered at a waterhole in the Chyulu Hills of Kenya. To soften the harsh sunlight, Lewin used a camera converted to infrared, creating a dreamlike scene at ol Donyo Lodge in Chyulu Hills National Park. Waterholes are vital lifelines during droughts, providing essential drinking spots for wildlife. Picture: James Lewin South African photographer Isak Pretorius won the Behaviour: Birds category with his photograph Scenes from the Swamp, capturing two elusive shoebill birds among wetland vegetation in Mabamba Swamp, Uganda. Exploring the swamp in a narrow canoe with a guide, Pretorius was fortunate to encounter the pair pulling out vegetation and dropping it repeatedly, possibly gathering nesting material. Despite often being called shoebill storks, the birds are more closely related to pelicans, herons and ibises. Fewer than 5,300 mature shoebills remain in the wild, and their numbers are declining. Picture: Isak Pretorius Amelie Davis from the UK won the 10 Years and Under category with her photograph, Flight of the Bumblebee. Taken in a garden in Surrey, southern England, on an afternoon in August, the image captures a common carder bee suspended mid-air as it prepares to land on a flower. Amelie had been photographing bees for several months and borrowed her father’s smartphone to capture the delicate detail of a single wingbeat. Picture: Amelie Davis Kutub Uddin (Bangladesh/UK) won the Portfolio Award for Secret Worlds, showcasing the tiny, often surreal forms of slime moulds. This image, titled Tiny Dancers, captures fine threads emerging from yellow-green bodies, which help disperse reproductive spores. Taken in West Sussex, England, the subjects measure just one to two millimetres tall. Uddin uses macro photography and focus stacking to reveal details invisible to the naked eye. Picture: Kutub Uddin Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas from Germany won the Rising Star Award for Hidden Depths, a portfolio revealing the intricate details of tiny creatures. In this image, titled Afternoon Snack, a robber fly feeds on a flesh fly, injecting digestive enzymes to liquefy its prey’s internal tissues before consuming them. Alexis uses macro photography and focus stacking, combining multiple images to bring often-overlooked species into sharp detail. Picture: Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas Loren Elliott from the USA won the Photojournalist Story Award for Wily Coyotes of San Francisco, documenting the lives of coyotes living alongside people in the California city. In this image, a coyote walks along a trail in Bernal Heights Park, overlooking San Francisco and its bay. Around 100 coyotes live in the city, where they help control rodent populations but sometimes prey on domestic animals. Picture: Loren Elliott Francisco Negroni from Chile won the Photojournalism category with Warning Sign, showing a dead puma tied to a fence as a hunting trophy along Route 40 in Argentina’s Patagonia region. Although Santa Cruz banned puma hunting in 2025, illegal persecution continues. Livestock losses are a major source of conflict between farmers and pumas, but measures such as keeping sheep in enclosures at night and using guard dogs can help reduce attacks. Picture: Francisco Negroni Alex Visbal from Colombia won the Wetlands: The Bigger Picture category with The Great Divide, showing an engineered barrier cutting across Stansbury Bay at Utah’s Great Salt Lake in the US. The pink colour is caused by microbes thriving in highly saline water where freshwater supplies have been cut off. Industrial activity, water diversions and climate change have contributed to the lake’s declining ecology. Picture: Alex Visbal Tony Wu (USA/Japan) won the Under Water category with his photograph Making Morays, offering a rare glimpse into the mating behaviour of Abbott’s moray eels in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Working with biologists, Wu has been studying a male eel since 2024 as it visits females sheltering in reef crevices. Using a customised fisheye lens and dim red lighting to minimise disturbance, he documented what is believed to be the first recorded observation of courtship and spawning in this species. His findings are also contributing to scientific research into the eels’ behaviour. Picture: Tony Wu Anton Sorokin from the USA won the Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles category with his photograph Protective Pose, showing a California newt laying eggs while clasping vegetation that already holds another newt’s egg clutch. Taken in Contra Costa County, California, Sorokin waded along the edge of a pond and carefully lowered his camera and lighting beneath the water to capture the unusual behaviour. California newts interlock their hind feet to protect their eggs from being eaten by other newts, remaining in this position until the gelatinous egg mass swells and hardens around the vegetation. Picture: Anton Sorokin Federico Veronesi from Italy won the Behaviour: Mammals category with his photograph The Aftermath, capturing a female elephant carrying her dead calf in the Huab River Valley in Namibia’s Damaraland region. Veronesi was tracking elephants when he noticed unusual drag marks in a dry riverbed, leading him to a family group where the female carried the calf with one of its legs wedged between her tusk and trunk. Elephants have been observed handling and carrying their dead, behaviours that researchers believe may offer insight into how they respond to death and possible grief. Picture: Federico Veronesi Oscar Whitfield (Zimbabwe/UK) won the 11–14 Years category with his photograph Labour of Love, capturing a dung beetle pushing its ball of dung across the dusty ground. He lay flat on the ground to photograph the beetle at eye level, using a fast shutter speed and high light sensitivity in the sunshine and heat of Zambezi National Park in Zimbabwe. Dung beetles play an important role in the environment by helping break down dung, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting pests. Picture: Oscar Whitfield 1/12 Pictures courtesy of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026.

South African motorists could receive some welcome relief at the pumps in November, with diesel prices potentially falling by more than R1.60 per litre and petrol prices also expected to decrease. The latest Central Energy Fund (CEF) figures show significant under-recoveries across all four main fuel grades. However, the temporary fuel levy reductions announced by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana during his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) have changed the November outlook. The government is temporarily reducing the general fuel levy by R1.50 per litre for petrol and R3.00 per litre for diesel during November as part of a R10 billion relief package. The CEF figures as of Thursday, 29 October, show petrol 93 with an under-recovery of R1.17 per litre and petrol 95 under-recovered by R1.01 per litre. Diesel 0.05% is under-recovered by R1.42 per litre, while diesel 0.005% has an under-recovery of R1.32 per litre. How much could fuel prices drop in November? Godongwana announced a temporary fuel levy reduction as part of a R10 billion relief package intended to ease pressure on consumers. For November, the general fuel levy will be reduced by R1.50 per litre for petrol and R3 per litre for diesel. Based on the latest CEF snapshot and the relief measures, the indicative November inland prices are: Fuel typeOct priceNov projectionLevyPotential changePetrol 93R29.88R31.05(R1.50)-33c/lPetrol 95R30.25R31.26(R1.50)-49c/lDiesel 0.05%R31.95R33.37(R3.00)-R1.58/lDiesel 0.005%R33.29R34.61(R3.00)-R1.68/l The projections suggest that diesel motorists could benefit from the biggest reductions, with both grades potentially dropping by more than R1.50 per litre. Petrol motorists could also see savings, although the projected reductions are considerably smaller. These figures remain indicative and are not confirmed pump prices. The final adjustments will depend on international market movements, the rand and other elements of the fuel-pricing structure. Oil prices could wipe out petrol cuts The outlook remains uncertain as international oil prices rise amid renewed tensions in the Middle East. Oil climbed to around $115 per barrel during the week, while the rand traded at around R16.50 to the US dollar. Both factors influence South Africa’s fuel prices and could erode the projected savings before the end of October. A weaker rand, further oil price increases or a significant slate levy adjustment could turn the projected cuts into increases. The new prices are scheduled to take effect at midnight on Tuesday, 3 November, just ahead of the Local Government Elections. FUEL PRICE IN SOUTH AFRICA IMPACTED BY TWO MAIN FACTORS: 1. The international price of petroleum products, driven mainly by oil prices. 2. The rand/dollar exchange rate used in the purchase of these products. Oil price At the time of publishing the brent crude oil price is $112.68 a barrel. Exchange rate At the time of publishing the rand/dollar exchange rate is R16.64/$.

In a statement shared by Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx on Friday, the World Rugby Player of the Year confirmed he will be leaving Japan club Kubota Spears when his contract expires at the end of the 2026-27 season. The 32-year-old has been plying his trade in Japan since 2020, but he said his return to South Africa was due to “family circumstances”. “I have made the difficult decision not to renew my contract beyond the 2026-27 season and to return to South Africa,” Marx said in a statement. “My time with the Spears has been an invaluable experience for both me and my family, and one that we will always look back on fondly. I am deeply grateful for the warm welcome you have always given us, for embracing us as members of the community, and for the tremendous support and kindness you have shown us throughout our time in Japan. “My focus is now fully on the upcoming season, and I will continue to give everything I have for the team to ensure we bring this journey to the best possible conclusion.” Springbok World Cup winner set to join the Bulls It’s believed that Marx will be joining the Bulls next year. “Malcolm has signed and he is officially a Bull at the end of the season. He will, as things currently stand, be in Pretoria in April, May or June next year,” a source revealed to Die Papier. Big signings for Bulls The news follows hot on the heels of the announcement that fellow Springbok Kwagga Smith will also be joining the Pretoria club. It was confirmed this past weekend that Smith has signed with the Bulls on a three-year contract.  Bulls coach Johan Ackermann said he was delighted to team up again with the loose forward, having coached him previously at the Lions. “As a youngster, he showed character and fight and integrity. He’s a team man who has grown into a stalwart, and it’s been a privilege to watch his career unfold and establish himself as one of the best backrows in world rugby. Wherever he goes he makes a difference, and I look forward to him contributing both on and off the field.”

Intel warned that weak PC demand could persist into 2027. Its shares fell 25% in pre-market trading.

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