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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has staked his reputation on improving the image of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), but he faces his toughest test yet as early polls show the party losing its majority. Ramaphosa, who helped set up the country's largest mining union and later became one of the country's richest businessmen, took office in 2018 and overcame a corruption scandal to be re-elected to lead the ANC in 2022. He is struggling to boost economic growth, break high unemployment that has left a third of the population unemployed, and end devastating power outages. For all of…

A tree fell on the M3. (City of Cape Town/Courtesy) A fallen tree caused traffic congestion in Cape Town on Thursday morning.The Western Cape had been hit by strong winds and heavy rain in the past few hours.The severe weather also caused power outages in parts of the state.A tree has fallen on Rose Drive on the M3, causing major traffic congestion in Cape Town.This came after hours of heavy rain and strong winds in the Mother City.Both lanes are closed. City of Cape Town transport spokesperson Maxine Bezuidenhout advised motorists travelling along Rose Drive to exercise caution.”Traffic officers are…

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah talks about how the entertainment industry works, especially celebrity friendships. Speaking on the “Smartless” podcast, he said: “I've always found it weird that people try to be friends with you just because you're in a similar environment. When I first came to America, I was on 'The Daily Show' and I got invited to events and people were like, 'Oh my gosh, let's hang out, get your number,' or 'Let's have coffee,' and I'd give people my number. “I felt like I made a lot of friends, the people were so friendly and wonderful. “And then…

Reading Time: 2 MinutesPolitical parties in the Western Cape say they are following the election results, which are now slowly emerging, with keen interest. Both the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the African National Congress (ANC) have said they are not overly concerned about the IEC's glitches. The glitch caused long queues for voting and subsequently prolonged the counting process. The IEC then stated that a lot needs to be done to improve its internal systems. Alan Winde, DA premiership candidate in the Western Cape, said: “Some polling stations were working well but some had very long queues. I was in…

The ANC is on track to win 42% of the vote in Wednesday's general election, according to projections by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.The CSIR model, which has proven to be largely accurate in previous elections, was run using declared tallies from 8.24% of voting districts.The rand weakened to 18.73 rand per dollar by 10:20 a.m., while yields on local currency bonds due 2035 rose 17 basis points in the morning to 12.2 percent, the highest level in five weeks.For more financial news, News24 Business top page.South Africa's ruling party is on track to fall well short of…

South Africa's Julius Malema, who left the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to form a radical left party, could become kingmaker or even vice president if the ANC loses its majority, as election results suggest. The possibility that the ANC will keep Malema and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in power after Wednesday's election is scaring investors and the white upper middle class whom Malema rails against.The EFF's promises to nationalize the country's gold and platinum mines and confiscate white farmers' land are among the proposals they fear would threaten not only their privileges but also Africa's most industrialized economy.…

A lobby group representing thousands of British companies has called on the next government to forge closer ties with the EU after years of “uncertainty” for British business.The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which represents more than 19,000 businesses and 18 million employees, said businesses were “unfamiliar with” post-Brexit trade rules.The BCC published its manifesto as the election campaign enters its second week, with the economy becoming a key battleground in the fight for the Prime Minister's office at 10 Downing Street. Overnight, the Conservatives and Labour were at loggerheads over VAT, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt claiming that Sir Keir…

South Africa's central bank is set to keep interest rates on hold as it continues to fight inflation amid political uncertainty, a day after the country's bitterest election in three decades.Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect Governor Lesetja Kganyago's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to leave interest rates unchanged at a 15-year high of 8.25% after 3pm on Thursday. In a separate survey, most respondents expected the decision, which comes a day after the election, to be unanimous.Nedbank chief economist Nicky Weimer said the hurdle for cutting interest rates had not yet been cleared. “Despite the positive April inflation report, the rate…

Reading Time: 2 MinutesThe African National Congress (ANC) in Gauteng is optimistic about retaining its majority in the province as vote counting continues. Gauteng province, the country's economic heartland, is under intense scrutiny after the ANC won 53.2% of the vote in the last general election. “We are very excited as we await the results. Our campaign was very harmonious and generally very exciting. The people we interacted with have shown faith and commitment to the ANC and its ability to revitalise. In Gauteng, the ANC's amapanyaza rollout has been hovering around 50 per cent over the past 18 months,”…

The queue to vote at CBC St John's in Cape Town's Parklands stretched the length of three football fields on Wednesday (Peter Ruhanga/GroundUp) The IEC faces budget cuts amid a more complex voting environment. The voter education budget was less large, but was cut by about 10 percent.This is despite changes to the electoral law.For more financial news, News24 Business top page.Successive budget cuts over the past four years appear to have affected the South African Electoral Commission's (IEC) ability to run Wednesday's general election, while longer and more complicated voting procedures established by Parliament caused confusion at many polling…