News 08:00

BULLETIN 7 November 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The IEC dismisses social media claims of irregularities in Mpumalanga election results
# DA retains control of the Midvaal municipality with an outright majority
# And motorsport: Kimi Antonelli beats Lando Norris for the top spot in the second São Paulo practice

# The IEC has dismissed social media claims that election results in Wards 4 and 23 of Emalahleni Municipality in Mpumalanga are being withheld because ballots exceeded registered voters. Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Masego Sheburi says turnout in both wards was just over 50 percent. The Commission has also rejected claims that a municipal official voted four times, explaining that the voter was initially scanned at the wrong voting district before being directed to the correct one.

Meanwhile, the DA has retained control of the Midvaal Local Municipality in Gauteng, securing an outright majority in the local government elections. Midvaal mayor Peter Teixeira says thousands of residents turned out to cast their votes and support what he describes as progress under a DA-led administration. He says the party has secured victories in the majority of the municipality’s wards, including winning Ward 6 from the ANC:

# The Department of Electricity and Energy says it will engage gas suppliers, developers and infrastructure stakeholders before launching another gas-to-power procurement process. The consultations aim to address commercial, technical and financial challenges following the rejection of all four bids under the first procurement window. The department says none of the bidders could guarantee gas supply. The companies will be allowed to bid again, with process oversight by the Independent Power Producer Office. The Integrated Resources Plan makes provision for three-thousand megawatt to be generated by gas.

# Motorsport: Newly crowned Formula One world champion Kimi Antonelli topped the timesheets in second practice for the São Paulo Grand Prix on Friday. The Mercedes driver clocked a fastest lap of one minute 10.763 seconds, finishing 0.253 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, who had led the opening session. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third, just ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russell. Antonelli secured the drivers’ championship with a third place in Mexico last weekend. Qualifying takes place later today, with rain forecast for tomorow’s race at Interlagos.

# Tennis: World number one, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, and eighth-ranked Czech player Linda Noskova will start the WTA Finals at Indian Wells in the US tormorrow. The world’s eight best female players participate in a round-robin format, with the top-two players in each group advancing to the semifinals. The other two players in Group One are Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula. World number two, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, compete in Group Two with Russian Mirra Andreeva, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and another Czech, Karolina Muchova.

# And finally, the 28th annual Rotary Wine Auction has raised 450-thousand-rand for the National Sea Rescue Institute. The event was hosted by the Rotary Clubs of Newlands and Table Bay at Cape Town’s Lagoon Beach Hotel. NSRI spokesperson Andrew Ingram says the funds will go towards purchasing a new JetRIB for the Gordon’s Bay rescue station. He says the high-speed vessel will strengthen inshore and surf rescue operations:

Stay tuned for more news………….