South Africa: Today’s latest news and headlines, Wednesday 4 December

Stay informed and up to date with the latest news in South Africa by reviewing all major headlines on Wednesday 4 December.

It’s a big day for the City of Johannesburg, which has been left leaderless in the wake of Herman Mashaba’s resignation and the ensuing political fallout, as parties prepare to elect a new mayor. Further north, in Tshwane, mayoral contestation bubbles to the surface in a different form. In sports news, former Orlando Pirates coach, Milutin Sredojevic, looks for a new job after being sacked by Egyptian giants Zamalek.

Today’s latest news in South Africa, Wednesday 4 December

Who will lead the City of Johannesburg?

Today’s city council meeting will prove vital to Johannesburg’s prospects, as candidates from three competing political parties vie for the mayoral seat after it was left vacant a week ago. Herman Mashaba, who chose to vacate the position and break his ties with the DA following Helen Zille’s reappointment to a senior role within the party, has left a contentious void, further marred by delays and legal caveats.

Johannesburg council speaker Vasco da Gama has assured the public that the mayoral election will proceed without further interruption after threats of legal action from the EFF and ANC. The candidates contesting for the position, include:

• Funzela Ngobeni (representing the DA) – Touted as “Mashaba 2.0”, the City of Johannesburg Finance MMC and regional chairperson has the experience to back up his mayoral bid;
• Musi Novela (representing the EFF) – Served as the party’s Johannesburg leader for the last six years and holds two diplomas; and
• Geoff Makhubo (representing the ANC) – The former treasurer of Johannesburg is the party’s front-runner for the top political job.

More bad news for South Africa’s economy

The South African Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has decreased by 0.6% in the third quarter of 2019, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke has revealed.

“The economy of the country went into a [0.6% slump] in the third quarter of 2019, while year-on-year it is sitting at 0.1% and 0.3% at nine-months-on-nine-months,” he said on Tuesday at a briefing.

The Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) report revealed that the community and social services sector accounted for 22.5% (23.9% share of nominal GDP) of the employment and GDP share per industry.

Community and social services, trade, finance, manufacturing and private households account for 20.8%, 15.2%, 10.7%, 8.2% and 7.9%, respectively, while transport accounts for 6%, agriculture 5.4% and mining 2.6%.

Addressing reporters, Maluleke revealed that the mining and quarrying industry decreased by 6.1% and contributed -0.5% of a percentage point to GDP growth. (Source: SAnews)

Extreme weather continues to plague South Africa

While parts of the country experienced an unbearable heatwave over the weekend, a harsh reprieve to the scorching temperatures in the form of fierce storms and downpours now embattle Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

This comes just weeks after flooding was reported in Johannesburg and Durban, with four tornadoes causing destruction in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands in November.

On Tuesday evening, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) issued yet another warning of inclement weather:

“Heavy rain leading to localised flooding is expected over the southern half of Gauteng, the central and eastern parts of the North West province and the northern parts of the Free State tomorrow (Wednesday).”

SAWS have also warned of severe thunderstorms, which have previously led to electrical disruptions.

Gordhan urges coal suppliers to assist Eskom

Coal suppliers need to assist efforts to turn around the fate of crisis-hit state power utility Eskom by being reasonable on their pricing, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday.

“We have got to lower the price of coal. We are talking to coal suppliers to make sure they contribute; they have to share the burden,” Gordhan said while answering questions in the National Assembly.

He said Eskom was returning to the practice of cost-plus mines – in which power plants rely on mines located next to them to provide coal at preferential prices – after moving away from the model during the period in which the power utility was extensively plundered by politically connected companies in the so-called state capture scandal.

According to Gordhan, the cost-plus modeI for contracts that Eskom entered into with coal mines ensured quality control and transparency in pricing, he said.

Eskom posted its results for the first six months of the financial year last week, and cautioned that it would probably again register a loss of around R20-billion for the full year. (Source: African News Agency/ANA)

Gavin Hunt tips Kaizer Chiefs to win league title

Kaizer Chiefs require some chasing as far as the league standings are concerned, but Bidvest Wits coach Gavin Hunt believes the title is theirs for the taking.

Ernst Middendorp’s charges are 10 points clear at the top of the table after playing 12 games, with SuperSport United placed second and champions Mamelodi Sundowns third

This follows an impressive run which has seen Amakhosi collect 10 wins, one draw and suffering a defeat.

Hunt, who boasts a collection of league titles of his own, is of the belief that there is no way Chiefs can slip up to the point of losing their grip on the big prize.

Hunt’s team have played eight games‚ won five‚ lost two and drawn one to remain 15 points behind Chiefs as they are also juggling Caf Confederation Cup commitments with league title games.

Latest weather forecast, Wednesday 4 December

Take a look at weather forecasts for all nine provinces here.

Live traffic updates for Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban

Stay one step ahead of the traffic by viewing our live traffic updates here.

Horoscope today

Free daily horoscope, celeb gossip and lucky numbers for Wednesday 4 December.