• Khayelitsha scholar transport driver Limise Siko says her monthly petrol bill has climbed from about R4,000 to R6,000 while she still charges R700 per learner.

• Some parents say even R700 is already too much and they will switch their children to buses or trains if fares rise.

Scholar transport drivers in Cape Town say rising petrol costs are eating into their income, but parents are refusing to pay higher fares.

Limise Siko, who transports learners from Khayelitsha to Mitchells Plain, has charged R700 per learner since 2023.

She said she tried to increase the fare after repeated petrol price increases, but parents refused.

“I have been transporting learners from Khayelitsha to Mitchells Plain and charging R700 per learner since 2023. With petrol prices going up now and then, I tried increasing the fare, but parents refused to pay more,” Siko said.

She said her fuel costs have jumped dramatically.

“Before the petrol hike, I was spending R4,000 a month on petrol, but now I am paying R6,000. I am no longer making a profit,” she said.

Siko now plans to look for new learners in January whose parents are willing to pay more than R700.

She said parents told her they are already struggling with debt, food prices and salaries that have not kept up with the cost of living.

“They said I am making the petrol hike their problem, while they still have the problem of salaries that have not increased while everything, including food, has increased,” Siko said.

She said what frustrates her is that commuters usually accept increases announced by taxi associations.

“When taxis increase fares, they don’t complain. They pay what the taxi association is asking. What they are doing is not fair,” she said.

Siko said scholar transport operators are also parents with bills to pay.

“We are also parents with needs, and I cannot continue like this anymore. That’s why I want to look for new learners next year,” she said.

Another scholar transport driver, Andiswa Mantla, who carries learners from Philippi to Mitchells Plain, increased her monthly fare from R700 to R750.

The move cost her customers.

“I increased it by R50. Surprisingly, the parents didn’t complain when I told them. Instead, they took their kids somewhere else,” Mantla said.

She said she lost several learners and plans to look for replacements next year.

Mantla believes parents may eventually have little choice but to pay more if other scholar transport operators also increase their fares.

But parents say their household budgets are already stretched too far.

Nwabisa Mgoduka said R700 a month for scholar transport is already difficult to afford.

“We are not earning much already, and I have already cut a lot of things from my grocery list,” she said.

“If I pay more than R700 for scholar transport, it means I am working for transport.”

Mgoduka said she will put her daughter on a bus if the fare increases.

“The transport is safe and makes things easy, especially when it is raining because they are picked up at the door. But she will have to learn how to use a bus because the money I am paying already is too much,” she said.

Lizeka Jikija, 40, said she would also have to find a cheaper option if scholar transport fares rise.

“If they increase the fare, I will not have a choice but to take him by train,” she said.

“He will get used to it because R750 or R800 will be too much for me. I depend on piece jobs and their grant money.”

For scholar transport drivers, higher fuel costs are making the current fares harder to sustain.

For parents, paying more could mean cutting back somewhere else.

• The DA was leading Nelson Mandela Bay with 41.38% and had nearly 68% in Kouga, while its Eastern Cape support was running above its 2021 provincial result.

• The party has also gained ground in Makana and Blue Crane Route and became the biggest party in the hung Dr Beyers Naudé council.

The DA says it is heading for its best-ever Eastern Cape local election result after making gains in Nelson Mandela Bay, Kouga and several smaller municipalities.

Results released by the Electoral Commission show the party improving substantially on its 2021 performance in some of the province’s biggest battlegrounds as counting continues.

In Nelson Mandela Bay, the DA had 41.38% of the vote with about a quarter counted earlier on Thursday, ahead of the ANC on 26.22%.

That put the DA above the 39.92% it received in the metro in the 2021 local government elections, although thousands of votes were still outstanding. The ANC received 39.43% in Nelson Mandela Bay in 2021 and the two parties ended up with 48 council seats each.

The DA’s biggest surge is in Kouga, which includes Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp.

It was sitting on 67.98% with 54% of votes counted earlier on Thursday, compared with the ANC’s 16.57% and the Patriotic Alliance’s 6.92%.

That would be a massive increase if it holds.

In 2021, the DA won 53.89% of the proportional representation vote in Kouga and took 16 of the council’s 30 seats. The ANC received 37.56% and won 11 seats.

The DA is also making gains in areas where the ANC previously dominated.

In Blue Crane Route, where the ANC won six of the 11 seats in 2021, the DA won four of the six wards this time, according to DA Eastern Cape leader Andrew Whitfield.

The IEC results show the new council is hung, with the ANC holding five of the 11 seats and no party having an outright majority.

The turnaround is significant because the DA received only 37.2% of ward votes in Blue Crane Route in 2021, compared with the ANC’s 56.2%.

In Dr Beyers Naudé, which includes Graaff-Reinet, the DA emerged as the biggest party with 10 of the council’s 24 seats, but without enough seats to govern alone.

The ANC had previously been the largest party there, winning 11 seats to the DA’s 10 in 2021. The DA received about 39% of ward votes in that election.

Whitfield said the DA received just over 40% this time and would now have to negotiate to form a government.

Makana, which includes Makhanda, has also shifted sharply.

The ANC lost its majority and fell to just over 31%, winning 10 of the 25 council seats. The DA increased its support to 27.24% and won six seats.

The Makana United Civic Movement came third with 19.51% and four seats, leaving no party able to govern alone.

Whitfield said the DA’s Makana support had risen from about 17% in 2021.

The DA also says its candidate Noziphiwo Mantshongo won Ward 6 in Umzimvubu from the ANC, another result it is pointing to as evidence that it is breaking into areas where it has historically struggled.

The provincial numbers also show the DA improving on its last local election performance.

In the 2021 elections, the DA received about 15.2% of the Eastern Cape vote when ward and proportional representation votes were combined. On the ward ballot alone it received 15.1%, compared with the ANC’s 62%.

In 2016, the DA’s Eastern Cape ward vote was 19.7%.

The SACP was on 5.8% and the UDM on 5.2%.

Those figures were still provisional and could change significantly as results from thousands of outstanding voting districts were added.

Whitfield said the party believed the pattern nevertheless showed it was heading for a historic result.

“We are still expecting a number of votes to come through, but confident that the DA is going to be in a strong position in Nelson Mandela Bay to put together a stable government.”

He said the party had retained Kouga with a bigger majority and made gains across several other municipalities.

“We are very encouraged by these results, and we are on track to make history by getting the strongest support we have ever seen in the Eastern Cape.”

The claim will only be confirmed once counting is completed.

The IEC is expected to formally announce the final 2026 local government election results on Sunday, 8 November.

• Gwede Mantashe has urged African National Congress members to accept the 2026 local election results and avoid damaging the Electoral Commission’s credibility.

• The African National Congress plans to use lessons from the national unity government to form working coalitions if it loses control of municipalities.

African National Congress chairperson Gwede Mantashe has warned his party not to attack the Electoral Commission of South Africa if election results do not go its way.

Mantashe wants party members to accept the outcome of the 2026 local government elections, even if the party loses control of more municipalities.

He said questioning the commission’s credibility could cause damage that lasts long after the elections.

“Don’t discredit the IEC. Because if you do that, it has long-term effects on the credibility of the IEC. Some parties are like that, we don’t like that. We want the ANC to be credible, and everyone must believe in it.”

His warning comes as the party faces a tough fight to keep control of municipalities, particularly in Gauteng.

Recent polls suggest the ANC could fail to win outright majorities in several councils.

This would force the party to work with other political parties to form local governments.

Mantashe said the ANC must aim to win as many municipalities as possible while preparing to make coalition deals where needed.

He believes the party can use what it has learnt from working with other parties in the Government of National Unity.

But he admitted that working together has not always been easy.

“With the GNU, we attempt to make it work. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work. So, we have some experience now. We’ve learned a lot of important lessons in the process. We’ll use that in the local government.”

Mantashe, who is serving his final term as ANC chairperson, is expected to play an important role in deciding which parties the ANC works with after the elections.

The party could face difficult talks in Gauteng, where several major municipalities are expected to be closely contested.

Election analyst Wayne Sussman said voting patterns in Gauteng on Wednesday afternoon suggested that more people were turning out in suburban areas.

He said this could help the Democratic Alliance and ActionSA.

“It’s hard to determine who’s really winning right, but I do think there is a suburban differential turnout advantage, which I think would favour parties like the DA and ActionSA.”

The final results will determine whether the ANC can govern municipalities on its own or must negotiate with opposition parties.

Mantashe said the party must focus on building coalitions that work rather than fighting over election outcomes.

• About 12 million South Africans had voted by 5pm on Wednesday, with Gauteng recording the highest turnout as voting stations prepared to close.

• The African National Congress faces a major test in local elections as opposition parties fight for control of municipalities across South Africa.

South Africans are waiting to see who will take charge of their towns and cities after millions went to the polls on Wednesday, 4 November.

Voting stations closed at 9pm, with counting now under way across the country.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa said everyone who joined a queue before 9pm would be allowed to vote.

Gauteng led with three million voters, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 2.5 million, the Western Cape with 1.5 million and the Eastern Cape with 1.4 million.

Limpopo recorded 1.1 million voters, while Mpumalanga had 854,901 and North West 702,133.

The Free State recorded 588,237 voters and the Northern Cape 299,381.

The figures showed a sharp rise from the 3.5 million people who had voted by 10am.

But not everyone rushed to the polls.

Some voting stations in central Durban reported low turnout, raising concerns about people staying away from the elections.

The day also brought tragedy.

A woman in her late 60s died after collapsing while waiting to vote at Shallcross Primary School in Durban.

Previn Vedan, chairperson of the African National Congress Naidu Makhanya Zone, said an ambulance was called, but the woman’s family arranged transport and took her to hospital.

The Electoral Commission said it was investigating the circumstances.

Police also investigated the theft of unused ballot papers and a voting stamp from a voting station in eThekwini.

Heavy rain and local protests caused delays at some stations in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

Despite these problems, the commission said voting had gone well across most of the country.

The biggest political test is for the African National Congress.

The party lost its national majority in 2024 and now faces another battle to hold on to councils across South Africa.

Opposition parties are hoping to take control of more municipalities as voters judge how councils have handled water, electricity, roads, rubbish collection and other services.

Former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party is also contesting its first local government elections after winning significant support in KwaZulu-Natal during the 2024 national elections.

A record 29.2 million people registered to vote.

More than 136,000 candidates competed for 10,526 council seats across 257 municipalities.

Election officials are counting ballots at the stations where voters cast them, with party representatives and observers watching the process.

Officials will check the figures before sending the results for verification and an independent audit.

The final results are expected within seven days.

Attention will now turn to major cities, including Johannesburg, Cape Town, eThekwini and Ekurhuleni, where parties are fighting for control.

The results will decide who runs local councils for the next five years and whether parties will need to work together to govern.

Liverpool’s perfect Uefa Champions League start ended in a 3-2 defeat at Fenerbahce, while Como produced one of the greatest away performances in the competition’s history with a 9-1 demolition of Lens on Wednesday.

19-year-old Trey Nyoni gave Liverpool the lead with his first senior goal in Istanbul, but a deflected Mason Greenwood free-kick levelled matters.

Alexander Isak headed the Reds back in front on 69 minutes, only for Archie Brown to equalise immediately and Vedat Muriqi to win it for the hosts, led on an interim basis by ex-Liverpool man Dirk Kuyt.

Como were the story of the night in France.

Cesc Fabregas’ side became only the third team since 1992 to win by an eight-goal margin, after Liverpool’s 8-0 win over Besiktas in 2007 and Real Madrid’s 8-0 win over Malmo in 2015.

Anastasios Douvikas scored a hat-trick, Nico Paz made it 3-0 by half-time and Lucas Da Cunha, Marc-Oliver Kempf, Mattia Liberali, Martin Baturina and Matteo Papaccioli also scored.

Ruben Aguilar pulled one back for Lens but Como are now fourth with nine points from four games.

Real Madrid maintained their perfect record with another late comeback, beating AEK Athens 3-2.

Jude Bellingham’s back-heel cancelled out Aboubakary Koita’s opener, Stavros Pilios put AEK ahead again, but Kylian Mbappe levelled and Federico Valverde won it in stoppage time.

Arsenal won 2-1 at Slavia Prague through Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres, while Erling Haaland’s late goal gave Manchester City a 3-2 win at RB Leipzig.

The results came a day after Manchester United came from 2-0 down to beat Roma 3-2, with Matheus Cunha scoring twice while holders PSG thrashed Villarreal 6-0 to go top.

• Police boats transported election materials across waters inhabited by crocodiles and hippos to eNkovukeni, where 193 people were reportedly registered to vote.

• Residents have demanded a bridge for years, but former KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa MaDube-Ncube said in 2024 that the government had no plans to build one.

For years, residents of eNkovukeni in northern KwaZulu-Natal have begged for a bridge to connect them to the outside world.

But on Wednesday, 4 November, police boats were once again needed to carry election materials across waters inhabited by crocodiles and hippos.

The remote village, which falls under the uMhlabuyalingana local municipality in the uMkhanyakude district, has struggled with access to basic services for years.

According to information provided by the municipality, 193 people were registered to vote in the community, including those who applied for special votes.

The South African Police Service deployed boats to help the Electoral Commission transport election materials across the water.

The operation brought attention back to a problem residents have raised for more than a decade.

They have long complained that they are forgotten by the government and only remembered when elections arrive.

In 2021, residents protested against the lack of a bridge and threatened to boycott the local government elections.

They complained that the safety of wild animals appeared to matter more to authorities than the lives of people living in the community.

Residents said politicians had repeatedly promised to improve access to the village, but their daily struggle continued.

The fight for a bridge goes back even further.

In 2016, national transport officials discussed the community’s request for a permanent bridge and the need to find a lasting solution.

Boats were supplied that year to help residents cross the water.

But the bridge residents wanted was never built.

In June 2024, then KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa MaDube-Ncube said the government had no plans to build a bridge because the community was located within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

Her statement dealt another blow to residents who had spent years asking for a safer way to reach the mainland.

Now, another local government election has arrived, and the community still depends on boats to cross the water.

While election officials worked to get voting materials to eNkovukeni on Wednesday, some residents continued with their daily lives.

People were seen fishing in the lake to find food for their families.

uMkhanyakude District Municipality spokesperson Nonhlanhla Jele praised the efforts to make voting possible despite the village’s location.

“In a remarkable logistical operation, South African Police Service boats were deployed to ferry Independent Electoral Commission election materials across the lake to the island, ensuring that electoral operations could proceed smoothly despite the community’s geographical isolation,” said Jele.

She said people living in remote areas should also have the chance to take part in elections.

“Despite the geographical challenges, the people of eNkovukeni are demonstrating that no community is too remote to participate in democracy. Their participation is a powerful reminder that every vote counts and that no citizen should be left behind in the democratic process,” she said.

According to the report from the village, voting was completed at around 2.30pm, making eNkovukeni one of the first communities in the province to finish casting ballots.

But while the police boats helped election officials reach voters, the community’s transport problems remain.

For residents, getting ballot papers across the water is only one part of the struggle.

They also need a reliable way to reach services on the mainland throughout the year.

The government has previously supplied boats and ruled out building a bridge, but the community’s concerns about access have not gone away.

Wednesday’s election showed that officials could arrange transport to reach this isolated community.

For the people who live there, the challenge is having safe and reliable transport long after election day.

• Kamogelo Mthembu, 46, wants a police station in Skierlek, Mamelodi, where she says women face violence and children go missing.

• Skierlek residents are demanding regular police patrols, tarred roads and running water, while raising concerns about break-ins at a local school.

A Mamelodi mother is tired of hearing about missing children and women being killed in her community.

Kamogelo Mthembu, 46, from the Kopanong section of Skierlek, says she wants a police station to help keep women and children safe.

She cast her vote at the Christ Resurrection Ministry voting station in Ward 15 on Wednesday, 4 November, hoping the next councillor will take crime seriously.

“As a resident and a woman, we face challenges, including the killing of women, the kidnapping of children and children going missing. We are often called at night by parents telling us that their children have gone missing. As a woman, I feel bad about this,” she said.

Kamogelo told Scrolla.Africa that residents need police officers who can respond when people are in danger.

“My wish is for the next councillor to address these challenges. We need a local police station and a Community Policing Forum (CPF) that will be able to help us,” she said.

She also wants children to have somewhere safe to play and receive help with their schoolwork.

“I am also asking for a sports ground for our children and an aftercare centre where they can get help with their homework after school,” she said.

Community leader Elias Makega shares her concerns about crime.

He called for regular police patrols and said violence was a serious problem in the area.

“Every month-end, we have a problem with killings. We often find dead people. Even this morning, we found three people, two of whom were injured and one who died,” he said.

Makega also wants the incoming Ward 15 councillor to fix the roads.

“The candidate who wins Ward 15 must fix our roads. We have a problem with our main roads. They have started putting down G5, but there is still a lot of dust. We want tarred roads so that the dust can be reduced,” he said.

Another resident, Themba Mthembu, said people were tired of depending on water tankers.

He wants running water in homes and raised concerns about the quality of water delivered to the community.

“We are struggling too much with water. We are tired of water tankers. We are asking for running water because the water from the tanks is sometimes not clean enough,” he said.

Themba also complained about break-ins at local schools.

He said windows had been broken at container classrooms at Kutumela Melefi Intermediate Farm School.

For Kamogelo, the election is a chance to choose a councillor who will listen to residents and address the problems they face.

Her biggest wish is for women and children in Skierlek to feel safe.

• Martha Baloyi, 78, from Stinkwater in Hammanskraal, says politicians have promised her a house for years but never delivered.

• The elderly woman was injured when her house collapsed 10 years ago and now lives alone in a crumbling structure.

For more than 30 years, Martha Baloyi has voted in every election, hoping that one day she will finally get a decent house.

But at 78, the grandmother from Stinkwater in Hammanskraal is still waiting.

Martha has lived in the area since 1991 and says politicians have been promising her a house for years.

Every election brings fresh promises, but once the votes have been counted, she says the politicians disappear without helping her.

Ten years ago, her house collapsed on top of her, leaving her injured.

She now lives alone in a small, crumbling structure and depends on her old-age pension to survive.

Despite what happened to her, she has still not received the house she has been waiting for.

The African National Congress has governed the area for years, but Martha says people in her section are still waiting for government-built houses.

She said politicians regularly visit her home during election campaigns and promise to help her.

But she has yet to see those promises turn into action.

“They always come during election time and promise me a house, but after the elections, nothing happens. I have been waiting for years. This time, my vote is my secret. I am hoping for change,” said Martha.

On Wednesday, 4 November, she went to a voting station near her home to cast her ballot in the local government elections.

She would not say which party she voted for.

What matters most to her is finding a safe place to live.

After being injured when her previous house collapsed, Martha wants a home where she no longer has to worry about the condition of the building.

She has spent decades waiting for that change while living on the money she receives from her pension.

For Martha, another election has come, but the problem she has faced for years remains the same.

She has cast her vote once again, hoping that this time the promises of a better life will lead to a home she can live in safely.

• Nontsikelelo Yiba, 87, voted in Khayelitsha after being told she could lose her pension grant if she did not cast her ballot.

• Kholeka Mgwele, 76, wants bigger pension grants and jobs for young people, but worries that openly discussing political choices causes conflict.

Two elderly women in Khayelitsha went to vote on Wednesday because they feared losing the pension grants that help their families survive.

Nontsikelelo Yiba, 87, and Kholeka Mgwele, 76, cast their ballots at Luhlaza High School in Cape Town, where voting was quiet.

Both women said they had heard that their grants would stop if they did not vote.

There is no rule linking pension grants to voting. South Africans do not have to vote to keep their social grants.

But Nontsikelelo believed the warning and decided she could not take the risk.

She had not planned to vote until someone told her that staying away could cost her the money she depends on.

“I cannot afford to lose my grant because our children are not working; we are using the same money to take care of them. When we took them to school, we wanted them to take care of us, but they are not working and there are no jobs,” she said.

Nontsikelelo said her pension supports more than just herself because her children are unemployed.

She had hoped they would find jobs after finishing school and be able to support her in her old age.

Instead, the family still depends on her grant.

Now that she has voted, she hopes the government will increase the pension.

“Now that I have voted, I hope that they will increase it to R3000. I am old and believe it is my last time getting the chance to vote,” she said.

Kholeka also said she voted partly because she feared losing her pension.

But she wants more than to keep receiving her grant.

She hopes the election will bring change for families who are struggling to make ends meet.

“Besides voting to save my pension, I want change. The grant money we are receiving doesn’t cover our bills, it gets finished without covering everything we want,” she said.

Kholeka also believes voting has changed since she first started taking part in elections.

She said people now openly discuss which political parties they support, something she believes has caused divisions in communities.

“A vote used to be a secret, but not anymore, and that has made voting boring. Now we go to voting stations with people who announce the parties they will vote for openly, and I think that’s another reason we have so many political killings,” she said.

Kholeka believes keeping political choices private could help reduce arguments and fights between neighbours.

“In our areas, we are enemies because people don’t hide their votes; others go as far as fighting. But I still do things the old way, no one knows my vote. I still believe it is my secret,” she said.

Both women are also worried about their unemployed children, some of whom have diplomas and degrees but remain at home without jobs.

They hope the election will bring opportunities for young people and improve the lives of families who depend on pension grants.

For Nontsikelelo and Kholeka, voting was driven by a mixture of fear and hope.

They want to keep the money their families rely on, but they also want a future where their children can find work and support themselves.