A 61-year-old woman in church clothes and a handbag just beat the ANC in a ward they have held since 1994. Her name is Maki Tshabalala. She won Ward 28 in Emfuleni by eight votes. The ANC had 90% of that ward in 2011. They are now at 31%.
Rob Rose and Zukile Majova dig into what happened in Emfuleni on this week’s Sharp Sharp and what it means for South Africa heading into the November local government elections. Zuks’s answer is simple — communities always know their own people. You cannot parachute a candidate into a ward where people have never seen them at a funeral, never seen them in church, never seen them at a school meeting. Mama Tshabalala was there for all of it. That is why she won.
They also get into the fuel price hitting R28 a litre, the government’s quiet reversal of the fuel levy relief, and why Joburg residents are paying 65% more for water while being told it is only 12% more. And they close with SAFA, the World Cup, 12 players on the pitch against Nicaragua, visas not ready in Mexico, and whether Bafana getting knocked out early might actually be the best thing that could happen to South African football.
Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
