Original reporting from the Nation Watch SA newsroom: weather and its impact first, then politics, crime, courts, business and community affairs, with a Vaal and Gauteng focus.
The South African Weather Service has a severe thunderstorm warning in force over the Vaal this afternoon and evening. For voting day, its charts show only isolated thundershowers.
· Staff Reporter
SAWS has five severe-thunderstorm warnings and a Red Level 10 veld fire warning in force today. One storm warning lists disruption to “voting activities/processes” among its expected impacts.
· Staff Reporter
Every SAWS warning in force today with its expiry time, a newest-first stream of time-stamped updates, and what to do if a storm reaches you.
· Staff Reporter
Vereeniging and Meyerton are under a SAWS Yellow Level 2 storm warning from midday, and Sasolburg from 14:00. Here is what that means for water, power, roads and farming.
· Staff Reporter
Voting stations across Emfuleni, Midvaal and Metsimaholo open at 07:00 on Wednesday. The national security cluster says plans are in place, after a Sasolburg council candidate was shot dead at his home last week.
· Staff Reporter
Emfuleni says it is working on two outages, in Three Rivers in Vereeniging and in Vanderbijlpark. It has given no time for when power will be back, and a local councillor says some Three Rivers homes have been in the dark since Thursday.
· Staff Reporter
Police in Sharpeville have opened a murder investigation after a 20-year-old matric learner was stabbed. His mother says he was stabbed after he confronted a man who had hit her with a brick.
· Staff Reporter
A human rights inquiry says low pressure, burst pipes and repair delays are leaving parts of Emfuleni without dependable water. It also found that the municipality allocated nothing from its capital budget to water and sanitation for two years.
· Staff Reporter
The IEC says every affected station later opened. It blamed the delay on reprinting 33 million ballots after a Constitutional Court ruling added candidates.
· Staff Reporter
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia wants KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi to head the Hawks. The law says Cabinet must agree first.
· Staff Reporter
The Modimolle Regional Court convicted Imanuwela David and Froliana Joseph over the theft of $580,000 from President Cyril Ramaphosa's farm. Ndilinasho Joseph was acquitted.
· Staff Reporter
Weather first: five SAWS storm warnings and a Red Level 10 veld fire warning are in force. Then the seven stories that matter on election eve.
· Staff Reporter
The Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change says one post urged people to gather at voting stations on 4 November to prevent foreign nationals from voting. It stresses that its findings are provisional.
· Staff Reporter
One figure says 348,971 special votes were approved in KwaZulu-Natal; another says 362,878. Both come from the IEC. The difference is timing.
· Staff Reporter
Several reports say the minister has 12 months. The court’s order, as reported, works in two six-month periods, and 12 months is the total, not the deadline for a new decision.
· Staff Reporter
The Electoral Commission reported the death in its statement on the first day of special voting.
· Staff Reporter
Temporary relief on the General Fuel Levy starts on Wednesday 4 November. The final pump prices are still to come from the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources.
· Staff Reporter