- Coalition talks between political parties have broken down, with the deadline for forming councils in hung municipalities looming. ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has confirmed that parties have rejected proposals from the DA, where the latter seeks to control major metros like Tshwane and Johannesburg. Mashaba reportedly said: “We made it clear to the DA, please don’t come out with the mentality of being a big party. There is no big party here, none of us has got a majority.” The DA wants control of both metros, believing that the largest coalition partner should get the mayoral position. The DA says it still has faith in the talks. Meanwhile, talks between the EFF and ANC have collapsed completely, with the former not entertaining any more negotiations with the ruling party. EFF leader Julius Malema said the ANC had not been able to agree to even the “simplest” of terms and that the EFF was instead focusing on ActionSA.
- Deputy finance minister David Masondo says that the government should steer away from a blanket ban on talk of getting the private sector involved with struggling state-run companies, adding that getting private groups involved would boost competition and efficiencies where the state has failed. He highlighted the inefficiencies of state-run power supply through Eskom and freight through Transnet as examples where private sector involvement would boost reliability and reduce costs for end customers. However, he stressed that the subject needs more research and clear guidelines of how this would work.
- Civil society group AfriForum has sent a legal letter of demand to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, stating that the continued implementation of national curfews as part of the state of disaster is irrational and unjustified. In the letter to the minister, AfriForum has requested written reasons why there are curfews as well as supporting evidence that curfews are an effective precautionary measure against Covid-19 as well as the implementation of national curfews to cease with immediate effect. AfriForum has requested an urgent response by close of business on Friday, 19 November.
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