It’s the final stretch of campaigning ahead of the local government elections, with parties pulling out all the stops before voters head to the polls. Here’s what else is on the radar this week.
Politics
Final campaign week
With less than 10 days until the 2026 local government elections, political parties are intensifying their campaign efforts. ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa will cap his campaign efforts on Saturday in Joburg before leading the party’s Siyanqoba rally on Sunday at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane, Buffalo City municipality
The DA will hold its final rally in eThekwini and the EFF’s Julius Malema is expected to campaign heavily across the Gauteng province this week.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission of South Africa is in a race to finalise the printing of ballot papers, thanks to the ANC’s successful challenge of the disqualification of some of its candidates. Other parties and independent candidates applied for the same relief last week, and the commission will have just this week to get its house in order before the start of special voting next Monday.
Update on Operation Vulindlela
National Treasury will hold an online briefing for the media on Friday with a progress report on the key milestones reached by the Operation Vulindlela initiative. Stakeholders will wait for news on investment and reforms in the energy and electricity, water and sanitation, and freight logistics and transport industries. There may also be more detail on the white paper on local government, released by government last Thursday.
Economics
Producer price index (September 2026)
Stats SA will publish the latest producer price numbers on Thursday morning. August’s year-on-year price increase fell to 5%, the slowest rise in four months, but is expected to rise in September as input costs remain high.
This article is published courtesy of The South Africa Brief, a political newsletter published on Substack which is a collaboration between Paul Berkowitz and Jonathan Moakes.
