South Africa: Today’s latest news and headlines, Thursday 5 November

It’s been a riveting 24 hours in the history of the world. The US Elections has hogged all the headlines, but plenty has happened closer to home too. We never miss a beat when it comes to the latest news in South Africa, so let’s look at what’s made headlines on Thursday 5 November.

TODAY’S LATEST NEWS IN SOUTH AFRICA, Thursday 5 NOVEMBER

America appears to be a divided country today. In what is the tightest US presidential election in history, the faultlines are clearly visible. Red versus Blue. Democrats versus Republicans. Too close to call has been the mantra of the day.

The Divided States of America

US President Donald Trump seemed in a hurry on Wednesday to declare himself a winner, while the Democrats were made to sweat as states voted red and the results trickled in.

You can follow our live blog for all the latest updates and breaking news.

EFF geared up for march to labour department and SASSA offices

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have planned a mass march to the Department of Labour and South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to demand that people be paid their UIF, as well as, the R350 social grant. The mass march is scheduled to take place on Thursday 5 November 2020 in Tshwane, Gauteng.

EFF Head of the Labour Desk, Commissar Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi will lead a march to the Department of Labour and SASSA to demand that, among other things, people be paid their R350 relief fund, and to ensure people receive their UIF fund payouts.

“Let’s all join Fighters and South Africans on Thursday the 5 November as we march to the Department of Labour and SASSA offices. We meet at 10:00 in Church Square in Tshwane. Let’s fix this country,” the EFF said. 

While Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced that the SRD R350 grant would be extended by a further three months, he did say top-up grants would come to an end in October 2020. 

Dudu Myeni opts not to answer SAA-related questions during inquiry

The State Capture Commission of Inquiry, on Wednesday 4 November 2020, continued to hear Aviation related evidence, this time, from former Board Chairperson of South African Airways (SAA) Dudu Myeni. 

Myeni joined the commission remotely as she’s currently undergoing self-isolation after she came into contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. While Advocate Kate Hofmeyr is leading the evidence against Myeni, the former chair is being represented by Advocate Thabani Masuku.

Myeni said she has committed to present herself before the commission to deal with all the accusations against her, however, she said she would like to exercise her rights to answer where she can and to be silent where she can.

Although Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said the commission would not deliberately and intentionally infringe any of her rights, the former SAA chair said she would like to invoke her right to be silent on any matters pertaining to SAA, as there is a pending judgement regarding her SAA-related matters. She felt her answers could self-incrimination.

NSFAS receives nearly 500 000 applications for 2021

More than 493 000 people have applied for funding with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), for studying in the 2021 academic year.

The applications come as Higher Education Minister Dr Blade Nzimande warned that the COVID-19 pandemic, which has limited classroom time, would have a bearing on the next academic year. In a statement, Nzimande said by this time last year, NSFAS had only received more than 287 769 applications.

“Female applicants account for 68% (338 324) of the total, while male applicants only account for 32% (155 543). This trend has been continuing in this trajectory for the past three years,” the minister said.

Nzimande said there have been major improvements from provinces that had extremely low applications in the past two years, with the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Free State and North West having doubled their previous year’s statistics.

Electoral College Dropout: How many votes did Kanye West get?

You win some, you lose some. Kanye West has learned that he can’t have ‘all that Power‘, after his bid for president crashed and burned. Despite suggesting he had a ‘Stronger’ chance than many other outsiders to gatecrash the Electoral College, the musician failed to secure a ‘Runaway‘ victory. Okay, we’ve got the puns out of our system, let’s get to it…

Indeed, Ye won’t be the next president of the United States. But we know that already, didn’t we? The music mogul only ran in 12 states, and conducted just one campaign rally in South Carolina. We know US Elections are weird at the best of times, but even Kanye West can’t win the White House based on this performance.

In total, it’s believed the rapper won over 50 000 votes. It’s not a great effort, and West would have been hoping for a larger share of the electorate. 

R500 caregiver grant to end in November despite court appeal

The special COVID-19 top-up of R500 given to caregiver grant recipients will come to an end this month. This after an urgent application by the Black Sash Trust to ensure its continuation beyond October was struck off the urgent roll on Friday.

The hearing at the North Gauteng High Court took place virtually. Judge Tintswalo Annah Nana Makhubele presided over the hearing and Black Sash was represented by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS). The respondents were the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), Chief Executive Officer of SASSA, Minister of Finance, Minister of Social Development and the President.

Aphiwe Dyantyi’s doping hearing concludes

The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) has confirmed that the hearing into the doping charges against Springbok Aphiwe Dyantyi has concluded.

SAIDS made the announcement on Wednesday after two days of testimonies by expert witnesses and closing arguments from both the athlete and prosecution. 

Dyantyi failed a drugs test after a sample was tested at a national camp in early July 2019, with three banned substances found in his system.

The hearing was initially heard over three days in September 2020 and adjourned to November 3, 2020. 

An independent panel will now deliberate on the evidence and render a decision within the next few weeks.

LATEST WEATHER FORECAST, Thursday 5 NOVEMBER

Take a look at weather forecasts for all nine provinces here.

LIVE TRAFFIC UPDATES FOR CAPE TOWN, JOHANNESBURG AND DURBAN

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HOROSCOPE TODAY

Free daily horoscope, celeb gossip and lucky numbers for Thursday 5 November.