The local elections are about to start, so let’s look at where each leader will be making their mark on Monday.

“With your vote, you are building a better South Africa, a South Africa with strong, well run and effective municipalities that can improve the lives of every citizen.”

If you’re in the queue on election day on Monday to make your mark, you can also get vaccinated without needing to pre-register.

The indelible ink marker pens used to mark voters’ thumbs will be replaced by a liquid marker. These are part of Covid-19 protocols.

Fourteen of South Africa’s top 20 local municipalities are found in the Western Cape, according to an index. The Eastern Cape followed in second with two.

‘COVID-19 is not the only killer,” said comedian Marc Lottering in an interview addressing how artists are being treated like the ‘stepchild’ of the nation.

The IEC announced that voting stations across SA will be open on 17 and 18 July to register to vote in the Local Government Elections.

Despite calls by several political parties for the local government elections to be postponed, they are going ahead as planned by the IEC

ANC Treasurer-General Paul Mashatile has confirmed that the ANC and ZUma plan to continue their working relationship.

The municipality, which sprawls along the north bank of the Vaal River near Vereeniging, is one of Gauteng’s most densely populated areas, with Sebokeng, Evaton, Sharpeville, and Boipatong townships lying within its boundaries.

A recent webinar heard that government’s District Development Model (DDM) was being implemented during a time with South Africa and the world confronting the ‘brutality’ of Covid-19.

Eskom says it is losing at least R2.5bn in revenue annually due to illegal power connections in Gauteng. Of that, it says, it’s haemorrhaging R3m a day in Soweto alone.

Trying to renew your vehicle’s license, driver’s license or even collections, has become a nightmare in Brits and Hartebeespoort, motorists say.

He will appear in court on allegations that he illegally awarded a tender to his wife’s company, which was paid for work it never did.

Hawks allege former mayor and officials were complicit in a R9-million fraud. These allegations are being strenuously denied.

NDZ said that a new local government structure is set to be introduced, and that it will help mitigate issues surrounding spatial planning.

Irregular expenditure is up by R7 billion from the previous year, with only 20 municipalities out of 257 reporting clean audits for 2018/19.

National Treasury has recently announced that the current economic path is unsustainable with the country facing the triple threat of slow economic growth, unemployment and high rates of inequality.

“The cost of load shedding remains high.”

Lack of planning will now result in crisis spending to remedy the challenges, such as seen in Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant, which will cost over R2 billion over two phases.

Opposition parties walked out of a scheduled eThekwini executive committee meeting, meaning it had to be postponed for a lack of attendance.

According to Stats SA, more building plans have been thrown out by municipalities in the first half of 2019, than in the same period last year.

The City of Cape Town has started taking steps to protect its beaches from pollution, poaching, and encroachment of private property.

Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu has called for the heads of those responsible for the poor performance of municipalities to roll.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) held no punches in their response to the Auditor General’s report that only 8% of municipalities got a clean audit score.