Kaya 959, Friday afternoon

IEC outlines remaining election processes and retired South African Defence Official General, who rejected IDAC, takes the stand. Good afternoon, I'm Gladys Mutel. We begin with news, Justin. The Electoral Commission says it has received 1,708 objections following the 2026 local government elections. IEC chairperson Musutumi Apia is outlined.

The outstanding processes needed to conclude the election cycle. The post-election briefing is currently taking place in Centurion as political parties continue with their coalition talks. We'll have more on this developing story in our upcoming bulletins. At the same time, ActionSA says national chairperson and chief coalition negotiator Michael Beaumont has described the DA's Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille and its Twine candidate Cilliers Brink as obstacles.

To coalition cooperation. Speaking to Newsroom Africa, Beaumont said ActionSA wants coalition negotiations to be driven at a local level rather than dictated by national party structures. He says parties should focus on leadership that can deliver results, promote accountability, and ensure stable local government. Beaumont argues that coalition partners should prioritize the performance of potential leaders and the interests of residents when deciding who should lead municipalities.

We have a coalition framework that says we don't reinstall failed mayors and we don't reinstall mayors who destabilize local government. Unfortunately, Cilliers Brink is a failed mayor and Helen Zille has collapsed every working coalition government Johannesburg's ever had. We're going to find it very hard to back candidates who've got a track record of doing the very same things that South Africa is asking us not to do. To the courts now, when defence witness retired Major General Sandy Le Cizane has told the Pretoria High Court that IDAC wanted to use him as a state weapon.