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Nineteen years after turning a Facebook group into a political party, Jack Miller still hadn't won the Cape its independence, and he told Alec Hogg he had made his peace with the possibility that he never might. What he hadn't given up on was the leverage. With the Cape Independence Party fielding candidates in almost every Western Cape ward on 4 November, Miller set out how a small slice of the vote could push the DA below 50% and turn CapeXit into a kingmaker with a single price: referendums. He described being carried out of the Cape Town council chamber, argued that voters' fear of the ANC was misplaced, explained why the Referendum Party ended up in the FF Plus rather than with him, and named the parties he would and wouldn't work with. He closed with a claim about South Africa's governments that few would share: that each has a shelf life, and the current one is nearing the end of its own.

Former President Jacob Zuma's “super spy”, the once feared and powerful Thulani Dlomo, has gone on trial in great secrecy with a fellow former spy boss for allegedly making off with R12 million of State Security Agency (SSA) funds under false pretenses. In this interview with Chris Steyn, Willem Els of the Security Initiative for Africa (SIA) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) says: “If you look at the sheer amounts of money that are actually moving around and being moved within these agencies, this 12 million is maybe just sort of the tip of the iceberg.” Dlomo’s trial is the first major criminal action against the SSA in the post-Zuma era. In another major first, the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry laid criminal charges against a subpoenaed witness for dodging his appearance, resulting in the airport arrest of former African National Congress (ANC) moneyman Suliman Carrim. “It is very crucial that Mr Carrim needs to come and answer some questions,” says Els. He also weighed in on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s belated reinstatement of National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola after the National Prosecuting Agency (NPA) dropped charges against him. “I think there was a lot of pressure on the Presidency to reinstate him and they had to do so because it seems that legally they did not have any leverage to further his suspension.” He urges for the SAPS Reset to “cut deep and hard”.

A copper mine that had sat idle and flooding for 35 years finally had its first Glencore tranche unlocked, and Orion Minerals CEO Tony Lennox argued that South Africa's reputation as a near-impossible place to mine had been overdone. Michael Marchant of Open Secrets explained why Wicknell Chivayo flaunted Rolls-Royces and cash while millions of Zimbabweans struggled, and what that showmanship may really have been buying. Wayne Sussman's walk through the latest Johannesburg poll held a surprise about Helen Zille and a blunt message from residents about how their city is run. Reuters rounded things off with Wall Street's return to chip stocks after a bruising week.

The Prieska copper-zinc mine had stood idle for 35 years, its lower workings filling with water. After eight months of negotiation spanning South Africa, Australia, Switzerland and Canada, the first US$40m of Glencore's US$250m package finally became unconditional, with money due to flow from the end of October. Orion Minerals chief executive Tony Lennox told Alec Hogg what that first cheque unlocked, what still stood between Orion and the far larger Deeps, and why he believed the story that South Africa makes mining near impossible was overrated. He also took on the risk of selling everything to a single buyer, the exit of a long-standing shareholder, BHP's interest in the Northern Cape, and whether a junior sitting between two giants could keep rowing its own boat.

Analyst Wayne Sussman unpacks an eNCA/Markdata survey putting the DA on 35% in Johannesburg and the ANC just under 22%, in a city the ANC has always led, with MK, the EFF and ActionSA all above 10%. Commentator Solly Moeng says Patriotic Alliance supporters must decide whether they are backing Gayton McKenzie’s voice or real change. Magda Wierzycka tells Alec Hogg she turned down a $1.4 trillion offer for her Anthropic stake. Rally driver Max Smart charts his climb from motocross to the world stage. Plus Wall Street’s AI-led slide.