For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: ActionSA welcomes IEC opposition to ‘hypocritical’ DA electoral court challenge; Major development banks launch new guidelines to capture and boost, cash mobilisation; And, MSF staff member tests positive for Ebola in Congo

ActionSA welcomes IEC opposition to ‘hypocritical’ DA electoral court challenge

ActionSA has welcomed the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa’s answering affidavit opposing an urgent DA Electoral Court challenge, arguing that it would disrupt the entire election process.

ActionSA believes the filing affirms that the DA's application is “opportunistic, hypocritical, and frivolous”.

The legal row stems from an application launched by the DA in the Electoral Court against ActionSA, the EFF, the MKP, and the GOOD party, in which the DA accused them of deliberately submitting proportional representation lists containing only a single name to hide candidate choices from voters, and allegedly manipulating legal provisions to supplement lists after votes are counted.

However, the IEC opposed the DA’s challenge, warning that the requested relief would be highly disruptive and put the entire integrity and timeline of the November local government elections at risk.

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont highlighted that the DA's application, brought on September 21, comes weeks before voting day, after nominations had already closed and lists were certified.

He argued that the DA is challenging a practice that political parties – including the DA itself – have followed openly in successive local government elections.

According to Beaumont, the DA submitted lists containing a single name in 12 municipalities for the 2026 Local Government Elections.

Major development banks launch new guidelines to capture and boost, cash mobilisation

A group of 30 multilateral development banks and finance institutions is launching new joint methodologies that aim to accurately measure, and eventually increase, the amount of capital they funnel to emerging markets.

The methodologies, launched today, are the latest in a years-long effort backed by the G20 to boost development banks' capital mobilisation.

The push to mobilise more private capital has become increasingly urgent as developing countries' financing needs far exceed public lending and aid budgets, while many Western governments have redirected spending towards defence and other domestic priorities.

The group includes the world's top development banks, including the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The methodologies are the first major update to the group's mobilisation rules since 2018. They aim to capture, and encourage broader use of, innovative financial tools that help them lend more without expanding their balance sheets.

And, MSF staff member tests positive for Ebola in Congo

A staff member at humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières has tested positive for the Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease while working on the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MSF said today.

MSF said in a statement the person is being safely evacuated under a strict medical protocol in close coordination with the relevant health authorities in the DRC and the Netherlands, where the patient will be received by a designated hospital.

The number of confirmed Ebola cases in Congo has risen ​above 8 000 for the first time in the Central African ​country's ongoing outbreak, government data ​showed on Monday.

The latest situation report from the public health institute ​put the number of ​cases at 8 067 and deaths at 3 901.

The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, became the largest and deadliest in Congo's history ​after surpassing the 2018-2020 epidemic.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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